Game Day Chat: Notre Dame vs Clemson

Clemson wins 34-10.

Clemson beats Notre Dame to win the ACC Championship

6:31 PM - Clemson goes into the fourth quarter with a 31-3 lead. Notre Dame offense is putting up almost no fight. Team is completely shell shocked right now and has no answers from a coaching or player standpoint.

6:07 PM - Another quick punt by Notre Dame, this time after five plays. Notre Dame picked up an initial first down, but a completion for 0 yards and a third-down scramble ended the drive. The Irish wideouts aren't getting any separation at all in the second half and the Tigers have adjusted to the Irish pass concepts that were getting open in the first half.

Book had Tremble open on a drag route on 2nd-down, but Book didn't see him and threw a short throw to Skowronek for 0 yards.

6:02 PM - Irish defense forces another three-and-out. Nick McCloud was held badly on the first play, which forced a holding call. A pressure by Jayson Ademilola ended with an Adetokunbo Ogundeji sack on the next play. Clemson couldn't get the yards back and punted. Irish defensive line is whipping Clemson's offensive line through the first two series.

5:57 PM - And just like that Notre Dame's offense goes three-and-out. Minus-1 on a jet sweep on the first play was a result of Clemson loading the box and having ND out-numbered. The Irish receivers got no separation on 2nd-and-11, forcing Book to scramble and Tommy Kraemer got smoked on a 3rd-and-11 stunt that resulted in Book getting swarmed for the sack.

5:53 PM - Irish defense does its part to start the second half. After a 9-yard gain on first-down, DT Kurt Hinish beat the Clemson guard up the field to bring down Lawrence for a 4-yard loss on a read zone play. On 3rd-and-5, Clemson went back to its favorite matchup of Rodgers vs. Crawford, but this time it was a quick throw and Crawford was all over it, breaking it up and forcing a punt.

5:45 - SECOND HALF ADJUSTMENTS

Offensively, Book needs to start playing better. Beyond that, the Irish need to keep moving the pocket by design. That has worked really well so far. Rees also needs to take a few more shots to soften up the Clemson defense. Trick play or just normal shots, he needs to do so, and not have it be to Ben Skowronek, which is where the only first shot call went to. Using Chris Tyree would be a good idea as well.

Defensively, Lea needs to figure out how to protect Crawford better and he needs to dial up a few more pressures to get Lawrence out of rhythm. The ends also need to start bringing more pressure, and Shayne Simon can't get man, if any, reps at Buck in the second half.

My first half thoughts and analysis can be found HERE.

5:16 PM - Another quick punt by Notre Dame. After an 11-yard gain on play one the Irish quickly went three-and-out. Again Book's unwillingness to throw on time hurt the Irish. Mayer was open on a drag on second down, but Book was unwilling to throw it, instead scrambling and throwing it away.

The series was hurt first by a 4-yard loss on a run to C'Bo Flemister where Joshua Lugg got beat badly up the field by Tyler Davis. We are almost to halftime and Chris Tyree has 0 touches on offense.

5:08 PM - Clemson continues to pick on Shaun Crawford, as Clemson OC Tony Elliott keeps finding ways to get Rodgers matched up in the slot with the Irish safety. Clemson went for 15 and 24 on back-to-back plays to Rodgers, which helped the Tigers get into the red zone.

A good red zone stand that ended with Clarence Lewis breaking up a slant throw that Lawrence threw behind the receiver forced a field goal attempt. Irish trail 17-3.

5:01 PM - Back-to-back mistakes by Ian Book forces a three-and-out. Book wisely hit Michael Mayer on a check down to get 9 yards on the first play. On the second play, however, Book scrambled around and took a 10-yard sack.

Rees made a great play-call on 3rd-and-11 and Ben Skowronek came wide open on a deep curl route, but Book rushed the read and was unwilling to make that throw. It was a big, big mistake as the Irish needed a drive there. Play call was what they needed, Book couldn't pull the trigger.

4:54 PM - Clemson goes up 14-3 on a 33-yard TD pass from Lawrence to freshman receiver EJ Williams. It was a sloppy series for the Irish, who gave up an easy 21-yard gain on a stop route to start the drive. A missed sack opportunity by Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa allowed Lawrence to scramble for positive yards.

On the next play, Lawrence stepped into the pocket and found Williams wide open in the middle of the zone. It was a blown coverage assignment, and it appeared by LB Shayne Simon, who got no depth on his drop and froze when Lawrence stepped into the pocket, and the ball went right behind his head.

4:48 PM - Notre Dame turns it over on downs.

Rees started the series off quite well, going with a Jet Sweep that went for 18 yards and a bootleg that got Tommy Tremble open for a 30-yard gain. Once down in Clemson territory the drive stalled. A wildcat run (they will come back to this) went for 1-yard, and then the Irish imploded. Kyren Williams missed a cut and was stopped for a 3-yard gain, and on 3rd-and-6 Joshua Lugg got blown up by James Skalski on a run stunt and Williams had to make guys miss to even get three yards.

