Tag: notre dame clemson

Dabo calls Notre Dame’s upset of Clemson ‘an *** kicking’

No lies detected!

You can say a lot of things about Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney but you can’t question his vision.  Following Notre Dame’s 35-14 victory over No. 4 Clemson on Saturday night which wasn’t as close as the final score indicated, Swinney confirmed exactly what we all watched.

“That was an ass-kicking. Period,” Swinney said.  “I mean that’s what it is.  Just flat-out got our tails handed to us.  In 14 years it hasn’t happened a lot, but it’s happened a couple of times.”

Clemson’s defensive line is widely regarded as one of the nation’s best.  Their 89.7 rushing yards allowed per game entering Saturday night at Notre Dame certainly spoke to that.  The 263 rushing yards they allowed to the Fighting Irish told a different story though and one that Swinney was clearly not happy with.

“I don’t even want to comment on it right now,” Swinney said of the issues Clemson had stopping Notre Dame’s three-headed rushing attack.  “They just physically kicked our butt. Period. The end.”

Notre Dame benefited from a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown early and never looked back as the win was the first by an unranked Notre Dame team over a top-five opponent since the Irish upset Dan Marino’s No. 1 Pitt team back in 1982.

“Sometimes you just have a night where it all goes against you and all you can do is give Notre Dame credit for that.”

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More Notre Dame-Clemson postgame coverage:

Instant takeaways as Notre Dame routs No. 4 Clemson

5 stars: Great, good, and bad of Notre Dame’s thrashing of Clemson

Twitter reacts to Notre Dame’s upset blowout win over Clemson

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Notre Dame vs Clemson: ACC Championship Prediction, Game Preview

Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Clemson Tigers: ACC Championship prediction and game preview.

Notre Dame vs Clemson: ACC Championship prediction and game preview.

Notre Dame vs Clemson: ACC Championship Broadcast

Date: Saturday, December 19
Game Time: 4:00 pm
Venue: Bank of America stadium, Charlotte, NC
Network: ABC

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– All of the CFN Fearless Predictions

Notre Dame (10-0) vs Clemson (9-1) Game Preview

For latest lines and to bet on the NFL, go to BetMGM 

Three Reasons Why You Should Watch The ACC Championship

– Okay, it’s just us here and we can speak frankly. Ohio State is going to beat Northwestern and Alabama is going to beat Florida. Yawn.

Two spots in the College Football Playoff are almost certainly going to be taken up by the Tide and the Buckeyes, and a third will be taken up by the ACC Champion no matter what. (However, if Northwestern shocks Ohio State, assume both Clemson and Notre Dame are in, and ignore everything else you’re about to read.)

It’s going to come down to this …

Who loses this game and by how much?

If Clemson wins and Notre Dame looks okay, it’s a done deal. It’s not locked in, but the obviously projection is that in the scenario, Clemson is the 2 or 3 – it doesn’t matter – to the Rose Bowl vs. Ohio State, and Notre Dame will play Alabama in the Sugar. And other scenario makes things weird.

If Clemson gets blown out, then Notre Dame is the 2, and then there’s a massive fight between the Texas A&M crowd – assuming the Aggies take care of Tennessee – and those who still might thing a second ACC team deserves to be in. If Clemson loses in a close battle, there’s still going to be a fight since no two-loss team has ever made it into the CFP.

If Notre Dame gets rim-rocked, then that’s a different fight. There isn’t an obvious other option – the idea of a rematch of the Alabama 52-24 win over Texas A&M is hardly appealing – and the Irish still might make it in considering it would be 1-1 against the Tigers.

It’s comparing apples to a different, weirder type of apples, but the precedent might be Oklahoma vs. Kansas State 2003. OU got destroyed by Kansas State 35-7 in the Big 12 Championship and still made it into the BCS Championship, anyway.

– Now we get to see Trevor Lawrence be Trevor Lawrence. No, Clemson didn’t lose in the first meeting with Notre Dame – the best game of the season, a 47-40 overtime win for the Irish – because Lawrence didn’t play. DJ Uiagalelei went off for 439 yards and two touchdowns with no picks and a rushing score.

However, Lawrence is Lawrence, he has thrown six touchdown passes and no interceptions in two ACC Championships, he’s the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and now the team’s main man gets a shot at the Irish.

