Notre Dame Football: 3 takeaways from thrilling win over Clemson

1. The playoff picture became clearer

All week long, the talking heads of college football were debating what the true playoff implications of this game were. Now that we have a result, we can examine it clearly.

For Clemson, they are still in control of their own destiny. They have built up a great resume and put up great performances weekly. Clemson could more than likely survive one loss and still make the playoff due to what they have done in the first eight games.

They also have the argument of “well we lost without our starting quarterback.” This could be a fair argument to some and an infuriating one to to others. If they run the table and beat Notre Dame in a rematch with Lawrence, it will be very tough to leave them on the outside.

Looking at Notre Dame, they are in the drivers seat with potential for flexibility. If they lose to Clemson in the ACC Championship, you could still argue their case against teams such as: Texas A&M, Florida, and Cincinnati. They probably would need the Pac-12 champion to have two losses.

As of right now they are in that playoff picture and have the edge over Clemson in the short term. Now what happens if they beat Clemson in the ACC Championship? You are looking at a team that is most likely the No. 1 seed in this year’s playoff.

Both of these elite contenders were taken to the limit in South Bend. Credit to both teams for putting out an instant classic. For my money, this was the game of the year in 2020. That is of course until these two teams meet again in December.