Tag: number 1

Tale of the Tape: Team Stats – Notre Dame vs. Clemson

When Notre Dame and Clemson square off, it will come down to which elite unit blinks first.

When Notre Dame and Clemson square off, it will come down to which elite unit blinks first. For the Irish, you have a defense that can do everything very well. Whether it’s preventing points, yards or third-down conversions, Clark Lea has coached his unit incredibly well. If there’s anything the offense can do to support it, it’s keep the ball for extended periods of time and advance it on the ground, both of which are the clear strengths for Tommy Rees’ crew.

The Tigers easily can combat all of that with its impressive offense, which will be led this week by former five-star recruit D.J. Uiagalelei. Trevor Lawrence won’t be far away from him as he’ll be guiding the freshman from the sideline. The points and first downs will be plentiful, and a defense on par with the Irish’s will complement that offense just fine. To say the least, this is a complete team heading into Notre Dame Stadium.

Notre Dame Football: All-Time vs. No. 1

Notre Dame has played 24 games all-time against the nation’s top team in the AP Poll. How have they fared? Find out here…

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Since the Associated Press began running out a college football poll way back in 1936, Notre Dame has played the top ranked team in the nation 24 different times as No. 1 Clemson becomes the 25th such game in Notre Dame history.

The first such game came all the way back in the poll’s first year, 1936, when Notre Dame upset the top-ranked Northwestern Wildcats in late November.

The latest occurred 15 years ago when the night ended in heartbreak for Notre Dame as the upstart Irish lost in the finals seconds to Reggie Bush and USC.

How has Notre Dame fared in all 24 of those games all time?  You came to the right place.

Nov. 21, 1936: 26-6 win vs. Northwestern
Nov. 11, 1944: 59-0 loss vs. Army (Yankee Stadium)
Nov. 10, 1945: 48-0 loss vs. Army (Yankee Stadium)
Nov. 9, 1946:  0-0 tie vs. Army (Yankee Stadium)
Nov. 15, 1952: 21-3 loss at Michigan State
Oct. 21, 1961: 17-7 loss at Michigan State
Dec. 1, 1962: 25-0 loss at USC
Nov. 20, 1965: 12-3 loss vs Michigan State
Oct. 14, 1967: 24-7 loss vs. USC
Sept. 28, 1968: 37-22 loss vs. Purdue
Jan. 1, 1970: 21-17 loss vs. Texas (Cotton Bowl)
Jan. 1, 1971: 24-11 win vs. Texas (Cotton Bowl)
Dec. 2, 1972: 45-23 loss at USC
Dec. 31, 1973: 24-23 win vs. Alabama (Sugar Bowl)
Jan. 2, 1978: 38-10 win vs. Texas (Cotton Bowl)
Jan. 1, 1981: 17-10 loss vs. Georgia (Sugar Bowl)
Nov. 6, 1982: 31-16 win at Pitt
Nov. 16, 1985: 36-6 loss at Penn State
Oct. 15, 1988:  31-30 win vs. Miami
Jan. 1, 1991: 10-9 loss vs. Colorado (Orange Bowl)
Nov. 13, 1993:  31-24 win vs. Florida State
Sept. 9, 2000:  27-24 loss vs. Nebraska
Nov. 27, 2004: 41-10 loss at USC
Oct. 15, 2005: 34-31 loss vs. USC

Notre Dame’s all-time record vs. AP No. 1:  7-16-1

It’s Clemson Week.

Notre Dame is 6-0 and ranked fourth. The biggest game at Notre Dame Stadium in 15 years happens Saturday. Welcome to Clemson Week.

15 years ago this past October the defending national champions in USC came to Notre Dame ranked first in the nation while the Irish were an upstart squad ranked in the top ten.

What followed was one of the greatest games college football has ever seen as the top ranked Trojans survived by the skin of their teeth and remained unbeaten with a 34-31 win.

It’s been 15 years since that game and Notre Dame Stadium hasn’t hosted a game nearly as big since.

Until now.

Trevor Lawrence or not, No. 1 Clemson travels to South Bend on Saturday night for what will be a heavyweight fight between two of the nation’s top four teams.

Clemson might not be coming off a national championship like USC was in 2005 but they played in the last two title games, winning it all two seasons ago and feature the best quarterback in the college game with Trevor Lawrence as well as a running back as talented as any in the nation in Travis Etienne.

Lawrence won’t be playing Saturday as he continues to recover from COVID-19 but it doesn’t take away the fact that Clemson is still plenty loaded with talent, even if they had to have their biggest home comeback in program history to get by Boston College on Saturday.

Games like this used to be the norm when I was far too young to understand or appreciate it.

From 1988-1993 there were nine separate occasions that Notre Dame Stadium played host to a match-up between two top ten teams.  For comparisons sake, under Brian Kelly the only battle of two top ten teams that Notre Dame Stadium has played host to was the 2018 Irish win over Stanford.

What used to be common place for Notre Dame fans to see on campus has become rare.

15 years ago when I took off in the middle of the night from Chicago’s western suburbs to get to South Bend for that incredible USC weekend, I never in 100 years thought I’d be in my mid-thirties, be married and have a child by the time a game anywhere near as big was played at Notre Dame Stadium again.

With that in mind let’s remember this week to enjoy the hell out of being the epicenter of college football for the next week.  Even without Trevor Lawrence dressing for Clemson, this is the biggest game at this historic venue in 15 years.

Let’s enjoy the next few days as we lead up to the Saturday night showdown and heck, why not shock the world on Saturday night?

It’s Clemson week.

Welcome to it and enjoy.