Offensive snap counts (79 total plays):
LT Elijah Paige 79, RG Alani Noa 79, QB Jayden Maiava 78, LG Emmanuel Pregnon 74, C Jonah Monheim 74, RT Mason Murphy 74, TE Lake McRee 71, RB Quinten Joyner 57, WR Kyron Hudson 54, WR Makai Lemon 38, WR Kyle Ford 36, WR Duce Robinson 33, WR Zachariah Branch 30, WR Ja'Kobi Lane 22, TE Walker Lyons 21, RB Bryan Jackson 12, TE Kade Eldridge 11, RB Woody Marks 10, RG Amos Talalele 5, RT Tobias Raymond 5, C Kilian O'Connor 5, QB Jake Jensen 1.
-That was a season-high snap count for Joyner, of course -- more than double his previous high (21). It was Jackson's first action since Week 9 vs. Rutgers.
Top-graded offensive players:
1. QB Jayden Maiava 91.9
2. WR Makai Lemon 90.0
3. WR Ja'Kobi Lane 80.5
4. WR Zachariah Branch 72.6
5. WR Duce Robinson 72.4
6. RB Woody Marks 71.4
7. RB Quinten Joyner 69.8
8. WR Kyle Ford 61.1
9. LG Emmanuel Pregnon 60.5
10. C Jonah Monheim 60.4
Stats and analytics:
-It was another mostly ineffective day for the downfield passing attack as Jayden Maiava was 4 of 14 on passes that traveled at least 20 air yards, for 123 yards, 0 TDs and 2 INTs. Overall, Maiava was 27-of-48 passing for 360 yards, 3 TDs and the 2 pick-6s. Oh his 48 attempts, 26 were inside of 10 yards and 9 were behind the line of scrimmage. When Maiava faced pressure, he was just 6 of 17 for 115 yard, 0 TDs and 1 INT.
-Makai Lemon led USC with 9 receptions for 133 yards on a team-high and season-high 10 targets. This wasn't Lemon's career-high for yards, though, as he had 134 vs. Rutgers. He reached 69 receiving yards in six of the last seven games and he finishes the regular season with a team-high 665 receiving yards -- 162 more than anyone else (Zachariah Branch, 503). Lemon is second with 46 receptions behind Branch's and Woody Marks' 47.
-As far as targets Saturday, next was Branch with 7 (4 catches for 45 yards), Duce Robinson 6 (3-63), Kyle Ford 5 (3-41), Ja'Kobi Lane 5 (3-26, 3 TDs), Kyron Hudson 5 (2-26), Lake McRee 3 (1-2), Walker Lyons (1-11), Quinten Joyner 2 (1-13) and Bryan Jackson 1 (0-0).
-Robinson and Lyons had drops.
-Having to leave early with injury after just 6 carries (for 33) yards, Marks finishes the regular season and likely his season overall with 1,133 rushing yards (5.7 YPC) and 9 TDs and 47 catches for 321 yards. He ranks 25th nationally in rushing yards and fourth in the Big Ten behind Iowa's Kaleb Johnson (1,537), Rutgers' Kyle Monangai (1,279) and Oregon's Jordan James (1,166).
-Joyner matched a season-high with 10 carries and rushed for 83 yards (his second-best of the season -- 84 vs. Utah State). He finishes the regular season with 478 yards on 7.6 yards per carry and 3 TDs. Of his 83 yards Saturday, 72 came after contact and he forced 6 missed tackles -- the second-best total for a USC RB this season behind Marks' 8 vs. Michigan. The 7.20 yards-after-contact/carry is a season-best for a USC RB.
-Jackson forced 3 missed tackles in rushing for a career-high 71 yards on 6 carries.
-It wasn't a great day for the USC OL. Despite giving up only 1 sack, the Trojans allowed 15 pressures: 3 each from Mason Murphy, Jonah Monheim and Elijah Paige, 2 from Alani Noa, 2 charged to Joyner and 1 each to Jackson and Emmanuel Pregnon. Noa had a particularly low pass-blocking grade of 21.6 while Joyner was at 18.3 and Jackson at 7.4 -- perhaps indicative of why Marks was such a mainstay on the field when healthy.
Defensive snap counts (62 total plays):
S Kamari Ramsey 62, CB Jaylin Smith 61, LB Easton Mascarenas-Arnold 60, LB Mason Cobb 59, S Akili Arnold 55, CB Jacobe Covington 49, NK Greedy Vance Jr. 42, DT Nate Clifton 37, DE Kameryn Fountain 33, DE Braylan Shelby 31, DT Devan Thompkins 31, DE Jamil Muhammad 30, DT Gavin Meyer 27, DE Sam Greene 26, DT Elijah Hughes 17, DT Kobe Pepe 17, S Anthony Beavers Jr. 11, CB John Humphrey 8, S Bryson Shaw 8, CB DeCarlos Nicholson 6, DT Jide Abasiri 4, LB Desman Stephens II 3, S Zion Branch 3, CB Prophet Brown 2.
