Biggest takeaways from Clemson's win over Notre Dame
The sense of urgency was there all four quarters from this Clemson team. From the start of the game, it caused issues for the 15th-ranked Fighting Irish. The way the tone was set throughout the game, even Tyler from Spartanburg had to admit this was a different Clemson team. Head Coach Dabo Swinney has gone through a lot of scrutiny and it seemed that his players willed themselves to make sure that they made a statement for their coach.
All three phases of the game had monumental moments that made sure the momentum stayed on the Tigers' side for the duration of the game. Everything that has gone on over the last week put Clemson back on the national stage and the Tigers made a statement.
When the running game was working in previous games the offense tended to depart from it for no apparent reason. In this game, the emphasis on the run game was felt. The offensive line push was some of the best performance especially with the line being depleted due to injury. Phil Mafah stepped into the RB1 role and made the transition seamless for the offense and himself. Mafah has always had the talent to be an RB1 but had a talented running mate in Will Shipley whom he never got a true chance to be "the guy". Now when his number was called, he answered: a 5.1 YPC, 186 rushing yards, and 2 rushing touchdowns were something special to see.
Injuries forced players to step up into positions that they had not been in before. The youth in the secondary came up big time in this game. Starting off with freshman safety Kylon Griffin who had the game-ending interception. He made plays out in the open field, tackling receivers out in space and not letting anything over top on him. Freshman cornerback Khalil Barnes has grown tremendously throughout the season and the confidence was shown in this game; he almost had another interception. Barnes has had flashes throughout the season of being a very solid corner who will eventually transition to the NFL, adding to the Tiger pipeline. Another freshman corner who played part in this game is Avieon Terrell coming from the Westlake pipeline. Terrell made his first collegiate start against the Fighting Irish and he looked the part. He is very sound and technical in his coverage skills which could be attributed to having Tiger Alum and All-Pro corner AJ Terrell as his brother. These three are the future of Clemson’s backline.
