Notre Dame Deals Clemson a Humiliating Loss Rarely Seen in the Swinney Era

The Tigers coach referred to the 35–14 loss as “an a--–kicking.” Now, Clemson has several questions to answer, starting at quarterback.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Nearly two years ago to the day, Clemson walked off the field at Notre Dame Stadium after losing to the Fighting Irish. Tigers players filed past a jubilant onrushing group of Notre Dame fans who had spilled over the brick sidewalls to storm the field.

That night, there appeared to be a hopeful future for the program. A young QB named DJ Uiagalelei had made his first start due to a positive COVID-19 test for Trevor Lawrence, and he played brilliantly in a double-overtime loss. You could be forgiven if you thought then that Clemson would keep going at quarterback—from Deshaun Watson to Lawrence to Uiagalelei—and that the orange machine would continue churning out playoff berths.

Now, the QB situation is spinning its wheels. Two years after Uiagalelei’s debut, the Tigers hit a brick wall in an embarrassing 35–14 loss to Notre Dame that wasn’t even as close as the scoreboard indicated. The Irish didn’t just beat Clemson in their 2022 reunion—they broke the Tigers and the nation-leading 14-game winning streak they rode in on.

As hundreds of Notre Dame fans exited the field on this night toward an illuminated Touchdown Jesus, one man yelled to nobody in particular: “They knew what was coming, and they still couldn’t stop it.” He was right. Clemson defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin said as much after the game when asked if there was anything Notre Dame did differently schematically. The Irish ran what they showed all season and the Tigers were powerless to stop it.

“It was just a combination of mis [run fits], missed tackles, guys getting knocked out of their gaps,” Goodwin said. “There wasn’t one resounding thing. It was a little bit of everything here and there. Just gotta get back to work on Monday and fix the issues that showed up today and get better with where we got exposed tonight.”

Clemson had no response for Notre Dame’s dominant run game :: Matt Cashore/USA TODAY Sports

Sometimes it’s not just that you lose, it’s how you lose. There is nothing more humiliating for a football team than getting dominated in the run game. The Irish rushed for 264 sack-adjusted rushing yards, at a 5.7-yards-per-carry clip. They had 11 rushes go for over 10 yards and two running backs (Logan Diggs and Audric Estimé) who eclipse the 100-yard mark.

This is a Clemson team that prides itself on its defensive front and how physically dominating it can be—that’s why it was so jarring to watch what Notre Dame did Saturday. No, Xavier Thomas did not play after reaggravating a foot injury during the week, but the rest of his uber-talented front did. Myles Murphy, Tyler Davis and Bryan Bresee were all suited up.

After returning a blocked punt early in the game for its opening touchdown, Notre Dame marched 11 plays and 78 yards down the field, calling eight straight run plays and gaining five first downs along the way to take a 14–0 lead into halftime. Clemson’s offense sputtering is one thing, but the defense? It simply doesn’t get beaten up like it did Saturday. Scored on? Sure, that’s happened in the last few years—but not bludgeoned. It usually takes fine rolls like tempo from Ohio State or a Wake Forest aerial assault, not the blunt object of golden domes rolling over the Tigers.

Dabo Swinney seemed shell-shocked after the game, but he didn’t run from the responsibility, saying first that they were out-coached, out-blocked and out-tackled. There have been nights when Clemson has lost under Swinney in his 14 years—in fact he’s only had one perfect regular season despite the immense success—but perhaps none of them have felt quite like this one. The rent may have been due for a Clemson team that was overrated in the eyes of many after eeking out a win against Wake Forest and battling back against Syracuse, but not like this. And Swinney said there was nothing this week in practice that clued him into this performance coming.

“This was an a--–kicking, period, that’s what it is.” Swinney said. “Just flat out got our tails handed to us.”

Notre Dame’s secondary forced two interceptions to leave Clemson’s quarterbacks reeling.  :: Matt Cashore/USA TODAY Sports

Down 14, Clemson pulled Uiagalelei for the second game in a row. He had struggled to that point, but to be fair to the much-maligned quarterback, the Tigers’ offense was not doing anything around him to help. Of Clemson’s eight third downs through the first three quarters, only one of them came with fewer than seven yards to gain, and only one of them was converted.

It was the same disjointed offense we’ve seen from Clemson over the last two years since Lawrence left for the NFL. Nobody’s open, which means the offensive line cedes a coverage sack, or the protection fails and the defense waltzes through seemingly untouched, or Uiagalelei throws an errant pass, or the passing game lacks a vertical element to generate big plays, or the lack of a game-breaker at one of the skill positions is painfully evident. It’s always something. Either way, freshman Cade Klubnik wasn’t curing what ailed these Tigers on Saturday. His first and only pass was an interception that set up Notre Dame in the red zone to go up 21–0. Uiagalelei went back in, and later threw a pick-six to go down 28–0. The rout was on.

“The mindset doesn’t change, you know. When you come out of the game, you want to be the biggest supporter,” Uiagalelei said. “My brother Cade, he’s gonna be great, man. Quarterbacks, we all make mistakes. He’s gonna be a great ball player. Biggest thing I love about Cade, he’s aggressive, man, he’s a baller. He’s a young player, a freshman, but he’s gonna be great. I told him that.”

After Uiagalelei was pulled two weeks ago in favor of Klubnik, Swinney was emphatic that Uiagalelei would keep his job. After the loss to Notre Dame, which followed a bye week, he said they’d continue to evaluate when asked by Sports Illustrated about the QB position moving forward.

Former Notre Dame QB Ian Book was on hand for this game. He was victorious over the Tigers in 2020, and told the crowd during an on-field interview that he felt like suiting up to thunderous cheers. But while the quarterback his alma mater faced Saturday was the same, the performance of the opposing team was anything but. There was no need to run it back—Notre Dame was too busy running Clemson over.