Notre Dame Football: 5 bold predictions for Cotton Bowl vs Clemson

4. At its core, this one will be a battle in the trenches.

This game will be played and won in the trenches. Both teams have strong players across the offensive and defensive lines. Each squad also has a strong secondary, most of the time at the very least, but they won’t be the biggest of deals in comparison to what the lines will mean for each team.

The Clemson defensive line has been one of the best units of the season, if not the best. However, Notre Dame has had quite the offensive line, protecting Ian Book well enough to win game after game. They have also made sure Dexter Williams has enough space to make plays to win games.

Vice versa, the Clemson offensive line has made life easy for first now transfer Kelly Bryant and then Trevor Lawrence to establish the passing attack that they have become known for. They have also made hole after hole for Travis Etienne to run through.

Overall, this game will be won and lost in the trenches. The team that is able to establish the running game and make life hard for the opposing offense will quite obviously be the winner of this one. However, who that will be is much less obvious.