If Notre Dame wanted to get off to a fast start against Clemson, mission accomplished. Almost before the crowd at Notre Dame Stadium had settled in, the Irish already had the lead. Then, they were up by more than one score. We don’t know if they’ll win this game, but at least we can say they had a 10-7 lead after the first quarter.
The Irish took the ball first and immediately benefited from a Tigers holding penalty. Just as quickly, Kyren Williams found an opening and was off to the end zone from 65 yards out. The defense then came out for its first series and forced a three-and-out. The offense started its next possession on the 44-yard line and, on a drive highlighted by a 28-yard pass from Ian Book to Javon McKinley, got agonizingly close to another touchdown before settling for a 24-yard field goal from Jonathan Doerer.
Scoring on its first two possessions turned out to be necessary for Notre Dame. Clemson wasted no time march downfield when it got the ball next, needing only four plays to score its first touchdown of the contest. That came on a 53-yard pass from D.J. Uiagalelei to Cornell Powell. With all of the weapons they have, look for the Tigers’ offense to do that a lot throughout.