Though the USC Trojans were undefeated entering their annual showdown with Notre Dame, their wins weren't always the cleanest. They let an Arizona State team that is not on their level hang around for the entirety of that matchup back in Week 4. The next week on the road against Colorado, the Trojans allowed the Buffaloes to score 20 unanswered points to turn a 48-21 lead turn into a narrow 48-41 win.

The week after, USC nearly blew their game against the Arizona Wildcats after botching the snap and hold on a potential game-winning field goal at the end of the game and required triple OT to take down the Cats.

So USC caught some breaks during their first six games of the season, but that wasn't the case this week. Instead, all they caught was a good ol-fashioned beatdown by the hands of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish by a final score of 48-20. USC's vaunted offense was only able to gain 302 yards of offense in this game. What went wrong? Who is to blame? A couple portions of this USC team stick out as to who shares the blame pie.

Caleb Williams

Caleb Williams isn't perfect; no one is. Sometimes he can eat some of the blame too. This game was one of those times. The same gifts that make Caleb Williams one of the best and most unique quarterback prospects in recent years and arguably ever go him in trouble against Notre Dame. His offensive line didn't do him many favors (more on that in a bit), but he tried to do too much, and it cost him big time.

Williams tried to escape pressure as he customarily does and make plays, but Notre Dame's pressure was relentless and their discipline in the secondary was impeccable. It led to Williams throwing three interceptions in the game.

Caleb Williams had thrown only one pick for the entire season heading into that game. Notre Dame deserves a lot of credit for flustering Williams and not allowing him to gauge them with back-breaking big plays like he does to everyone else he plays against.

It's a learning moment for Williams too. As great as he is extending plays and scrambling, he could stand to not rely upon that style of play to the degree he does. He's a fantastic pocket passer as well as a scrambler. He excels at both exponentially. There is nothing Williams can't do. He is truly, truly great. But he wasn't in this game.

USC's offensive line

Part of the reason why Williams was forced into scrambling so much in this game was because USC's offensive line got manhandled by Notre Dame's front. Almost every play saw Williams with pressure in his face and be forced to either scramble to extend plays and elude Notre Dame's pass rush or get the ball out quick before he wants to. His first interception of the game was because of the latter.

It wasn't just the interceptions either. Notre Dame got to Caleb Williams in the backfield six times for sacks. They had countless more pressures, including on that pick above. USC's running backs Marshawn Lloyd and Austin Jones were only able to gain 73 yards on 19 carries, good for a meager 3.8 yards per carry average. USC's offensive line got their lunch handed to them in this game. They have to be better to win these types of big games.

USC falls flat

Usually USC's defense is what has held them back in the Lincoln Riley era. That really wasn't the case in this game; Notre Dame gained only 251 yards of offense against them. But their offensive line got outclassed and it led to Caleb Williams having the worst game of his college career.

Things won't get easier either for USC against Utah next week. Their offensive line will have to show up in that game or risk earning a similar result.