CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Pain in South Bend: Irish run roughshod over Tigers to hand Clemson first loss of season
Clemson's defense wasn't physical enough against Notre Dame.

Pain in South Bend: Irish run roughshod over Tigers to hand Clemson first loss of season


by - Senior Writer -

SOUTH BEND, IN – Clemson was beaten in all facets of the game Saturday night in South Bend, and the fans chanted “overrated” as the Irish put together another physical drive late in the fourth quarter only added to the pain.

The defensive line was manhandled by the Notre Dame running game, special teams had a punt blocked that was returned for a touchdown, and the offense was inept and turnover-prone at critical times as the Irish spanked No. 4 Clemson in a 35-14 beatdown at Notre Dame Stadium.

It is the first loss coming out of an open date for the Tigers since 2014. It was a lackluster performance all around – the defense held on early but didn’t set the edge enough and acted disinterested in tackling, the offensive play-calling went sideways more than up the field in the first half, and it all happened on a day when the Tigers clinched the ACC Atlantic Division with a Syracuse loss to Pitt.

The loss certainly doesn’t preclude the Tigers from making the College Football Playoff, but that now seems unlikely given the nature of the beatdown and the national perception that the Tigers didn’t belong in the top four last week.

The Irish rushed for 263 yards, the most Clemson has given up since the 2016 win over Louisville. Clemson gained just 281 yards of total offense, and 154 of those yards came in the fourth quarter after the game was out of reach. In true crunch time, the offense mustered a meager 137 yards through three quarters.

DJ Uiagalelei was 27-39 for 191 yards with one touchdown and one interception. However, 113 of those pass yards were in the third quarter. Will Shipley had 12 carries for 63 yards.

“First of all, congratulations to Notre Dame. They were outstanding. Just absolutely dominated us in every facet of football, starting with coaching, blocking, and tackling,” Swinney said during his postgame press conference. “You name it. It is what it is. So, congratulations to Coach Freeman and his staff. It was a great environment tonight. I always tell our team you get what you earned, and we earned this tonight for sure.

“Momentum is tough in a game like this. It's critical. And we lost momentum right out of the gate with the blocked punt touchdown. It was just very simple. We just flat out didn't do our job. That was huge momentum early and we never got it back. The blocked punt for the score, the pick-six, and another interception where we gave them the ball close was huge.”

Clemson was ineffective in the first half, and a bad set of downs set up Notre Dame’s first touchdown. The Tigers were forced to punt from their own 21 and Aidan Swanson’s punt was blocked by Jordan Botelho. The loose ball was scooped up by Prince Und Kollie and returned 17 yards for the touchdown and a 7-0 Notre Dame lead.

The teams traded ineffective possessions, but the Irish started to find something with the running game on their fourth drive and only a missed field goal kept them from points. Late in the first half the Irish ran all over the Clemson defense, running it 10 times on an 11-play drive that covered 78 yards. Quarterback Drew Pyne covered the last five yards himself and the Irish took a 14-0 lead into the locker room.

It was the first time Clemson had been shut out in the first half since the season opener against Georgia in 2021. It was the only the third time that Clemson was shut out in the first half under Dabo Swinney.

The Tigers struggled offensively in the third quarter and after two ineffectual drives Swinney opted for backup quarterback Cade Klubnik. Klubnik came in with the Tigers pinned deep, the drive starting at their own 7-yard line. The first play gained two yards and on 2nd-and-8 from the nine, Klubnik rolled left and threw an interception, giving Notre Dame the ball at the Tiger 14.

Three plays later Audric Estime rumbled in from two yards out and the Irish led 21-0 early in the fourth quarter.

The coaches then made another change, putting Uiagalelei back in the game. Uiagalelei led the Tigers down the field, but then made another mistake, throwing an interception to Benjamin Morrison that was returned 96 yards for a touchdown and a 28-0 lead.

The Tigers were finally able to dent the scoreboard with a Will Shipley one-yard run with 10:17 to play, making it 28-7. However, the Irish continued to run over the defense and put together another physical scoring drive that made it 35-7.