Top-graded defensive players (min. 10 snaps):
1. DT Nate Clifton 75.9
2. S Akili Arnold 72.4
3. CB Jaylin Smith 69.9
4. DE Jamil Muhammad 68.3
5. CB Jacobe Covington 66.5
6. S Kamari Ramsey 64.4
7. DE Kameryn Fountain 64.1
8. NK Greedy Vance Jr. 63.5
9. DT Gavin Meyer 63.0
10. DT Elijah Hughes 61.1
Defensive stats/analytics:
-Jaylin Smith and Kamari Ramsey led USC with 8 tackles each, followed by Akili Arnold 7 and Greedy Vance Jr. 5. As noted on the board, it's telling that on a day when Notre Dame rushed for 258 yards, that starting linebackers Mason Cobb and Easton Mascarenas-Arnold combined for just 4 tackles.
-Overall, USC had 12 missed tackles -- 3 by Ramsey, 3 by Cobb, 2 by Mascarenas-Arnold, 2 by Smith, etc.
-Mascarenas-Arnold finishes the regular season with a team-high 89 tackles, followed by Cobb's 71.
-USC got just 8 pressures Saturday with Jamil Muhammad (2) and Nate Clifton (2) the only plays with multiple.
-Muhammad had his first sack of the season while Kameryn Fountain had his 2nd. Incredibly, USC's sack leader is Mascarenas-Arnold with 3.
-Coverage stats: Smith gave up 6 receptions on 6 targets for 31 yards, Jacobe Covington gave up 1 reception on 4 targets for 7 yards, Vance gave up 2 receptions on 3 targets for 25 yards, John Humphrey gave up 0 yards on 1 target with an INT.
Special teams:
-Eddie Czaplicki ends the regular season with a 48.45-yard punting average on 40 attempts with 24 inside the 20, 21 over 50 yards and just 1 touchback, which came yesterday. He's now second in punting average behind FSU's Alex Mastromanno (49.27). It's a shame his 74-yard punt was wiped out by a penalty and turned into a 51-yarder.
-Lemon had 6 kick returns for 117 yards with a long of 35 Saturday, which lowered his season average to 26.0, which leaves him second in the Big Ten behind Wisconsin's Vinny Anthony (27.9).
LT Elijah Paige 79, RG Alani Noa 79, QB Jayden Maiava 78, LG Emmanuel Pregnon 74, C Jonah Monheim 74, RT Mason Murphy 74, TE Lake McRee 71, RB Quinten Joyner 57, WR Kyron Hudson 54, WR Makai Lemon 38, WR Kyle Ford 36, WR Duce Robinson 33, WR Zachariah Branch 30, WR Ja'Kobi Lane 22, TE Walker Lyons 21, RB Bryan Jackson 12, TE Kade Eldridge 11, RB Woody Marks 10, RG Amos Talalele 5, RT Tobias Raymond 5, C Kilian O'Connor 5, QB Jake Jensen 1.
-That was a season-high snap count for Joyner, of course -- more than double his previous high (21). It was Jackson's first action since Week 9 vs. Rutgers.
Top-graded offensive players:
1. QB Jayden Maiava 91.9
2. WR Makai Lemon 90.0
3. WR Ja'Kobi Lane 80.5
4. WR Zachariah Branch 72.6
5. WR Duce Robinson 72.4
6. RB Woody Marks 71.4
7. RB Quinten Joyner 69.8
8. WR Kyle Ford 61.1
9. LG Emmanuel Pregnon 60.5
10. C Jonah Monheim 60.4
Stats and analytics:
-It was another mostly ineffective day for the downfield passing attack as Jayden Maiava was 4 of 14 on passes that traveled at least 20 air yards, for 123 yards, 0 TDs and 2 INTs. Overall, Maiava was 27-of-48 passing for 360 yards, 3 TDs and the 2 pick-6s. Oh his 48 attempts, 26 were inside of 10 yards and 9 were behind the line of scrimmage. When Maiava faced pressure, he was just 6 of 17 for 115 yard, 0 TDs and 1 INT.
-Makai Lemon led USC with 9 receptions for 133 yards on a team-high and season-high 10 targets. This wasn't Lemon's career-high for yards, though, as he had 134 vs. Rutgers. He reached 69 receiving yards in six of the last seven games and he finishes the regular season with a team-high 665 receiving yards -- 162 more than anyone else (Zachariah Branch, 503). Lemon is second with 46 receptions behind Branch's and Woody Marks' 47.
