'Battle-Tested' Clemson Team Looking to Put It All Together Against Notre Dame

With extra time to prepare and its entire DL fully ready to go for the second time all season, the No. 5 Clemson Tigers are looking to put four quarters of football together against Notre Dame.

Jason Priester All Clemson

The fifth-ranked Tigers entered the bye week as college football's only 8-0 team.

While Clemson remains one of the only undefeated teams in the country, several of those wins have come in thrilling fashion, something veteran DT Ruke Orhorhoro thinks can only benefit the Tigers as they gear up for the final stretch of the regular season.

"We've been in so many tough games," Orhorhoro said. "This team is battle-tested. We won in overtime on the road against a good Wake Forest. And now trailing at home to a good Syracuse just showed us the ability we have to pull off some crazy wins and it just shows the type of chemistry this team has."

At the same time, the Tigers are still looking to put together a complete game, something the team will work on with its extra time to prepare for the Fighting Irish.

"Probably just tightening up the little things," Orhorhoro said. "Just little things that hurt us. Nothing big. Once we put a complete four quarters together on all levels, the special teams, defense, offense, it'll be real scary. I'm hoping you all can see that real soon."

In the 27-21 comeback win over Syracuse, Clemson had its entire defensive line available for the first time all season. With players like Xavier Thomas and Bryan Bresee now fully back, Orhorhoro thinks now is the time for it to all come together for the Tigers.

"This was like the first game we've all been together as a D line," he said. "Every other game there's always somebody out. There's so much more stuff we can do better. And I'm hoping we could put that together for this next game. Just play more cohesive, play together and play faster. You can always play faster. Just rallying to the ball more."

While Clemson played in South Bend as recently as 2020, this will be Orhorhoro's first trip to Notre Dame, and the redshirt junior is very much looking forward to the opportunity to play in such a storied venue.

"I've never been there, so it's exciting," he said. "My cousin played there, what, two years ago and I never got to see him but I've never been to Indiana. So this is gonna be my first time in Indiana. I'm excited."

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