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College Football Upset Alert, Week 16: Championship Weekend edition

By Sonny Martinez

ACC Championship Game participants Clemson (left) and Notre Dame both remain in contention to make the College Football Playoff field, to be announced Sunday.Ndfootball
ACC Championship Game participants Clemson (left) and Notre Dame both remain in contention to make the College Football Playoff field, to be announced Sunday.Ndfootball /
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Dec 5, 2020; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Ian Book (12) hands off to running back Kyren Williams (23) in the third quarter against the Syracuse Orange at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 5, 2020; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Ian Book (12) hands off to running back Kyren Williams (23) in the third quarter against the Syracuse Orange at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /

ACC: Clemson (-10.5) vs. Notre Dame

Notre Dame has defeated Clemson already, so why can’t they do it again?

All the talk of Trevor Lawrence missing the first game is being overblown. Lawrence’s replacement, DJ Uiagalelei, threw for 439 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Too many make it sound like Clemson had zero offense without Lawrence. He was on the sidelines for the game, too, so the whole “he wasn’t there” argument isn’t valid either.

Notre Dame won because they outplayed Clemson, not because Lawrence was out.

For Notre Dame to win again, they need to dominate against Travis Etienne again. It’s doable, as shown in the first meeting. Notre Dame held Etienne to the worst game of his career, holding him to an unbelievable 1.6 yards per carry over 18 attempts. It’s extremely unlikely that number can be matched, but if the Irish can hold Etienne under four yards per carry and less than 75 yards, they’ll be in excellent position to shock the world again.

Notre Dame also needs to make big plays at big times. Ian Book and Kyren Williams are going to have to play out of their minds again. Both showed up when it mattered the most, late in the fourth quarter and in overtime. If the Irish can once again top 200 yards rushing they’ll be in a great spot.

Would it be an upset? How can you call it an upset when we’ve seen it before? Notre Dame has already showed they can beat Clemson, why can’t they do it again? The only difference in this game is that this time around, all of the pressure is on Clemson.

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