Week 0 of the college football season didn’t bring many — if any — enticing matchups, but a pair of College Football Playoff hopefuls began their 2023 seasons on the right track.
FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt had his eyes on No. 6 USC and No. 13 Notre Dame on Saturday. Both teams came through with wins; USC took down San Jose State 56-28, while Notre Dame crushed Navy 42-3 in Ireland.
On the most recent episode of “The Joel Klatt Show,” Klatt shared a pair of takeaways from USC’s win, none of which surrounded reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, who threw for 278 yards and four touchdowns in the win.
He also viewed Notre Dame in a different light after its dominant win.
USC’s defense could be better than 2022
In Lincoln Riley’s first season in Southern California, the Trojans made a dramatic improvement from where they were in previous seasons, going 11-3. As Williams led a dominant offense, USC’s defense was its clear kryptonite in its hopes of reaching the College Football Playoff, allowing 40-plus points in all three of its losses.
Even though USC gave up 28 points and allowed 396 total yards of offense, Klatt said that he doesn’t think he has received any “definitive answers” about USC’s defense, but is optimistic.
“More specifically, I wanted to see the defense,” Klatt said. “Is the defense going to improve? Is this a defense that is no longer allergic to tackling, as I liked to put it in the preseason? I don’t know if we’ve got definitive answers about the defense.”
“The main takeaway for me is that I thought the defense showed signs it could be better,” Klatt added. “I didn’t say good, great or dominant, just better. There were definitive signs they could be a better defense than last year. Not hard! That’s a low bar. But they had some size and physicality in the front seven. They were faster and tackled better at times in the open field. So, I was like, ‘OK, while it’s not perfect, there are elements here to build on for this defense and Lincoln Riley.’
Klatt thinks that USC’s scheme and philosophy might need some work though, citing San Jose State quarterback Chevan Cordeiro‘s play to pick up a first down on third-and-22 with his legs as a key shortcoming.
“A third-and-22, at any point, should never be converted,” Klatt said. “It’s my belief that defenses, in general, and I believe USC falls into this, play too aggressive. When you play too aggressive, you leave your players on islands, and you magnify small mistakes.”
Zachariah Branch will be Riley’s next major offensive weapon
Even though Williams began his quest to be the first repeat Heisman Trophy winner in nearly 50 years with four touchdowns, a true freshman outshined him on Saturday, at least in Klatt’s eyes.
Freshman wideout Branch had four receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown in the win. His most impressive play, though, came on special teams, where he returned a kick 96 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter.
“Mark my words: Lincoln Riley is going to have a field day with Zachariah Branch,” Klatt said. “This is the perfect type of player for a guy like Lincoln Riley. … I have not seen a true freshman like this in a long time.
“This is like mini-Tyreek Hill on the college football field. This dude is lightning in a bottle.”
Klatt was also impressed by Branch’s demeanor.
“Game’s not too big for the guy,” Klatt said. “I know it’s just San Jose State, but he’s playing in the Coliseum for the first time. He’s the No. 1 wide receiver recruit in the country, and he was like, ‘Yeah, I’ve known I was going to do this my whole life.'”
Sam Hartman unlocks a higher ceiling for Notre Dame
While Branch wowed Klatt, no player changed his outlook for the 2023 season more than the Irish’s new quarterback.
Hartman, who transferred from Wake Forest, completed 19 of 23 passes for 251 yards and four touchdowns in Notre Dame’s rout of Navy. Klatt was blown away by the performance.
“Sam Hartman is vastly different [than what Notre Dame has had at quarterback in the past],” KLatt said. “I mean, you talk about just watching a team and just going, ‘That’s different.’ That’s how I felt watching Notre Dame in comparison to a year ago from where their offense was.
Why Sam Hartman is raising Notre Dame’s ceiling
The Irish scored a touchdown on all four of their drives in the first half, and they scored on six of their seven drives (outside of running the clock out at the end of the game), with the only drive that didn’t result in a score being a missed field goal.
“Hartman can control the game,” Klatt said. “You’ve got an adult at quarterback now. He can make the throws — the throws are accurate, they’re on time, there [are] yards after the catch out there. All of a sudden, the length and speed of this wide receiver corps, which was not accentuated in previous seasons, is accentuated and highlighted.”
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Klatt isn’t necessarily ready to proclaim that Notre Dame is on its way to the College Football Playoff, but he doesn’t think it’s an “overreaction” to think that its chances of making it there improved following Saturday.
“Their ceiling is a lot higher now,” Klatt said. “They’ve still got a really tough schedule, so do I think all of a sudden they’re going to the CFP? Eh, pump the brakes. They still have USC, Ohio State and Clemson [on their schedule]. You can’t just beat down Navy with basically a great running game and a veteran quarterback, and I’m going to jump on your bandwagon as a CFP contender.
“But these three games, all of a sudden, become more interesting. I didn’t think Notre Dame had much of a chance in either of these three games, until Saturday. Now, I see Sam Hartman play, and I’m like, ‘OK, now it’s different.’
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