On 4th-and-3, Book rushed out of the pocket and then missed a wide open Avery Davis on a drag to turn the ball over on downs.

4:44 PM - That kind of look off by Lawrence to manipulate the safety is the kind of play you won't see from a freshman, even one who throws for 439 yards, and that's why having Lawrence back matters.

4:38 PM - Notre Dame got beat for a 67-yard touchdown as Clemson takes a 7-3 lead.

That was a questionable call by ND but an even better job by Lawrence. He had Notre Dame in a Cover 1 look with press outside and Shaun Crawford matched up in the slot against Amari Rodgers. Hamilton was playing the middle of the field. At the snap, Lawrence looked Hamilton off to the right, and as soon as Hamilton went in that direction, Lawrence came back to the post route to Rodgers, which was a mismatch that he knew he wanted. Great job and great ball.

4:32 PM - Notre Dame's season long red zone woes continued, as Book was unwilling to take a shot into the corner on third-and-goal to Mayer, instead scrambling before throwing the ball away. The field goal attempt was missed. That third-down throw needs to be high and to the corner where Mayer has a chance to go up and get it or its out of bounds. In this kind of game that throw needs to be made.

It was a well-called series by Tommy Rees prior to the red zone trip. He went pass on first-down to start the series and then used back-to-back shifts to get Clemson to adjust, which opened up running room, but the red zone series was bad.

Notre Dame has controlled action so far, out-gaining Clemson 102-31 to start the game but leads just 3-0.

4:24 PM - 1st Q - Notre Dame baited QB Trevor Lawrence into throwing a post. The Irish showed an aggressive look but MLB Drew White dropped into coverage and tipped the Lawrence pass, which was picked off by Kyle Hamilton. Irish limited big plays by Clemson, who took an early shot that was covered by Hamilton.

Lawrence saw Hamilton working outside and White was tucked tight. At the snap Hamilton did work outside, but White got very good depth on his pass drop and undercut the post route, which Lawrence thought he would throw behind Hamilton. Great call, great execution.

4:16 PM - 1st Q - Notre Dame goes down and gets a 51-yard field goal on drive one.

There was some up and down on the drive from QB Ian Book. He had missed reads on his first and last throws, and taking a sack on the last play of the drive was a mistake. He had Javon McKinley in a 1-on-1 but didn't look at him, and the sack made the throw harder to do.

In between Book was sharp and quick with his decisions. He banged a well defended stop route on 2nd-15 to get the Irish in a manageable third-down, and he threw an accurate and well-time throw to Michael Mayer to convert that third down. Mayer caught two passes for 27 yards on the drive.

Clemson loaded the box and had 8 guys near the line every time. Running downhill will be the key for ND. Clemson is bringing wide pressures in an attempt to stop the outside zones, and the one outside run ND had went for minus 5 because the Irish were out-leveraged.

4:06 PM - Clemson won the toss and deferred, Notre Dame will start out on offense.

Here is my view for today:

3:36 PM - Sophomore center Zeke Correll is dressed and going through warm ups like normal, so he is clearly available today.

While we wait for kickoff, get caught up on all the pregame analysis of the game.

Notre Dame Depth Chart
Clemson Depth Chart

First Glance: Clemson Tigers - Breaking down the Clemson season results, statistical leaders, and its offensive and defensive philosophy

Clemson At First Glance: Names To Know - Offense
Clemson At First Glance: Names To Know - Defense

Stacking Up: Notre Dame Offense vs. Clemson - Breaking down how the Notre Dame offense stacks up on paper against the Clemson defense.
Stacking Up: Notre Dame Defense vs. Clemson - Breaking down how the Notre Dame defense stacks up on paper against the Clemson offense.

ACC Championship Matchup: Notre Dame Offense vs. Clemson
ACC Championship Matchup: Notre Dame Defense vs. Clemson

Q&A: Talking Notre Dame vs. Clemson Rematch

WSBT: Talking Notre Dame vs Clemson, The College Football Playoff

Podcast: Notre Dame vs. Clemson: What It Means For The Fighting Irish

Podcast: Opponent Insider - Vince DeDario interviews Ryan Kantor of TigerNet.com

GAME PREDICTION

Game Prediction: Notre Dame vs. Clemson - The Irish Breakdown staff make their picks for the Irish/Tiger matchup.

NEWS AND NOTES

Notre Dame Remains No. 2 In The College Football Playoff Rankings

Not Playing Trevor Lawrence Was More Difficult

Notre Dame Is Focused On Clemson, Not The CFP

Getting Back To Basics Is key For Notre Dame vs. Clemson

Brian Kelly Updates Injury Status For ACC Title Game

Dabo Swinney Talks About Notre Dame In The ACC

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