Keys To Victory For The Notre Dame Defense vs Clemson

Breaking down the keys to victory for the Notre Dame defense when it takes on Clemson

Notre Dame (5-3) has been fueled by its defense for years, and that has been the case in 2022 as well. If Notre Dame is going to pull off the upset against the 4th-ranked Clemson Tigers (8-0), the Irish defense will have to be at its best.

Clemson isn't as dynamic on offense as it has been in the past, but it's still a dangerous unit. It's up to Al Golden and his staff to get the unit to be at its best, and if that happens the Irish will have a chance to pull off this upset.

Here are the keys to victory for the Irish defense:

1. Tackle, Tackle, Tackle - The worst thing that Notre Dame can do in this game - beyond just plain blown assignments - is not tackling at a high level. Notre Dame has been a very inconsistent tackling team this season, but that can't be the case against Clemson. The Irish defenders must take good angles to the ball and tackle very well in space. The result will be forcing Clemson to earn all their yards by limiting cheap plays, and that will give the defense a chance to keep the Tigers in check.

2. Shut Down The Run Game - Clemson doesn't have a dominant run game, but the run game is the foundation of the offense. The Tigers are averaging a respectable 185.4 yards per game on the ground and 4.6 yards per carry. When the offense is at its best the ground game is going and the Tigers are balanced. Notre Dame cannot allow that to happen, it absolutely must shut down the run game and force Clemson to throw the ball a lot more than they otherwise want to throw it.

Clemson has a big offensive line that leans on people, and we saw them wear down the undersized Syracuse line to the tune of 293 yards. Notre Dame's defensive line isn't the biggest, but it is athletic and when it has been on its game it has been quite good against the run. This can't be one of those games where the run defense is inconsistent. That means being gap sound, using the unit's athleticism to be disruptive, and creating as many negatives and stuffs as possible.

If Notre Dame can put Clemson behind the sticks, limit the impact of running back Will Shipley and make this a throwing game they should have a chance to make a lot of stops. This is especially true if it is as windy as the current forecasts are calling for.

3. Get In The Quarterback's Head - Junior quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has been solid but unspectacular this season. His 17-4 touchdown to interception ratio is good and when he's comfortable in the pocket he can rip up a defense, which he showed against Notre Dame as a freshman in 2020, and earlier this season against Wake Forest. The way to force Uiagalelei into misses and mistakes is to get him out of his comfortable zone.

The Clemson quarterback is not a natural thrower and he has a long delivery that he struggles to speed up while maintaining a good release point. That's why he has just a 36.3% completion rate this year when pressured. When he gets pressured, especially if it's consistent, Uiagalelei will get on his heels, his release point gets out of sync and he'll miss open receivers. Blitzing is one way to do this, but blitzing gives him more one-on-one reads, which can be dangerous.

The key for Notre Dame is getting pressure with the front four, which means Isaiah Foskey, Jayson Ademilola, Rylie Mills and the rest of the front players need to be at their best. This is a money game for Foskey and Ademilola especially. If they can get four-man pressures on the Clemson quarterback the Irish will force him into misses, and possibly turnovers.

Golden also needs to do a good job of mixing up his presnap looks and get Uiagalelei to guess wrong a few times. Of course, he can't get so complex that he creates mistakes by his own secondary.

4. Protect The Seams - One of my concerns in this game is Clemson tight ends Davis Allen and Jake Briningstool, and wideout Antonio Williams making a living up the seams. Teams haven't attacked Notre Dame much here this season, but it's definitely an area that Clemson loves to go after. The Irish linebackers must be disciplined against play-action throws, the safeties have to make good reads and the slot defenders need to play better than they did against Syracuse. 

Clemson likes to get chunk plays up the seams, and if the Irish can shut this zone down the offense will have a tougher time scoring enough to beat Notre Dame.

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