Notre Dame Football: 3 takeaways from thrilling win over Clemson
This was a classic showdown in South Bend between two top four teams. Notre Dame football escaped South Bend after two overtimes with a win.
What a wild ride we were taken on a Saturday night in South Bend. This game has been hyped up for months as a potential game of the year candidate. It did not disappoint.
Clemson was led by DJ Uiagalelei who is taking over for Trevor Lawrence who hopes to be back next week for the Tigers’ stretch run. Notre Dame was led by Ian Book and this stout offensive line that has been fantastic in 2020. Both teams were undefeated, ranked in the top four, and the best the ACC has to offer. Something had to give.
Kyren Williams started the fireworks with a 65 yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage to give ND an early 7-0 lead. After a three-and-out for the Tigers, Clemson really started to get in a groove on offense.
Uiagalelei was not shaken one bit from the bright lights, completing his first five passes and putting a touchdown on the board. After some back and forth action, we had some hiccups from Clemson which resulted them being down 23-13 at half.
The first was a fumble that bobbled right out of Travis Etienne’s hands into Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah’s hands who took it 23 yards for an Irish touchdown. The next mistake was another fumble this time by Amari Rodgers which led to three points for the Irish.
Clemson came out of the gates swinging in the second half, outscoring the Irish 10-0 in the third quarter. Ian Book had a chance in the 3rd quarter to get a seven-point lead on the Tigers. Jake Venebles stepped in and made a great play on the ball, to shatter the Irish’s hopes for any points.
The fourth quarter had tremendous back and forth action. Clemson took a 33-26 lead, but a curious decision by Travis Etienne to run out of bounds on third down left the Irish with one last possession, two timeouts, and 1:48 to go. Ian Book would then connect with Avery Davis on a monster 53-yard gain that put Notre Dame in position to tie the game.
In overtime, it took Clemson just two plays to take a 40-33 lead. Uiagalelei once again connected with Cornell Powell on a 25-yard strike and snuck it in on the next play. But Notre Dame would answer with back to back touchdowns by Kyren Williams. The defense would then have an incredible stand highlighted by two sacks to close out the game.
Four-plus hours of insane action from two of the best college football has to offer. What did we learn?