Clemson and Notre Dame kick off the most wonderful time of the year

Tyler Davis played in the 2020 ACC Championship game against Notre Dame.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Oct 31 07:00:05 GMT-04:00 2022

Dabo Swinney loves to make comparisons about Christmas, saying that National Signing Day is like Christmas morning to him and the coaches. For me, however, this is the most wonderful time of the year.

November means big games, rivalry games, and a springboard into December with the chance at an ACC Championship Game and learning where you're headed in the postseason. Add in Thanksgiving and Christmas and all the trappings of late autumn, and this time of year is spectacular.

The Tigers are 8-0 and ranked fifth in the country according to the AP Poll, but that poll is rendered meaningless Tuesday when the first College Football Playoff rankings come out. You have to figure Clemson will be right there in that 4-5 spot, with Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio State, Michigan, and TCU all making a case for the top four.

Someone asked me if Clemson can clinch the ACC Atlantic Division title with a win over the Irish. The answer is no: Notre Dame was a part of conference play only in 2020, the COVID year. However, with Wake Forest suffering a second loss, Clemson only needs a win or a Syracuse loss to clinch the Atlantic.

In other words, the Tigers might know if they’ve clinched by kickoff Saturday night. The Orange play at Pitt at 3:30 pm and are an underdog according to Vegas.

We had wondered if Clemson would wear the orange britches (championship games only) against Louisville in the next home game. That game is also Military Appreciation Day, which means purple jerseys. The last time Clemson wore purple jerseys and orange britches was at home against Georgia Tech in 2010. Will the Tigers still wear that combo if they’ve already clinched? We will ask Swinney, but only after the Notre Dame game. First things first.

As for Notre Dame, this is a burgeoning rivalry. The two programs have only played six times in history, and Clemson leads the series 4-2. However, they have played each other four times since 2015, and all have been on the big stage.

Who can forget the matchup of two undefeated teams in 2015 with the backdrop of Hurricane Joaquin? No. 12 Clemson won a 24-22 thriller at home over No. 6 Notre Dame in a driving rain, and BYOG was born.

The Tigers and Irish met again in a 2018 College Football Playoff semifinal when the No. 2 Tigers blasted No. 3 Notre Dame 30-3. No. 4 Notre Dame got back on the board in November of 2020 when it beat the No. 1 Tigers 47-40 in double-overtime, snapping Clemson’s 36-game regular-season winning streak while providing the Irish their first win over a top-ranked team since 1993.

That win carried the Irish to the 2020 ACC regular-season championship as a full-time league member because of the pandemic and set up a rematch with Clemson in the ACC Championship Game. The No. 3 Tigers got their revenge over No. 2 Notre Dame with a 34-10 beat down to win their sixth straight ACC title game.

The teams play four times from 2022 to 2028 — and seven times total from 2022 to 2037 — which means this rivalry will only continue to grow.

After watching Notre Dame beat Syracuse Saturday, I posted this on our board:

In one of those almost rare perfect storms, Clemson’s previous opponent played its next opponent, and there are a few takeaways from that contest.

First off, the Irish took a page out of Clemson’s book and ran it right at the undersized Syracuse defensive line. Clemson ran it 60 times for 293 yards, or 4.9 yards per carry. The Irish rolled up 246 yards on 56 carries, or 4.3 yards per rush. The Irish turned it over twice, both on interceptions, but still ran 75 plays for an average of 4.8 yards per play. They gained a total of 362 yards on 75 plays. Clemson had 450 yards on 85 plays, despite the turnovers, and had 5.3 yards per play, or almost a yard more per play than the Irish.

Now, different schemes, different gameplans, I get it. But it is interesting to look and see the teams attacked Syracuse the same way from an offensive standpoint. Clemson was a little more efficient, and without the four turnovers, would have likely blown the doors off the Orange.

Now, let’s look at the Notre Dame offense. Quarterback Drew Pyne is more of a game manager than anything else. He has 29 carries for 107 yards and isn’t really a threat to break a long one. The Irish are really a three-headed monster at running back with Audric Estime (99-558), Logan Diggs (95-431) and Chris Tyree (78-332). They lean on that big offensive line and don’t do a lot of motion and trickery…they just line up and come right at you. Through the air, it’s all about tight end Michael Mayer, who has 47 receptions for 580 yards. The Irish have 1571 yards through the air, and 1/3 of those yards are his. After his 47 catches, the rest of the team has just 83, with 24 going to Lorenzo Styles. After Styles, there's not much production, so Pyne looks Mayer’s way almost all of the time. I can imagine that the Tigers will stick Barrett Carter and Andrew Mukuba/Malcolm Greene on Mayer and try and bracket the big guy.

Now, Clemson’s offense versus the Notre Dame defense. The Irish are a solid group and ranked 28th nationally in total defense (Clemson is 27th). Whereas Clemson is seventh in rushing defense, the Irish are 50th. Notre Dame is 36th against the pass. Linebacker JB Bertrand (48 tackles) and big defensive lineman Isaiah Foskey (7 sacks) are two to watch. Foskey will line up Jordan McFadden most of the time.

Again, a good matchup all around for the Tigers. But on the road, against a good defense and an offense that wants to play keep-away, they can’t turn it over four times and expect to win. It would be nice to see DJ Uiagalelei get the wide receivers more involved in the offense – Tiger wide receivers have 11 catches over the last two games, and all of those are by Antonio Williams (7), and Joseph Ngata (4). Beaux Collins and the rest have been shut out. It would be nice to see the Tigers come out and throw it from sideline to sideline and make the Irish cover the entire field (like we saw with Tennessee when the Vols drubbed Kentucky).