– Does Ian Book have any shot at the Heisman? No, but if he’s amazing and ends up beating Clemson a second time, he’ll be on several ballots. There’s no Kyle Trask flash, and he doesn’t have the explosive weapons around him like Mac Jones enjoys, but he’s a chain-moving machine, he has been close to flawless this year, and he’s more than good enough to hit Clemson for a second straight 300-yard game – he threw for 310 with a touchdown in the first meeting.

Why Notre Dame, Clemson Will Win
What’s Going to Happen, Prediction, History

NEXT: Why Notre Dame Will Win, Why Clemson Will Win, Notre Dame vs Clemson Prediction

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Notre Dame’s Kelly gets national recognition for defeating Clemson

Brian Kelly, Notre Dame’s head coach, is named the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Week after upsetting No. 1 Clemson.

After ending Clemson’s “rule” over the ACC, plenty of Notre Dame players got recognition. Actually, three of the did which you can see here, but it was Brian Kelly’s turn to reap the benefits of defeating the former No. 1 team in the nation.

A perfect 7-0 start the the season, the longest winning streak in college football, it’s fitting that Kelly is finally getting some people to turn their heads. The Bobby Dodd Trophy is well aware of the Irish’s leader’s excellence, as Kelly won the award in 2018.

If the Irish continue their solid play for the rest of the regular season, Kelly should be in line for plenty of year-end national awards as well.

Notre Dame AD Addresses Clemson Postgame Field Storming

Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick spoke to the South Bend Tribune Sunday about the field storming by students after the upset of Clemson

When Notre Dame made a fourth down stop of Clemson in the second overtime Saturday night the party was on like it hadn’t been for 27 years in South Bend as the Irish had knocked off No. 1.

But that celebration by students and fans quickly came under scrutiny as the field storming occurred during a global pandemic where masks and the idea of social distancing are the new norm.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick spoke to Eric Hansen of the South Bend Tribune about what happened and why the incident wound up occurring.

Related:  The best photos from Notre Dame’s upset of No. 1 Clemson

A few of the highlights from Swarbrick, below:

On knowing possibilities of Saturday’s game:

“You’ve got three possible outcomes. One is a loss. You hope that doesn’t happen, but you’re not dealing with a field storm. One is a decisive victory, and I think you can manage what occurs.

“The other is a game, whether it’s a knockdown, two-point conversion against Miami or an incompletion on the last play of a second overtime, it’s one where you know you face the challenge of a field rush.

“And you don’t know which consequence you’re going to face. You plan for all of them. And I was pleased with those plans. We had a lot of extra security deployed.

“You have to relieve the front end of a crush. You have a different safety issue if you don’t. And that was visible. It was there.

“And we talked about it before: ‘If this happens, you get this mass incoming, you have to let people come or you’re going to have broken bones and other problems.’

On extra security detail that was added for the Clemson game:

“A lot of extra security, obviously, extra police detail and extra ushers. In the normal course, as we did for this, any student who presented a particular risk was not allowed in. So we voided over 500 tickets of students who either were in quarantine for close contact, were in isolation for having tested positive or failed to show for a surveillance test.”

There is a ton more from Swarbrick that is addressed in the piece, but I feel that those are the most important as to Notre Dame’s plan being in place to try and prevent a storming of the field and then why they ultimately had to let fans on in celebration.

The optics of it amid a pandemic are far from great, but knowing myself when I was between the ages of 18 and 22, I certainly don’t think I would have calmly clapped my hands and just left the stadium, either so it’s hard for me to blame the students for reacting to this event.

Notre Dame up into top 2 in Amway Coaches Poll

Notre Dame moves up in the latest Amway Coaches Poll after upsetting former No. 1 Clemons in South Bend.

Notre Dame got their signature 2020 win last night, a double-overtime thriller against Clemson, where the Irish outlasted the Tigers 47-40. Yes, presumed No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence didn’t play, but does that really matter at all?

No, Clemson has been a dominant force in college football without Lawrence and will continue after he moves onto the the NFL. What the Irish did last night was something no other ACC opponent can claim to do since 2017, beat the Tigers in a conference game.

This is a night many Irish fan’s wont forget, we certainly won’t. They were rewarded for their effort in the latest Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports by being ranked No. 2, two spots ahead of Clemson who they just defeated.

