Wesley Goodwin will find out along with everyone else Saturday night how his defense fares against perhaps the most physical offense it’s seen this season. But there are two things Clemson’s first-year coordinator already knows his unit has to do if the Tigers’ defense is going to be more successful than not against Notre Dame.
“You have to stop the run game, and the ball’s going to 87,” Goodwin said.
The latter part of Goodwin’s comment was a reference to the Fighting Irish’s All-American tight end, Michael Mayer, who has nearly double as many receptions as any other pass-catcher on Notre Dame’s roster. Despite being near or at the top of many opponents’ scouting reports, Notre Dame has still found ways to get the 6-foot-5, 265-pound Mayer the ball. He’s got 47 receptions, he’s averaging 12.3 yards on those catches, and his six touchdown receptions lead the team.
“They move him around,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “They’ll put him outside, they’ll line him up and throw one-on-one red-zone shots to him. They’ll put him in the slot and run the inside fade. They run double moves with him. They use him like a receiver. They’ll screen it to him like he’s a receiver.
“Where’s Waldo? He’s all over the place.”
But Swinney said he’s noticed on film plenty of instances where Mayer has gotten open as a result of defenses biting on play-action passes, which makes containing Notre Dame’s running game even more of a priority.
It will be the biggest test thus far for Clemson’s run defense, which has been among the top 10 nationally throughout the season but has also shown some cracks of late. Florida State ran for 206 yards against Clemson just two games ago, easily the most the Tigers have allowed on the ground this season. Sean Tucker ran for just 54 yards against Clemson in the Tigers’ most recent game, but that was on just five carries.
Notre Dame enters Saturday’s game with more rushing attempts than any team Clemson has faced so far, relying even more on the ground game since backup quarterback Drew Pyne took over for an injured Tyler Buchner early in the season. The Fighting Irish are running for more than 186 yards on average, and Audric Estime (5.6 yards per carry) leads a three-man running back rotation that’s averaging more than 5 yards per carry and combined for 11 rushing touchdowns.
It will be easier said than done, but containing Mayer, Swinney said, will start with slowing down Notre Dame’s offensive bread and butter.
“Everybody knows he’s going to get the ball, but you still have to respect him as a blocker and you have to stop the run to have a chance against these guys,” Swinney said.
Photo courtesy USA Today Sports
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