-As far as targets Saturday, next was Branch with 7 (4 catches for 45 yards), Duce Robinson 6 (3-63), Kyle Ford 5 (3-41), Ja'Kobi Lane 5 (3-26, 3 TDs), Kyron Hudson 5 (2-26), Lake McRee 3 (1-2), Walker Lyons (1-11), Quinten Joyner 2 (1-13) and Bryan Jackson 1 (0-0).
-Robinson and Lyons had drops.
-Having to leave early with injury after just 6 carries (for 33) yards, Marks finishes the regular season and likely his season overall with 1,133 rushing yards (5.7 YPC) and 9 TDs and 47 catches for 321 yards. He ranks 25th nationally in rushing yards and fourth in the Big Ten behind Iowa's Kaleb Johnson (1,537), Rutgers' Kyle Monangai (1,279) and Oregon's Jordan James (1,166).
-Joyner matched a season-high with 10 carries and rushed for 83 yards (his second-best of the season -- 84 vs. Utah State). He finishes the regular season with 478 yards on 7.6 yards per carry and 3 TDs. Of his 83 yards Saturday, 72 came after contact and he forced 6 missed tackles -- the second-best total for a USC RB this season behind Marks' 8 vs. Michigan. The 7.20 yards-after-contact/carry is a season-best for a USC RB.
-Jackson forced 3 missed tackles in rushing for a career-high 71 yards on 6 carries.
-It wasn't a great day for the USC OL. Despite giving up only 1 sack, the Trojans allowed 15 pressures: 3 each from Mason Murphy, Jonah Monheim and Elijah Paige, 2 from Alani Noa, 2 charged to Joyner and 1 each to Jackson and Emmanuel Pregnon. Noa had a particularly low pass-blocking grade of 21.6 while Joyner was at 18.3 and Jackson at 7.4 -- perhaps indicative of why Marks was such a mainstay on the field when healthy.
Defensive snap counts (62 total plays):
S Kamari Ramsey 62, CB Jaylin Smith 61, LB Easton Mascarenas-Arnold 60, LB Mason Cobb 59, S Akili Arnold 55, CB Jacobe Covington 49, NK Greedy Vance Jr. 42, DT Nate Clifton 37, DE Kameryn Fountain 33, DE Braylan Shelby 31, DT Devan Thompkins 31, DE Jamil Muhammad 30, DT Gavin Meyer 27, DE Sam Greene 26, DT Elijah Hughes 17, DT Kobe Pepe 17, S Anthony Beavers Jr. 11, CB John Humphrey 8, S Bryson Shaw 8, CB DeCarlos Nicholson 6, DT Jide Abasiri 4, LB Desman Stephens II 3, S Zion Branch 3, CB Prophet Brown 2.
Top-graded defensive players (min. 10 snaps):
1. DT Nate Clifton 75.9
2. S Akili Arnold 72.4
3. CB Jaylin Smith 69.9
4. DE Jamil Muhammad 68.3
5. CB Jacobe Covington 66.5
6. S Kamari Ramsey 64.4
7. DE Kameryn Fountain 64.1
8. NK Greedy Vance Jr. 63.5
9. DT Gavin Meyer 63.0
10. DT Elijah Hughes 61.1
Defensive stats/analytics:
-Jaylin Smith and Kamari Ramsey led USC with 8 tackles each, followed by Akili Arnold 7 and Greedy Vance Jr. 5. As noted on the board, it's telling that on a day when Notre Dame rushed for 258 yards, that starting linebackers Mason Cobb and Easton Mascarenas-Arnold combined for just 4 tackles.
-Overall, USC had 12 missed tackles -- 3 by Ramsey, 3 by Cobb, 2 by Mascarenas-Arnold, 2 by Smith, etc.
-Mascarenas-Arnold finishes the regular season with a team-high 89 tackles, followed by Cobb's 71.
-USC got just 8 pressures Saturday with Jamil Muhammad (2) and Nate Clifton (2) the only plays with multiple.
-Muhammad had his first sack of the season while Kameryn Fountain had his 2nd. Incredibly, USC's sack leader is Mascarenas-Arnold with 3.
-Coverage stats: Smith gave up 6 receptions on 6 targets for 31 yards, Jacobe Covington gave up 1 reception on 4 targets for 7 yards, Vance gave up 2 receptions on 3 targets for 25 yards, John Humphrey gave up 0 yards on 1 target with an INT.
Special teams:
-Eddie Czaplicki ends the regular season with a 48.45-yard punting average on 40 attempts with 24 inside the 20, 21 over 50 yards and just 1 touchback, which came yesterday. He's now second in punting average behind FSU's Alex Mastromanno (49.27). It's a shame his 74-yard punt was wiped out by a penalty and turned into a 51-yarder.
-Lemon had 6 kick returns for 117 yards with a long of 35 Saturday, which lowered his season average to 26.0, which leaves him second in the Big Ten behind Wisconsin's Vinny Anthony (27.9).
