At this current moment, it is hard to imagine the possibility of any collegiate football game having a packed house. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many states limiting large group gatherings which means having 80,000 Fighting Irish friends on a Saturday in South Bend very unlikely.
With that in mind, 247Sports took a look at which teams are helped and hurt by not having full crowds in stadiums this coming season. Chris Hummer named Clemson as a school that it helps, as if the Tigers needed any extra help anyways. The key games Hummer points out for the Dabo Swinney led team are at Florida State and then when they would visit South Bend.
A team that returns stars like quarterback Trevor Lawrence, running back Travis Etienne and linebacker Jamie Skalski will be a tough game for anyone, but not having a raucous Irish crowd definitely won’t help the cause. The college game relies much more on home field advantage than the NFL, it would be fantastic to see the fans making a difference by potentially rattling the Tigers. Unfortunately, that doesn’t look like it will be the case this fall and the Irish will have to battle Clemson without the help of a packed Notre Dame Stadium.