The Tigers finished the scoring with a late touchdown pass to Joseph Ngata.

Clemson returns to action next week, hosting Louisville at 3:30 for Military Appreciation.


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Subject (Replies: 43) Author
spacer TNET: Pain in South Bend: Irish run roughshod over Tigers to hand Clemson first loss of season
TigerNet News®
spacer Roughshod is the understatement of the night!!***
WhoDatTiger®
spacer Re: Roughshod is the understatement of the night!!******
Erikrez
spacer Re: Roughshod is the understatement of the night!!******
dixiedon
spacer Re: Roughshod is the understatement of the night!!******
Erikrez
spacer Re: Roughshod is the understatement of the night!!******
northernVAtiger®
spacer Re: Roughshod is the understatement of the night!!******
aroseforthehall®
spacer At least you had the option of cutting the sound off.
cutgrfan®
spacer At least you had the option of cutting the sound off.
cutgrfan®
spacer Re: Roughshod is the understatement of the night!!******
Mac7win
spacer Re: Roughshod is the understatement of the night!!******
northernVAtiger®
spacer Re: Roughshod is the understatement of the night!!******
85tiger2012®
spacer Re: Roughshod is the understatement of the night!!******
Erikrez
spacer “Coaches were poorly prepared”***
tiger20030
spacer Re: “Coaches were poorly prepared”***
41rcook
spacer Re: “Coaches were poorly prepared”***
allorangeallthetime52®
spacer Re: “Coaches were poorly prepared”***
41rcook
spacer Re: “Coaches were poorly prepared”***
41rcook
spacer Re: “Coaches were poorly prepared”***
CU1976
spacer 100% lame effort across the board
TigerCook®
spacer Re: 100% lame effort across the board
Jimmy_GreenBeans®
spacer Re: 100% lame effort across the board
jpvenez
spacer Ha! Good one. That’s our entire playbook. Especially
97TigerPaw
spacer I loveDabo, but this loss is on the coaches…
PAWsitively AllIn
spacer Re: I loveDabo, but this loss is on the coaches…
NCCU
spacer Exactly. Cade earned more time even with that pick.
97TigerPaw
spacer I loveDabo, but this loss is on the coaches…
PAWsitively AllIn
spacer Re: TNET: Pain in South Bend: Irish run roughshod over Tigers to hand Clemson first loss of season
northernVAtiger®
spacer Re: TNET: Pain in South Bend: Irish run roughshod over Tigers to hand Clemson first loss of season
cwparris
spacer Re: TNET: This type of game has been coming all year
clemvol
spacer Re: TNET: This type of game has been coming all year
allorangeallthetime52®
spacer #### poor performance…
Clemson_Orange
spacer Re: #### poor performance…
macodi
spacer Re: #### poor performance…
logans heroes
spacer Re: TNET: Pain in South Bend: Irish run roughshod over Tigers to hand Clemson first loss of season
mb_tiger
spacer Re: TNET: Pain in South Bend: Irish run roughshod over Tigers to hand Clemson first loss of season
allorangeallthetime52®
spacer Re: TNET: Pain in South Bend: Irish run roughshod over Tigers to hand Clemson first loss of season
teeman4life89
spacer Re: TNET: Pain in South Bend: Irish run roughshod over Tigers to hand Clemson first loss of season
teeman4life89
spacer Re: TNET: Pain in South Bend: Irish run roughshod over Tigers to hand Clemson first loss of season
teeman4life89
spacer Re: TNET: Pain in South Bend: Irish run roughshod over Tigers to hand Clemson first loss of season
teeman4life89
spacer Re: TNET: Pain in South Bend: Irish run roughshod over Tigers to hand Clemson first loss of season
teeman4life89
spacer Re: TNET: Pain in South Bend: Irish run roughshod over Tigers to hand Clemson first loss of season
teeman4life89
spacer Re: TNET: Pain in South Bend: Irish run roughshod over Tigers to hand Clemson first loss of season
Clemsonbaby65
spacer Terrible, conservative play-calling 1st 3 quarters. Bad OC.
Razzmatazz