Stacking Up: Notre Dame Defense vs Clemson
Notre Dame had its hands full with the Clemson offense during its 47-40 double overtime victory in November. The challenge will be even greater in the rematch, but the Irish defense has been one of the nation's best for much of the season. If Notre Dame is going to win round two, the defense will need to be at its best.
Let's take a look at how the Notre Dame defense stacks up with the Clemson offense on paper.
Notre Dame Scoring Defense vs. Clemson Scoring Offense
Advantage: Even
This is an exciting matchup that pits one of the nation's best scoring defenses against one of the best offenses. Notre Dame ranked in the Top 15 in both scoring offense and total offense, and the Tigers rank in the Top 15 in both scoring defense and total defense.
Clemson averaged 48.3 points per game and 515.3 yards per game with quarterback Trevor Lawrence in the starting lineup, and they will be a potent force in this matchup. Notre Dame will have to be at its very best to keep Clemson in check now that the tigers are healthy.
Notre Dame has been dominant on third-down all season. Clemson ranks well on third-down, but the Tigers haven't been nearly as good on third-down in the last month as it was for much of the first six games.
Clemson converted third downs at a 51.6% clip in the first six games, but in the last four it has had just a 36.2% rate.
Its third-down woes has forced the Tigers to rely on big plays, which makes the game plan for Notre Dame simple .... incredibly challenging, but simple. Keep doing what you are doing on third-down, but this time limit the big plays.
Take away big plays and Notre Dame dominates the first matchup. If the defense can limit big plays in this game it will have a good chance at winning the rematch.
Notre Dame will need its stars (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Kyle Hamilton, Daelin Hayes, Adetokunbo Ogundeji) to play like stars in this matchup.
Notre Dame Rush Defense vs. Clemson Rush Offense
Advantage: Notre Dame
Notre Dame absolutely dominates this statistical matchup, and it dominated the actual on-field matchup back on Nov. 7. The Irish defense held Clemson to just 34 rushing yards on 33 carries, and running back Travis Etienne rushed for 28 yards in 18 carries.
For all the talk about how Clemson is getting this player back or that player back, this matchup will be mostly the same. Clemson has the same offensive line, the same backs and the Irish have the same front seven coming back.
Notre Dame lost focus against Syracuse, which ended its stretch of six games of holding opponents to under 100 yards. The Irish need to get back on track, tackle better than it did against Syracuse and once again shut Clemson down.
The one unique aspect to this matchup is the return of Lawrence. The Tigers got two yards from the quarterback position in the previous matchup, and Clemson fans contend the offense didn't use as many of their read zone concepts because of Lawrence being out and D.J. Uiagalelei being banged up.
Whether or not that is true, the fact is Lawrence is a legit running threat, one that is more dangerous than his numbers shows. The RPO concepts will be even more dangerous with Lawrence at quarterback, and part of that is his willingness and ability to pull the ball and do damage, which we saw in the semi-final against Ohio State last year when Lawrence rushed for 107 yards in the comeback win.
Notre Dame Pass Defense vs. Clemson Pass Offense
Advantage: Clemson
If there's a reason to be concerned as a Notre Dame fan, this is the matchup. All of the big plays I talked about above came in the pass game, and it's been a trouble area for Notre Dame for much of the season.
While fans of the Irish have pointed to the 439 yards Uiagalelei passed for in the first matchup, a lot of that was on big plays. Clemson had seven pass plays of at least 22 yards, two of which went for over 50 yards.
Wide receivers Cornell Powell (161 yards) and Amari Rodgers (134 yards) both went over 100 yards in the loss to Notre Dame. They'll be Lawrence's top targets in this game as well, but Notre Dame must also be prepared for a heavy dose of Etienne and tight end Braden Galloway as well.
If Notre Dame can limit big plays in this matchup it will have a chance to keep the Tigers in check. To make that happen the defense will have to play sound football, and more importantly the front four absolutely must get pressure on the quarterback.
The front four didn't get great pressure on Uiagalelei in regulation, but it heated Clemson up in the second overtime, which put the game away. If Notre Dame can get after the quarterback against Clemson like it did against Boston College, North Carolina and Syracuse the Irish will have a chance to win the rematch.
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