Notre Dame-USC: Two Years Later
What an astounding difference two years can make.
At this time two years ago, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly was 4-7 while USC’s Clay Helton was in the midst of a nine-game winning streak that would help USC finish No. 3 in the country.
Two years later this same week, it is Kelly’s 11-0 Fighting Irish that are ranked No. 3 after that 4-8 debacle, while Helton’s reeling Trojans have lost four of their last five, including 34-27 last week to a then 2-8 UCLA team. This time it is Helton who is deemed the “dead coach walking” with a 5-6 ledger. A loss to Notre Dame would give Troy its first losing campaign since 2000, when the Irish ended their misery with a 38-21 victory to cap a 5-7 campaign that turned out to be Paul Hackett’s last game as USC’s head coach.
However, Kelly doesn’t believe the 2016 comparison is fitting. He says it might be more like what Notre Dame was in 2014 when it traveled to Los Angeles having also lost four of its last five games (including three in a row), and possessing a decimated defense overwhelmed by injuries. So thin were the Irish that freshman tackle Jay Hayes, who was redshirted the first 10 games, had to be inserted into the lineup the final two weeks.
USC lost top cornerback Jack Jackson, who led the 2017 unit in interceptions, when he was dismissed from school in the preseason. A season-ending injury in October to standout linebacker Porter Gustin was another significant setback. Another star linebacker, Cameron Smith, has battled knee and hamstring injuries, while a third, John Houston, was injured last week in the loss to the Bruins. Also in October, star freshman safety Talanoa Hufanga suffered a broken collarbone that shelved him for the season, and that position in particular is down to the bare ones.
“They've been ravaged by injuries defensively,” Kelly said. “You have a lot of injuries on defense, then a really young quarterback [J.T. Daniels] who's going to be really, really good.
“Those two things … they’ve been in really some close games, haven’t been able to turn them their way.”
The offense likewise has been besieged by its share of injuries, including top rusher Aca’Cedric Ware (shoulder, suffered versus UCLA) and senior right tackle Chuma Edoga.
USC signed elite five-star quarterback prospect Daniels, but he is somewhat experiencing a similar baptism of fire that Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen — also a No. 1 QB recruit from California — did during a 3-9 season his freshman year in 2007.
“He's incredibly talented,” Kelly said of Daniels. “But [former USC star] Sam Darnold, he’s playing in the NFL, so there’s a difference between those two quarterbacks. I think Daniels, one day, he’s going to be playing in the NFL, too.”
Naturally, in such situations the head coach will be taking the heat. A GoFundMe page has been created for the ouster of Helton, which includes carrying a banner by plane over the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Said the page: “1. The first goal is to raise $2,000 in order to rent a plane to pull an aerial banner over the USC campus on 11/24/18 before the Notre Dame vs USC game that will call for Clay Helton’s firing. 2. The second goal would be to raise an additional $20,000 for a full page ad in the LA Times, also calling for Clay Helton’s firing and about $1,0000 to cover the fees associated with using GoFundMe if we reach the full goal. This ad will run as soon as the money is raised and the LA Times can logistically run the advertisement.”
During this decade, it seems every time Notre Dame plays USC the Trojans' head football coach is on the hot seat. In nine seasons at Notre Dame, Kelly has already faced four different USC head coaches, the most ever by any Fighting Irish boss.
First, it was Lane Kiffin (2010-13) who was dismissed prior to the halfway mark in 2013. Ed Orgeron took on the interim role for the Trojans, but it was former Trojans assistant and Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian who was hired as the head coach in 2014.
After Sarkisian was ousted midway through 2015, Helton took over. Unlike Orgeron two years earlier, he was hired as the head coach moving forward.
The initial groundswell of discontent and skepticism with Helton, who was perceived to be “out of his league,” was when his 2016 campaign debuted with a 52-6 loss to Alabama and a 1-3 start.
The Trojans then won their final nine games, capped by a 45-27 win versus Notre Dame and a thrilling 52‑49 triumph over Penn State in the Rose Bowl to finish No. 3 in the final Associated Press poll — the highest ever by a three-loss team.
Then in 2017, for the first time since 2007‑08, USC produced back-to-back seasons with at least 10 victories, highlighted by its first Pac‑12 conference championship since 2008. The Trojans defeated Stanford 31-28 in the Pac-12 title game after having also defeated the Cardinal 42‑24 in the second game of the season.
Although the final record of 11‑3 looked better on paper than the 10‑3 result in 2016, it was a little less fulfilling at the end despite the league title.
Last year, in addition to the 49‑14 trouncing at Notre Dame, the Trojans were physically manhandled in a 24‑7 loss to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl to finish No. 12 in the AP poll, one spot behind the Irish.
Once again, questions resurfaced on whether Helton possessed the coaching traits to restore the Trojans’ dominance that was experienced under John McKay (1960-75), John Robinson (1976-82) and Pete Carroll (2001-09).
To many, Helton has become this generation’s version of Larry Smith, who led USC to three consecutive Rose Bowls from 1987-89 (although never defeating Notre Dame), before badly faltering from 1990-92.
This season, home losses to Arizona State (Oct. 27) and Cal (Nov. 10) only intensified rumblings nationally that Helton might follow Louisville’s Bobby Petrino as the next head coach to get the axe. The loss to the Sun Devils also resulted in a chain reaction effect that included the firing of offensive line coach Neil Callaway, stripping offensive coordinator Tee Martin of his play-calling duties (reportedly now belonging to Helton) and the dreaded public vote of confidence from athletics director Lynn Swann.
“I believe in him,” Swann said of Helton during a segment on Trojans Live three days after the loss to Arizona State. “I like the position that he takes. He is passionate about what he does.
“He is honest and real in what he wants to accomplish and how he wants to accomplish it. There is no false chatter.”
“My main heartbreak is for our seniors, because I wanted it for them,” Helton said following last week’s demoralizing defeat to UCLA. “I know the job. The job is if you win, people are going to pat you on the back, and if you lose, you know they’re going to get after you. If you don’t like it, don’t be in this profession. I know it. It rolls off my back, so I’m not worried about it.
“I work my butt off every 24 hours to try to buy another 24. If you work as hard as you can and do the best job you can for your kids and for the university you love, you have no regrets, and I don’t. I’ll continue to work as hard as humanly possible. I’ve got great support from USC, from Lynn Swann and from these kids, and I owe it to them to work as hard as I can for them.”
Earlier this year, Helton’s contract was extended through the 2023 campaign after winning a school-record 21 games his first two years.
What a difference a few years, even months, weeks and days, can make.
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