Keys to the game

Dec 14, 2020, 10:30 PM

General themes:
ND: Don’t let Clemson own the two minutes before and after halftime. Every game that I have seen of Clemson’s they have really keyed in right before halftime and also come out strong for the second half.

Clemson: Don’t let Notre Dame get out to an early lead. This makes the second half advantage that Clemson has shown (BC, Syracuse, ND, and Virginia Tech) games even more powerful if you’re playing ahead going into halftime. Turns a nail biter like BC/ND into a blowout like VT when the waves start to come.

When ND has the ball:
ND needs to keep moving the sticks and then convert in the red zone. They left points on the field in the first half and it almost killed them in the first game. They did an excellent job of mixing in runs to make 3rd downs manageable. From there, the receivers played above themselves on sideline passes and Mayer was great picking up yards after catch on crossers. Book will have to continue to put the ball in tight windows and Kyren Williams will have to keep fighting for yards that will be hard to come by. Clemson needs to disrupt series and put ND in long situations. ND is not as capable at picking up chunk plays as Clemson’s offense is. I’m sure BV will also bait Book into running with a collapsing or disguised defense as well. Would not be surprised to see 7-8 man drops and also with Venables taking away Michael Mayer as Book’s security blanket. Kyren Williams having a big run or screen pass would be a huge boost, but I have a feeling it will have to come via the latter this time. Also, how much have Clemson’s freshmen phenoms come on the DL in 6 weeks? Could this be their time to take a full step into their predecessors shoes against a top OL?

When Clemson has the ball:
I honestly think Clemson can make a lot of money on long balls to Powell and read keepers with Lawrence. Powell had multiple long plays and balled out last game. It may be a pick your poison for Clark Lea, but I think some of the attention has to go away from Etienne. Will Lea be able to find the right combination of extra blitzers and 4 man rushes to keep Clemson guessing? I heard a stat that Trevor Lawrence is ~75% passer when not pressured and under 40% when pressured. ND was great at getting to Sam Howell a few weeks ago in a second half shutout without Kyle Hamilton (targetting), so we will see if they’re able to replicate that. If Lawrence is not pressured I would go ahead and grab the current odds on him winning a bronze stiff arm. I am going to guess that Clemson’s OL will come out fired up, so it will be a good matchup to watch.

Special teams:
Clemson obviously has had great place kicking all year. Doerer for Notre Dame has been in a funk the last few weeks. Can he return to basically being a wash with Clemson’s kicker?

On the flip side, Notre Dame’s punting has been consistent and played a big part in flipping first half field position against Clemson and North Carolina. It’s my understanding Clemson’s punter performance has been like Doerer’s placekicking, mostly good, but a couple of shanks.

My prediction is either and ND win 27-24, or Clemson winning somewhere in the vicinity of 31-17 or 31-14. The Vegas line of 10 or 11 points seems about right for this one. My heart wants to say ND finds a way, but I am happy both teams found a way here regardless of outcome (cough* Big Ten*cough) and commend Clemson for playing on November 7 when I would bet other teams would not have. It’s going to be a physical game and I wish both teams good health aside from the bumps and bruises they will inevitably have the following day.

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Aggressiveness and toughness!

The young guys grew up a bit in the 1st game who were forced to play a ton of snaps against a good opponent "on the road"! I think Trenton Simpson had 75 snaps and Bresee something like 60-65.
Knowing more of what to expect and being prepared for it will be huge.
Remember the more experienced team was Notre Dame; especially after Clemson had been hit by injuries and Covid-19 protocol.
Some of that advantage will be neutralized this go around for Notre Dame(experience). Having those guys back also means keeping fresh legs on the football field.
Which will allow Coach V to be much more aggressive! I think we will score points against ND - the question will be can we slow them down!

#13 will have a big game. I am calling for it and believe it will happen. He hasn't been utilized enough and will be the "oh and make sure we cover this guy some, now back to Etienne and Rogers"! The underneath stuff to supplement the run game if we can run it affectively; should mean a big Spector day. A big Galloway day. Remember Galloway opened the VT game with the big pass play and then - disappeared. The middle of the field will be open right behind the LB's as they will most likely have their eyes in the backfield.

When ND has the ball - it's simple. Do we have the depth/strength/scheme/toughness/grit enough to keep their running game to 25 or more yards under their season average?
Can we keep Book in the pocket and make him a statue QB who "just beats you with his arm"! If he can, hats off to him. We did a good job of getting them to 3rd down - but that raskle escaped the pocket several times and gave them a fresh set of downs. He rushed for 65 yards. Their outstanding RB had 140(65 on one play still counts I know). I thought we bottled up their RB decent except the one big run and Book!
DJU didn't turn it over versus ND which is why we had a chance to win. The fumble at the 10 yard line man was just hurtful to the cause. You can't do that and win - we at least get a FG there and it's a different game. People say, "if they had done X and Y later - so it neutralizes the fumble - to which I disagree vehemently. A TD especially or a FG would likely have taken them out of what they did so well that night. Some of the play calling very well could have changed and it would not have gotten to that.

I don't think we should expect TL to have 439 yards passing. That was a great performance; but even the great TL can't be burdened with having to try and duplicate that. No. We need to do a better job of stopping the ND attack! We have the personnel to do it - we just have to do it. I expect a big game from Trenton Simpson and Myles Murphy this game!

Tigers win by multiple scores if we play A game. If not, it will be like it was in ND "if they are on their A game"!

Keys to the game

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For me I think it’s winning 3rd down

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Just don't let it come down to a kick for us to win it.

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