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plenty of time to rest, he should be 100% come next Friday. He throws a decent back shoulder ball to his WR's and they have an effective run game. I personally think the game will be won in trenches. Indiana's strength is supposed to be their defensive line and their offensive line came into the season with a lot of playing experience. That said, if ND takes care of business, they are more talented and should win. USC probably has some of the best WR's in college football and I thought the USC line for most of the game did a good job protecting their QB with giving him time to make throws. Gotta give USC credit for what they did against ND, but that was really the first prolific and extremely athletic offense ND faced all year and sometimes those type of games can be great teaching moments where the players will learn and improve. Fortunately, the USC defense was not so good.

The big challenge for ND will be against Georgia the following week. If I had to guess, Kirby is spending more time studying ND than he is IU. As I said the other week, I'm super excited to see if the ND program has taken a step forward towards being one of the elite programs. To me, Georgia will be that test. Their defense is super athletic and flies to the ball. Their DB's are constantly trying to separate the WR's hands from the ball. Their D Line is quick and can get to the QB. In the biggest games over the years, the ND offense has always struggled to score 20 points or more. In these post season games, you have to be able to score points. So to me, this will say a lot about where the program is. Again, can't overlook IU and have to beat them first.