Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame Are Well Aware Of The Challenge And Opportunity Clemson Presents

Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman knows very well that Clemson presents his football team with a major test, and a major opportunity

NOTRE DAME, IND. - Notre Dame and Clemson have only played six times. While the rivalry does not run deep, the meetings between the two college football programs have become more important in recent years.

The two programs split a home and home series in 1977 and 1979 and then didn’t play again until the Fighting Irish visited Clemson on a rain-soaked night in 2015. That meeting and the three other head to head games since then have been facilitated by Notre Dame’s scheduling arrangement with the ACC.

The teams split their games in 2020 and that was the last time they squared off. This Saturday will be Irish head coach Marcus Freeman’s first Notre Dame – Clemson experience and the first-year head coach shared several thoughts this week.

Clemson Is Back On Track

The Dabo Swinney-led Tigers have become one of the most consistent college football programs in the nation since he became head coach in 2008. They’ve won at least 10 games in 11 straight seasons, with four College Football Playoff appearances and two national championships.

They come into Saturday’s game ranked 5th in both the AP and Coaches’ polls with an 8-0 record. Freeman noted some of the many things that stand out about the Tigers.

“The ability to run the ball, the ability to stop the run,” Freeman began. “They’re talented. One thing that kind of spoke to me is they never seemed out of it versus Syracuse. They were down (21-7) and you could look at their sideline, I watch sidelines, and when the quarterback, D.J. (Uiagalelei), when he got taken out of the game, to watch that quarterback be the first one cheering the group on and the first one to clap for (Cade Klubnik), that tells you they’ve got a family, They’ve got a team. It's not a bunch of selfish individuals, it’s a team. And that’s what I look for when I watch opponents. I say, okay we’re playing a team that no matter what the score is they’re never out, that’s one. Two, they’re about what’s best for the team and that’s a tough opponent and a top-10, right? Make sure we say that they’re talented as heck.

“So, I know we’ve got a battle coming, a tall task ahead of us,” he continued. “But listen, man I want our guys to understand, you’re Notre Dame. This is what we do. We play in big games like this. It’s not a David vs Goliath, this is a heavyweight fight and we’ve got a dang good football team. I’ve always said it, man. If we do exactly what we’re supposed to do, we’re a good enough football team to win every game we play. But, you know what? We have to do that, because we’ve seen if we don’t execute or don’t do our job we’re not going to be victorious and we’ve seen that in some of the games we’ve played this year. So, as I said, this isn’t a David vs Goliath. This is Notre Dame versus Clemson. Two powerhouse...two blue blood programs that are going to go battle Saturday night here at Notre Dame Stadium.”

Learning A Lesson From Dabo

Now in his 15th season at Clemson, Swinney is 158-36 with those two national championships. The start to his career was far from perfect, though. Swinney went 4-3 as interim coach in 2008 when he took over for Terry Bowden and then went just 15-12 in his first two full seasons as head coach.

Even when he led the Tigers to a 10-4 season in 2011, the Tigers finished just 22nd in the two national polls. Fast forward and Clemson is on its way to a 12th consecutive season with double digit wins, with the two national titles and a total of four CFP appearances to show for it. Freeman discussed if there is a lesson to be learned from Swinney’s rough start that turned into

“If that is it’s going to be a great story,” said Freeman. “That’s the reality of it is I have the utmost respect for that guy. I don’t know him, never talked to Dabo Swinney, but have really paid attention from afar. You only hear great things from his players about the type of leadership. The results speak for itself. He's done great things for that football program and college football, period. So, to sit here, if you’ve got a chance to say, hey your career can reciprocate Dabo Swinney’s, you’re going to be dang happy.

What A Win Would Mean

Clemson will join Ohio State as the second top-5 team Freeman has faced in his first season. Freeman’s first team has played its best against the four best teams on the schedule this season, with Ohio State, BYU and Syracuse all ranked at the time they face the Irish and North Carolina currently ranked 15/17.

The Irish now have a chance to show themselves against another highly ranked foe this weekend. Would a give Freeman reassurance that what he’s trying to build at Notre Dame is working?

“I have a belief in what we’re doing,” Freeman said. “I think what I’ve learned in these eight games is that it’s never as you plan. It's that you have those bumps in the road that you kind of have to figure and really learn as a leader, okay, this is what you thought you should do, now how do you adjust? Right, and I said this after the game, not just trust the process. How do you fix it, right? To get those results that you want. So, yeah. Would a win versus Clemson help me build confidence in the things we do? Absolutely. That’s what victories do.”

A Test For The Offensive Line

Clemson’s defensive line has accounted for 18 of the team’s 22 sacks this season. The Tigers rank No. 28 nationally in that department. Notre Dame’s offensive line started slowly, but they currently rank No. 33 in fewest sacks allowed with 11 this season. 

Quarterback Drew Pyne has only been sacked seven times since he took over as starter. Saturday’s matchup will be a much more formidable test for both the line and Pyne.

“There’s a few schools that have elite defensive lines and this is one of them,” Freeman gauged. “I know Ohio State did, too, but across the board they’re so deep and they’re talented. They’re disruptive, man and it’s not just one guy. So, it’s going to be a big challenge. You know, our offensive line is playing at a high level and getting better, but let’s measure ourselves against the best.

“Across the board, I could name every single one, they’ve got NFL defensive linemen across the board that (are) going to be a huge challenge, but I know our guys,” said Freeman. “They’re ready. They’re excited. Any competitor, I’ve said this before, wants to measure yourself against the best, so our guys will be excited for this opportunity.”

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