Paul Finebaum explains why USC 'will not be competing for a national championship'

No. 9 USC survived a triple-overtime battle against Arizona that bled into the early hours of Sunday morning. However, it looks like the Wildcats got the better of Trojans on paper.

Arizona out-gained the Trojans in passing yards, rushing yards and finished with more sacks and tackles for loss while the Wildcats controlled the game’s tempo with over 35 minutes of possession time. Still, USC was able to pull it off thanks to quarterback Caleb Williams.

According to Paul Finebaum, a combination of games against Notre Dame, Utah, Washington and Oregon in a five-game span will ruin any chances USC have at making a College Football Playoff berth this season.

“It will be too much,” Finebaum said of the remainder of the Trojans’ schedule. “I don’t see any way that the Trojans can survive this. We can say all we want about Caleb Williams and Lincoln Riley and about the offense, but when you take a look at [the game], what are these guys doing? They looked like they were walking a dog on a Sunday morning in Central Park. Try getting near a receiver — act like you care! Maybe even bother tackling somebody every once in a while.

“This is not play football. This is the real thing and that’s why Southern Cal will not be contending for a national championship.”

Williams finished the Arizona win with his worst performance of the season through the air. He completed 14 of 25 passes for 219 yards and a touchdowns, but made up for his lack of production with three touchdowns on the ground, incuding the game-winning two-point conversion to end the third overtime.

Meanwhile, his defense has given up over 1,000 yards during the past two weeks.

Despite his performance, he still ranks No. 1 in total passing touchdown with 22 on the season, and is No. 8 in the nation with 1,822 passing yards through six games. Still, without a capable defense, his stats won’t matter. If Finebaum is to be believed, fans should come to the realization before the upcoming stretch that shooting for the CFP might not be rooted in reality anymore unless something drastic changes defensively.

As the Trojans hit the drawing board, USC will turn its attention toward an ailing Notre Dame team fresh off a crowd-storming upset loss against Louisville at home. Saturday’s opening kickoff is scheduled for prime time at 7:30 p.m. ET live on NBC.