Key Takeaways From The Win Over Clemson: Offense

Notre Dame fought, scrapped and clawed its way to a 47-40 double overtime victory over the #1 Clemson Tigers. There was plenty to learn from looking back on the contest, and we continue our coverage of the victory by looking at four key takeaways from the Irish offense during the win.

Book Gets His Big Game Victory

I don’t know what it is, but I had a feeling going into last night’s game that quarterback Ian Book was going to get a chance to win this game late. I wrote about it in my game prediction, and the veteran quarterback did what he needed to do to help lead his team to the huge victory.

Prior to this game the biggest win in Book’s 26-3 career was a 2018 matchup against Syracuse, but his resume looks a lot better now that he racked up almost 400 yards of offense against Clemson.

There will be plenty for Book to clean up from the game, especially early on. There were some throws out there he didn’t take early in the game, especially to tight end Tommy Tremble, but they weren’t really like the misses we’ve seen in the past where he was just unwilling to take a shot. It was more about his progressions not getting his eyes where they needed to be in time, because Book certainly did not show an unwilling to attack Clemson.

That right there is my biggest takeaway in the game, and if Book can finally start doing that consistently this offense will really take off. We saw several gutsy throws in this game, and throws he’s capable of making a lot more than he has in the past. His back shoulder to McKinley, the third-down drag route he fired to Tremble, he hit two post routes in the game, he attacked downfield when he was on the move, and even his third down heave to Ben Skowronek impressed me even though it fell incompletely.

What’s the old expression, you’ll miss all the shots you never take. Well, Book will look at this game and know there are things to clean up, but he will also look at this game and see when he’s aggressive, when he’s attacking, when he’s giving his wideouts chances to make plays, they’ll come through for him, and he is good enough to be what he was last night on a consistent basis. He’ll learn that you don’t have to be perfect to be great.

Book was especially good on third-down. Book went 9-15 for 117 yards and a touchdown on third-down throws.

Notre Dame Offensive Line Makes A Statement

I don’t know if there are two people in the Notre Dame program I’ve had more criticism for in recent seasons than Ian Book and offensive line coach Jeff Quinn. Last night, in the biggest regular season game of the Brian Kelly era, both were in the spotlight, and both came through with shining colors. Book made money plays and Quinn’s offensive line was clearly the best unit on the football field.

The Irish offensive line set the tone in the game, opening up a huge run lane for running back Kyren Williams on the second play of the game, springing him for a 65-yard touchdown. It was a perfectly executed play and it was indicative of how the night would go in the trenches. Notre Dame’s offensive line pushed the Clemson defensive line around all game long.

Clemson was forced to alter its strategy early, and even then the Irish line was able to create running room for Williams. The offense went away from running the ball in the second half, which was a big reason the Irish only scored three points in the first 28 minutes of the second half, but when called upon late and in overtime to open up run lanes they did just that.

The pass protection was also outstanding when you consider how much Clemson threw at the Irish. When a team has Clemson’s talent and runs the exotic pressures the Tigers showed they are going to hit home from time to time, but Brent Venables’ defense finished with two sacks, which tied for its lowest total of the season, and it came on a lot more pass snaps than Clemson faced the last time it only had two sacks.

Late in the game and in overtime, the ability of the line to keep a body on a body was a big reason Book was able to step into the pocket and scramble, and to get outside of the pocket, where he made several big plays.

Notre Dame rushed for 208 yards in the game. The last time the Tigers gave up 200 yards rushing in a game was back in the 2016 national title game against Alabama, a game the Tigers won. If you take out the overtime production the Irish still rushed for 195 yards, which is just one yard shy of the most yards Clemson gave up in the last three seasons, and that was to Ohio State in last season’s College Football Playoff semi-final.

The Irish offensive line was hailed as the nation’s best coming into this game, and all they did during the game was prove the hype to be real.

Wide Receivers Step Up

I talked last week about how the Irish pass game had shown everything it needed to this season to thrive, but it had not done so all at once, and that limited the pass game coming into last night’s matchup. Well, last night you saw multiple wideouts stepping up in big moments to help fuel the victory.

Senior Javon McKinley has been coming on of late, but he had the best game of his career in the biggest game of his career. McKinley hauled in five passes for 102 yards, and he made game-changing plays. Clemson had a very hard time handling him down the field, and he showed the talent that made him one of the nation’s top wideouts coming out of high school.

McKinley also had an outstanding game as a blocker, but that will surprise no one.

Senior Avery Davis has been rarely targeted this season, but when he has been targeted he’s played good football. That continued last night, as Davis was rarely targeted for the first 58 minutes of the game.

Davis was called upon on the final drive and he came through in a big, big way. Davis executed a perfect post route that had the Clemson safety turning in circles, and it freed up the veteran wideout for a 53-yard game-changing play. Three plays later, Davis used his instincts to work open, which gave Book just enough room to fit a ball into the end zone for the game-tying touchdown.

If not for a Ben Skowronek fourth-down drop on the previous series this would have been the perfect game for the Irish pass catchers. Skowronek had his moments as well, but his drop and illegal block after the Irish got the ball deep in Clemson territory were costly.

Red Zone Offense Is Still A Problem

The overtime game was certainly exciting, but the reality is this game never should have gotten into overtime. Notre Dame’s failure to convert red zone trips into touchdowns kept this game from being a convincing Irish victory.

Notre Dame had a 4th-and-1 at the Clemson 2-yard line on its second possession, but a false start from freshman tight end Michael Mayer pushed the offense back and forced a field goal. The way Notre Dame’s offensive line was pushing Clemson around at that point you had to feel good about not only moving the chains, but getting into the end zone on 4th-and-1.

On Notre Dame’s next red zone trip, Mayer dropped a third-down throw that would have gone for a touchdown, once again forcing a field goal attempt.

At that point of the game it should have been 21-7 instead of 13-7.

Late in the third quarter, Book picked up the yards needed for a first down, and if he holds onto the ball its first and goal at the 2-yard line. Instead, Book fumbled into the end zone and Clemson recovered for a touchback.

The red zone offense stepped up on the final drive of regulation and in overtime, but if it had done its job the first 59 minutes the game never would have gone to overtime.

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