Notre Dame Football: 3 reasons the Irish will shock No. 4 Clemson

Many people had this matchup between Notre Dame football and the Clemson Tigers circled on their calendars for a while now. At the start of the year, it was seen by a lot of experts as being a top-10 showdown under the lights in South Bend.

Clemson has held up their end of the bargain entering this game with an undefeated record of 8-0. Notre Dame on the other hand has not with embarrassing losses to Marshall and Stanford where they were huge favorites in both matchups.

The Irish come into this matchup 5-3 on the season under first-year Head Coach Marcus Freeman. It has been a rollercoaster ride so far in the first year for Freeman. One thing is clear though that Notre Dame has played its best against ranked teams.

Notre Dame has key wins over North Carolina (who was not ranked at the time but is now) along with wins over BYU and Syracuse. Also, in week one the Irish battled Ohio State and it was a one-score game until late in the second half.

The Irish will need to rise to the occasion again as Clemson is well-rested after coming off a bye. The Tigers needed the bye to rest up after a close call against Syracuse two weeks ago in their 27-21 victory.

In the game against Syracuse, head coach Dabo Swinney decided to bench starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei for their young big-time recruit Cade Klubnik. The freshman in Klubnik helped rally Clemson to a comeback victory over Syracuse. Swinney has already said that Uiagalelei will get the start against Notre Dame.

This will not be the first time Uiagalelei has started at Notre Dame on the road. He made his first career start in 2020 due to then-star quarterback Trevor Lawrence being out with COVID-19.

Even though they did not have Lawrence back in 2020 it was a game for the ages. It was a back-and-forth slugfest between both sides with Notre Dame coming out on top with a 47-40, overtime victory.

Something has to give in this game. Clemson has not lost coming off a bye week since 2014. While Notre Dame has won 26 consecutive regular-season wins over ACC competition.

Will this game live up to the hype? It definitely has the feel to be a really good football game between two powerhouse programs. Here are three reasons I believe the Irish will defeat Clemson on Saturday night inside Notre Dame Stadium for the second consecutive time.