In other games in the ACC, No. 10 Miami, FL barely got by NC State, 44-41, Liberty beat another member of the conference on the road in Virginia Tech, and No. 24 North Carolina waxed Duke, 56-24.

Here is the full Amway Coaches poll, with ACC teams in bold and last weeks ranking in parenthesis.

1 Alabama (2)

2 Notre Dame (4)

3 Ohio State (3)

4 Clemson (1)

5 Florida (8)

6 Texas A&M (7)

7 Cincinnati (6)

8 BYU (9)

9 Miami, FL (10)

10 Indiana (13)

11 Georgia (5)

12 Oregon (14)

13 Oklahoma St. (12)

14 Wisconsin (11)

15 Marshall (15)

16 Iowa St. (17)

17 Coastal Carolina (16)

18 Oklahoma (19)

19 SMU (18)

20 USC (20)

21 Auburn (21)

22 Liberty (NR)

23 Northwestern (NR)

24 Texas (NR)

25 Army (21)

Dropped out: No. 23 Boise St., No. 24 UNC, No. 25 Michigan

Notre Dame up into top 2 in Amway Coaches Poll

Notre Dame moves up in the latest Amway Coaches Poll after upsetting former No. 1 Clemons in South Bend.

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Notre Dame got its signature 2020 win last night, a double-overtime thriller against Clemson in which the Irish outlasted the Tigers 47-40. Yes, presumed No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence didn’t play, but does that really matter?

No, Clemson has been a dominant force in college football without Lawrence and will continue after he moves onto the the NFL. What the Irish did last night was something no other ACC opponent can claim to have done since 2017, beat the Tigers in a conference game.

This is a night many Irish fan’s will not forget; we certainly won’t. The Irish were rewarded for their effort in the latest Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports by being ranked No. 2, two spots ahead of Clemson.

In other games in the ACC, No. 10 Miami barely got by NC State, 44-41, Liberty won on the road at Virginia Tech and No. 24 North Carolina waxed Duke, 56-24.

The full Amway Coaches poll, with ACC teams in bold and last weeks ranking in parenthesis:

1. Alabama (2)

2. Notre Dame (4)

3. Ohio State (3)

4. Clemson (1)

5. Florida (8)

6. Texas A&M (7)

7. Cincinnati (6)

8. BYU (9)

9. Miami, FL (10)

10. Indiana (13)

11. Georgia (5)

12. Oregon (14)

13. Oklahoma St. (12)

14. Wisconsin (11)

15. Marshall (15)

16. Iowa St. (17)

17. Coastal Carolina (16)

18. Oklahoma (19)

19. SMU (18)

20. USC (20)

21. Auburn (21)

22. Liberty (NR)

23. Northwestern (NR)

24. Texas (NR)

25. Army (21)

Dropped out: No. 23 Boise St., No. 24 UNC, No. 25 Michigan

Tweet, tweet! The best second half Notre Dame tweets vs Clemson

An exciting first half brought the same in the second half for Notre Dame, as they battled Clemson in South Bend.

What a first half that was. The Irish seemingly did everything right and took a 23-13 lead into the break over Clemson. Social media was buzzing and it continued throughout the second half. Here are the best Notre Dame tweets from halftime through the end of the game.

Watch: Williams scores to send Notre Dame vs Clemson into second OT

Kyren Williams scores his second touchdown against Clemson, getting Notre Dame even with Clemson after the first overtime.

Kyren Williams already had one touchdown, but he decided to get greedy and score another one.

The 3-yard score tied the game with Clemson in the first overtime, 40-40.

Watch: Owusu-Koramoah forces fumble, Notre Dame recovers

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah had an encore after he scored a touchdown against Clemson, a forced fumble recovered by the Irish.

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is having himself a game. He’s already scored a defensive touchdown and he helped the Irish get another turnover.

Back-to-back series for Notre Dame forcing turnovers against the Clemson offense. The Irish lead the Tigers 20-10 late in the second quarter.

Watch: Owusu-Koramoah scores defensive touchdown, extends Notre Dame’s lead

Huge plays are what Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah does and he did it again, scoring a touchdown for Notre Dame against Clemson.

It seemed like the tide was turning, the Irish having to settle for field goals after two drives into the redzone. Well, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has the offenses back.

The linebacker took the botched handoff to the house to extend Notre Dame’s lead over Clemson, 20-10 late in the second quarter.