Paul Finebaum Says Clemson Can Beat Notre Dame With Uiagalelei

Clemson had players missing at numerous positions across the field, on both sides of the ball, but still came away with a dramatic come-from-behind win. The biggest loss in the eyes of most, however, was not having starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

Head coach Dabo Swinney has already ruled Lawrence out for the team's upcoming showdown with Notre Dame. The chances of Clemson being able to go into South Bend and come away with a win without their star quarterback has been a hot topic of conversation in recent days.

During an appearance on ESPN morning show Keyshawn, JWill & Zubin, SEC Network analyst and radio host Paul Finebaum says he thinks the Tigers are in good shape, despite their dismal first half against BC and not having the services of Lawrence. Even if that means freshman D.J. Uiagalelei will be making his first career road start against the Fighting Irish.

“They're in good shape at quarterback but their defense looked terrible in the first half," Finebaum said. "Some of this could be that Clemson always has this game. This is not an excuse. This is a fact. I think they're in good shape for Saturday night. With college football today, predicting a winner on Monday is foolhardy because you just don't know who is going to be around to play in the game but I think they have a reasonably good chance of getting out of there (with a win).”

Finebaum says that the Tigers coming out flat against BC is no reason for concern and points out that it's something that happens with this Clemson program from time to time. After watching how Uiagalelei performed in his first career start, the longtime radio personality thinks the freshman is perfectly capable of leading the Tigers to a win on South Bend.

“We get this game from Clemson every year,” Finebaum said, referring to the BC game. “Last year, it was North Carolina. A couple years ago, it was Syracuse and they lost. Four years ago it was NC State and they won on the final play. I’m not reading too much into that. They can win at Notre Dame with him (Uiagalelei).”

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