Round one
Saturday’s meeting between Clemson, Notre Dame will offer little resolution
Ding, ding.
The heavyweight showdown we’ve waited all season for — the one we were most saddened by the thought of losing when the coronavirus had the college football season down for the count, and the one we were most elated to have brought back to us when the season rose from the canvas — is finally upon us.
№1 Clemson. №4 Notre Dame. Under the lights of the Irish’s famed stadium and with Touchdown Jesus presiding. We knew there was a good chance that College Football Playoff seeding would be at stake, but, somewhat surreally, there are bigger ACC conference standings implications at stake.
Chiefly, we’ll get to find out who gets to wear their home colors in Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium on Dec. 19.
… that’s it?
Well, as far as I can see it.
But you just said it was bigger than the College Football Playoff stakes.
And I stand by it.
Because for every conclusion and for every spoil that can be reaped on Saturday night, I think it can all be <strikethrough> trumped </strikethrough> (Editor’s note: OK, not the appropriate week to use that word, Robbie; let’s use…) usurped when the teams meet again on Dec. 19.
Especially considering where Trevor Lawrence will be standing on Saturday — on the sideline as opposed to in the pocket.
Lawrence has recovered from his bout with COVID-19 first detected in the week leading up to the Boston College game, but he has not completed his cardiac testing to allow him to play. While his absence surely reduces Clemson’s chances of beating Notre Dame, it also means Clemson will likely have a route back into the College Football Playoff should Lawrence return to action and lead the Tigers to a sixth-straight ACC title.
Even if Lawrence were playing, it probably wouldn’t be the end of Clemson’s title dreams. Earlier this season, a top-five matchup occurred between №2 Alabama and №3 Georgia. The Bulldogs held an early lead behind starting quarterback Stetson Bennett III, but didn’t score after halftime as the Tide stormed back to win 41–24.
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In the next Associated Press poll, Georgia was still ranked №3.
Granted, the AP poll does not adjudicate (Editor’s note: OH FFS ROBBIE STOP USING ELECTION WORDS) the College Football Playoff, but no one would claim Georgia has been eliminated at this stage. And nor should whoever comes up short in Saturday’s contest.
Notre Dame’s road back from a loss will obviously be harder than Clemson’s would be. It’s hard to imagine a better, luckier hand being dealt to the Irish. Not only do they face a back-up quarterback, but the Tigers are without three crucial defensive starters for the second game in a row — linebackers Jamie Skalski and Mike Jones, and defensive tackle Tyler Davis. While so many will zero in on how the Tigers are able to do offensively with a freshman quarterback, the game will swing much more so on how the Tigers are able to slow down Ian Book and the Irish offense.
Because as we saw last week, the Clemson offense didn’t miss much of a beat with D.J. Uiagalelei at the wheel. True, the freshman sensation from southern California will be facing a much more talented defense this time around, and he won’t be in familiar confines, but he’ll also have a lot more experience and preparation to draw upon compared to last Saturday.
In order to put Uiagalelei in the best position to be successful as a passer, the Tigers will have to get the run game going whether that be via the ACC’s new all-time leading rusher in Travis Etienne or via Uiagalelei himself. It was clear a week ago the Tigers were reticent to utilize the quarterback in the running game for a combination of reasons — Uiagalelei has dealt with a nagging shoulder injury since the Miami game, and even if he was healthy, the Tigers would be worried about their QB depth behind him. But it was also clear the Tigers’ running game suffered when that threat didn’t exist, and the game swung when Uiagalelei kept the ball on 4th-and-1 and scampered 30 yards for the touchdown to essentially half BC’s lead in the third quarter.
Establishing the run won’t be easy for the Tigers. Notre Dame’s defense is in the top 10 nationally in rushing yards allowed per game and in the top 20 in terms of yards allowed per attempt. The Irish have only allowed one team to rush for more than 110 yards, and not coincidentally it was the only time this season they’ve allowed more than 13 points — Florida State rushed for 153 yards in a 42–26 defeat on Oct. 10. Meanwhile, the Tigers had season lows in terms of attempts (31), yards (106) and yards per attempt (3.42) a week ago. Some of that will be the nature of playing from behind, but even during the early stages, the Tigers struggled to stay out of passing downs.
But while Notre Dame holds the advantage in a few head-to-head matchups, they will be at a deficit in terms of what’s going on inside everyone’s heads. Because for Clemson’s inexperience in a few positions, the Tigers have the institutional knowledge that these are the sort of games the program has won time after time after time the last half-decade. That isn’t the case for Notre Dame — their experience over the Brian Kelly years has been getting to the big game and failing to get over that lofty hump to return the Irish program to its former glory.
Twice, those games happened against Clemson.
In 2015, Deshaun Watson got his first big win as the Tigers’ starting quarterback, leading №12 Clemson over №6 Notre Dame in the driving rain of Memorial Stadium.
In 2018, Trevor Lawrence got his first big win as the Tigers’ starting quarterback, leading №2 Clemson over №3 Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinal in Arlington.
Wouldn’t you know it? Look who D.J. Uiagalelei faces in his first big start for the Tigers.
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Robbie Tinsley is an award-winning columnist from his time as the sports editor of The Journal in Seneca, S.C. He now works on a freelance basis from his home in Massachusetts. For compliments, he can be reached either via Twitter @RTinMan13 or email robtinsley13@gmail.com. Any complaints can be directed to esprott@upstatetoday.com.
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This column also appears in the Saturday, November 7th edition of the The (Seneca) Journal
