Clemson Not Worried About Beating Notre Dame, Just Clemson
Paralysis by analysis.
This is a real thing, especially in the ever micromanaged sport of college football—especially when a team has two weeks to prepare. Prepare for the game that will determine the fate of their season. Whether or not they can do what they have become known for, winning championships, or if they will hand off their crown to the one-time Cinderella's.
That is what is facing the Clemson Tigers, as they prepare for their rematch with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Dec. 19 in the ACC Championship. But for those who are thinking the Tigers will try something crazy or be something they are not, head coach Dabo Swinney has a message for them—the Tigers' loss to Notre Dame earlier this season means nothing.
"Both teams have an open date this week. It's Game 11, we are who we are and they are who they are," Swinney said. "The things that got you there, you're not just all of a sudden going to get away from those things. I think you've got to be good at what you do. You certainly can learn from your first matchup, but at the end of the day it comes down to execution and taking care of the ball."
Taking care of the ball is something the Tigers managed not to do in their 47-40 double-overtime loss at Notre Dame. In fact, turnovers directly led to 10 points on back-to-back fumbles–the most heart-breaking of which occurred when Travis Etienne fumbled a pitch that was caught in stride and returned for a touchdown.
"We had three turnovers in the game. We did not play well up-front like we needed to. We gave up big plays," Swinney said. "We have a lot we can clean up, things that we can control. That's where it starts for us, it's more about us than it is them."
That mantra of it being all about Clemson may have never rung more true than it did following that loss.
If Clemson plays a clean game, they are the ones sitting in the catbird seat with regards to a sixth straight trip to the College Football Playoff, instead of playing for their lives in a must-win championship game. But, as Swinney has said before, his teams are built for moments like this.
"You have to go make the plays. I don't necessarily think you trick people in games like this. You have to out-execute them," Swinney said. "That was a great win for them. They made a few more plays than we did. But none of that matters in this one. You do it all over again. You don't get to carry over the good plays or the mistakes. You gotta go earn it next Saturday."
