Somebody posted the list of games where at Notre Dame Stadium that unranked ND squads have hosted at top 5 team. It contained no games. Irish have never beaten a top 5 team at home when unranked. So unranked Irish vs #4 Clemson is likely a loss. I'm a bit surprised that Clemson is only a 4.5 point favorite with an over/under of 44. Clemson will be the 2nd best defense we've faced this year (Ohio State defense was the best). They are especially stout on the DL, whereas Syracuse had good defensive stats and were statistically good against the run, their DL was smallish vs the large Irish OL and it showed. The Clemson DL is composed of mostly guys who will be playing in the League. So it will be quite a challenge to come out with that same game plan to just play power football and attempt to run the ball down their throats. Drew Pyne has to have a good game, he has to get through his progressions quickly and make good decisions and make them pay for loading up against the run. In Tommy Rees press conference he was questioned about why no screen passes and why Pyne is not seeing open receivers in the flats. You can see his answers here. What about the Irish defense? Clemson didn't score all that many points against Syracuse, less than the Irish. Dabo pulled his starting QB and they came from behind at home to score 17 4th qtr points and get the win. So this offense isn't as scary as that 2020 Clemson offense that handled the Irish easily in the ACC championship game when Trevor Lawrence was able to play. They have a solid running game that the Irish will have to deal with and when DJ U? is hot he's good, he has a strong arm and he can pull it down an run with the ball. They will be a load for the Irish defense. So do we have a any chance? Sure, if DJ U? doesn't have a good game and our DL gets to him early and we stop or at least slow down Will Shipley and Drew Pyne looks like the Drew Pyne we saw against UNC or BYU we could pull it off. But if it's the Drew Pyne we saw vs Stanford. We have not much of a chance. Smart money probably is giving the points and taking Clemson.
Oh and this will be a big recruiting weekend a good showing by the Irish or even better an upset will really help Freeman in effort to build up the talent on the roster. The elusive Bowens will be in attendance, Peyton the 5 star safety and his younger brother Eli who is also a very good player. Word is that he's fading on A&M a bit and is excited by his visit to Oregon. As Irish fans know he's been traveling a lot to other programs and that is why many are assuming it's just a matter of time before he decommits. His mom did an interview on Irish Sports Daily that is not paywalled here's an excerpt. Q: Why was it important for you guys to get back to South Bend this weekend? Amee Bowen: There’s a few things. It’s a huge home night game. We had talked about it in the summer and a lot of the commits were going to go. They were trying to make a game that they were all going to go to. It’s also getting close to Signing Day, so that way he either gets reminded of what he committed to or it also could be the downside of not what he signed up for. Link to full interview. Crunch Time: Amee Bowen In-Depth on Recruiting Process with Sons Eli, Peyton Part II
It's of course always possible for a 1st year coach who is struggling a bit to sell the future to kids and have a great class. Sark had a bad, really bad 1st season with blowouts at Arkansas and a loss to a bad KU team for a 5-7 record and no bowl. Yet he managed a #15 recruiting class and has a top 5 class going this year with Arch Manning topping it off and this season has had some rough losses to Texas Tech and to Oklahoma State with a good chance a couple of more to KState and TCU. Yet he's been able to sell the kids that they will be a part of a championship program going forward. Freeman needs a good game vs Clemson for sure, just can't get blown out, but a close loss won't kill recruiting.
crazy to say but I'd feel better about this game it was on the road. On the other hand, it doesn't seem to matter as far as Pyne is concerned. home or away he will just be, well, Drew Pyne.
Weather in the Midwest as Don noted is not going to be good this weekend. It's a little better Sat evening than it will be earlier Sat when the Buckeyes are playing, but not by much. Sat 05 | Night 43° 5% SW 18 mph Mostly clear skies. Low 43F. SW winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
Sounds like there will be a ton of Clemson fans in Notre Dame Stadium. It's almost become a tradition for ND fans to sellout to the visitors.
Notre Dame seems to be able to push Clemson around on the ground. The orange appear to be out of sync, this might turn out to be a rout for the home team?
Just looking at the halftime stats, Pyne is only 4-10 so the defense and running game are going to have to carry the team unless Pyne comes out of the lockeroom a different QB.
Big night for the Irish so far and I don't see Clemson recovering. Probably ending their playoff hopes.
Again still watching the WS but following the game stats on ESPN. Irish picked off Clemson after a punt backed them up inside the 10, 1st 10 on the 14 yd line and 3 running plays later it's 21-0 Irish. Unbelievable.
Just checked the ND game and we picked'em off again this time it was a 96 yard int return for a TD. 28-0 Irish. Could it happen? If we hang on and win, it will be the 1st time in the history of Notre Dame Stadium that an unranked Irish squad will have beaten a top 5 team.
Yordan Alvarez hit's an incredible bomb to give the Astro's a 3-1 lead and then I check the Irish and we scored again!!! Hey Mike can anybody fine the Irish if we rush the field?