For once, the regular-season matchup between the country’s top two teams lasted until hype and then some. No. 4 Clemson broke out at No. 1 Clemson 47-40 in a double-overtime thriller Saturday night in the South Band of Notre Dame Indiana. In doing so, Fighting Irish gave the Tigers their first regular-season loss since 2017, ending the country’s longest regular-season winning series.
Notre Dame led almost the entire game before coming back in the final seconds to push on overtime. In the fourth quarter: 33 :: 33. It wasn’t until Clemson took the first lead of the game. The Tigers went 74 yards in 12 plays, tracing Travis Etienne, who was kept in the bottle all night in the Irish defense, sucking most of the fourth quarter before running back, finding an end zone just outside 3 yards.
Notre Dame took the first lead of the game on the second game of the night. RB Kieran Williams broke free for a 65-yard touchdown at the same time. The Irish then went for two touchdowns as they faced the fourth-and-1 from the Clemson 2-yard line. However, the wrong start gave them 5 yards of support and they settled for a field goal to take a 10-0 lead.
Clemson reacted with his own touchdown to reduce his advantage to 10-7, but then stopped the Irish in his second field goal after his defense, then Etienne called a toss in the backfield. Jeremiah Owsu-Koramoh of Notre Dame was all too happy to take him out of the air and return for a touchdown to make him 20-10 Irish. The Tigers turned the ball over to his front possession and the Owsu-Koromoh ball hit our Rogers; However, the Clemson defense kept Notre Dame at bay with a second field goal.
Those missed opportunities almost cost the Irish opportunity to arrest. Clems erased a 10-point loss in the third quarter. Then with a chance to take the lead again at the end of the third, QB Ian Book flapped into the red zone, and Clemson jumped to the top of the ball in the end zone.
Clemson was finally able to take the lead from the left: 33 :: 33 left, and then after a few possessions, Notre Dame got the ball on his ball-yard line and with 1:48 to go. Book for the 53-yard connection with Avery Davis to establish the first and goal set the team on the field in large part. After a few plays, the book attached to Davis for a game-building touchdown.
In the first overtime, both teams traded touchdowns, but the Irish ran into the second. Williams gave Notre Dame a 47-40 lead after the third touchdown of the night, with the Irish defense eliminating Clemson QB DJ Uagalelli twice so that the new player could not finish the game by knocking out Notre Dame. Outside the No. 1 team in the South Band for the first time since 1993 when he beat Florida State.
Notre Dame’s huge win over Clemson has five key takeaways here.
1. Would Lawrence have made a difference?
That’s not to say he wouldn’t have, but it’s not like Saturday was a hurdle for the Yugalleli Tigers. He completed the night by completing 29 of 44 passes for 439 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a third score in the OT. His 439 passing yards, any quarterback ever made against Notre Dame, surpassed Carson Palmer’s 425 yards collected in 2002.
Now, would Le Rains have made some throws that Yuagaleli didn’t? Maybe. You could also argue that Lawrence could show more breath under pressure when Yuagaleleli took two sacks in the second overtime. But I don’t put that bag on Uiagalelei. On the first play, no one was open. Clemson’s left guards whipped heavily on the second play’s block, and Yuagaleli was hit before he could realize he was in trouble. I would argue that Tiger’s injuries elsewhere had far more impact on the team than Lawrence’s absence.
2. Notre Dame deserves all the credit
It should be clear to everyone. When the Irish did not play the full game, they took the lead on the second game of the night and did not take the trail until there were 215 seconds left to play. Then instead of crashing like many other teams, with the book and Irish offense, put a terrible drive to tie the game in the first half.
On the other side of the ball, they were solid too. Notre Dame had a game plan to take Travis Etienne out of the equation and force Yuagaleli to beat him consistently. To Yuagaleli’s credit, he did a spectacular job and almost beat the Irish. But the Irish also managed to keep Etienne out of the game.
Etienne ran for just 28 yards on 18 carry and was not a major factor in the passing game, picking up 57 yards on eight receptions. Notre Dame also pushed three turnovers, turning one of them straight into a touchdown, and facing eight for loss. The Irish had only two sacks at night, but it came at a crucial time!
3. Book it!
This book was a signature win. She has an up-and-down career with the Irish and has never been a select quarterback. While he could have won without some great teams, in this modern age of elite quarterbacks, the limitations of the book have been placed against him. Often unreasonable.
But Saturday night, like his team, he could crate too. Instead, he swam pped. Like the book at the end of the third quarter, many cubes may have gone into the shell after a mess in Red Q, but it shook it. He kept his head down and kept quiet even after Clemson failed to get his first possession of the dam after a touchdown that gave the Times their first lead. He pulled the Irish out of the shadows of his end zone and then watched Davis in the middle of it, while the Clemson Blitzers landed on him. It was a beautiful throw. In fact, it may be the best throw of the book’s career, and it sets the touchdown for tying the game and pushing overtime.
Passing 1010 yards, the rush ended with a rush of 64 yards and just one touchdown, but despite what the score score says, this was his biggest game with the Irish.
4. Clemson’s playful hopes are not dead
Just ask our Jerry Palm. Yes, Clemson’s 39-game regular-season winning streak is over. As such it has 29 straight wins in ACC and 15 straight on the road. But he will probably move out of the top four in the top 25 rankings this week. Clemson didn’t lose the game because he didn’t have Lawrence, but not having Lawrence would have saved him from a much harsher punishment. Also, even if Le Rains had played, there would have been no reason to punish Clemson for this loss. There is no shame in losing to the country’s No. 4 team in double overtime, and Clemson will have the opportunity to be present in the College Ledge Football .L playoffs.
5. This was a great college football football game
It’s not a deep thought, but it’s true. In a season where you have had some regrets and seen some fantastic results, it is good that two great teams can play a great game. I hope next month we see an encore in the ACC Championship game.
