USC totally mismanaged the clock before halftime vs. Notre Dame

If you want to understand just how lost USC looks this season, look no further than their possession before halftime at Notre Dame on Saturday night.

The Trojans trailed the Fighting Irish 17-3 in South Bend and were looking to narrow the gap going into halftime. USC began its possession at its 23 with just over four minutes left. The Trojans moved to their 45 with 1:47 left, and that’s when everything went downhill.

USC ran five straight times thereafter, burning up all the clock it had left. The Trojans went into halftime without taking a shot at the end zone or attempting a field goal. It was pathetic clock management.

On third-and-four, the Trojans let too much time go by and then ran a draw. Then with 39 seconds left, after Notre Dame had taken a timeout, the Trojans used a timeout too because they couldn’t get a play off. They were so disorganized/unprepared that they needed to take a timeout after a timeout!

USC ran on fourth-and-two to convert, and then ran again on first down. It’s like the Trojans didn’t understand the time circumstances of a basic two-minute drill.

Then on a second-and-four, Kedon Slovis scrambled for a first down. But the Trojans wasted the first down because they couldn’t spike the ball before time ran out in the half!

To show you how unprepared and disorganized the offense was, the Trojans lined up in shotgun for their attempt to spike the ball. Quarterbacks should line up under center to get the ball as quickly as possible.

The Trojans offense looked like it had never been in a two-minute drill before. From the coaching to the players loafing and showing poor decision-making (such as Slovis scrambling and then lining up in shotgun for the spike), this was an embarrassment to USC from the top down.