USC tries to sweep UCLA and Notre Dame for first time since 2016
USC has defeated UCLA in most seasons over the past six years. Even though Clay Helton was and is a flawed head coach, he still beat the Bruins most of the time before the roof caved in last year under Donte Williams and Todd Orlando. Sam Darnold had the winning touch against the Bruins. Kedon Slovis beat UCLA twice, once as a freshman and then as a sophomore in 2020’s pandemic-year comeback victory.
Beating Notre Dame has been the hard part, since Brian Kelly lifted the Irish to a great height. Kelly formed a brick wall USC could not get through. We are left with a situation in which USC is going for its first sweep of USC and Notre Dame since Darnold turned the trick in 2016, a year when Kelly struggled with the Irish and USC was on a roll near the end of the season.
The team at The Voice of College Football discussed the emotional resonance of the UCLA win this year. Follow The Voice of College Football for USC postgame coverage after the Notre Dame battle on Saturday night:
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USC was adrift in the years preceding 2022, which offers a parallel with 2002
