Film Don't Lie | Can Notre Dame Handle the Pressure?
In a game as big as this one, there are always intriguing matchups across the board. Near the top is Notre Dame’s running game versus Clemson’s front seven and Notre Dame’s pass rush versus a Clemson offensive line that hasn’t given up much pressure. Those are going to be fun to watch and could have a huge impact on the final score.
But possibly the best matchup of the day is going to be Notre Dame on 3rd down against Brent Venables’ defense. The Irish have been outstanding on 3rd down this season. They convert on 54.8% of attempts, which is fifth amongst teams who have played more than two games.
On the other side of that is Clemson only allowing conversions on 27.5% of attempts, which shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. They have been elite at stopping teams on 3rd down for several years and a big reason why has to do with getting teams into long yardage situations. When that happens, there may not be anyone better at confusing confusing quarterbacks and blocking schemes than Venables.
Though Notre Dame has been great when they get into short yardage situations, there are going to be more than a few times where they are in 3rd and long against Clemson. With a Havoc Rate of 23.8%, the Tigers will cause negative plays enough to ensure that. The Irish offense has to win their fair share on 3rd and medium or 3rd and long on Saturday. That’s much easier said than done against Venables who is master at using blitzes to get his players in favorable matchups and disguising how many rushers there will be.
Here you can see against Miami where six players are up on the line of scrimmage and all six are rushing the passer. Miami has six blockers, but they are completely overwhelmed with the left tackle losing his individual matchup and the center and the left guard being confused by the twist from the defensive tackle and the linebackers.
Against Georgia Tech he has six players up on the line again. Two of them drop off and Venables sends an additional rusher with the cornerback blitzing as well.
They are running a T-T stunt inside and it’s the marriage of the stunt combined with the blitzer that makes this so hard to block. The level of execution by Clemson in these situations is phenomenal.
You probably noticed that the safety and linebacker that dropped are taking away the crosser. That’s been a go-to for Notre Dame on 3rd downs, but you know Venables is going to try and take that away as much as he can.
The key will be if Notre Dame can protect long enough for Ian Book to wait on that crosser to gain separation or if Book can get the ball out quickly enough to another receiver.
This is from the 2018 Cotton Bowl against Notre Dame and it’s a play that most Notre Dame fans will remember. Clemson rushes two players and they still get the sack because of the way the scheme sets up to take the tackle, Robert Hainsey, and has him engage with the one rusher.
That left the end completely free and everyone else dropped off to take away the crosser.
There was no back on this play and I’d guess that this was a pressure Clemson checked into after seeing this was an empty formation.
Venables has played a lot more of a 3 down look in the last couple of years and it only gives him more opportunities to stress protections. The linebacker is essentially running a stunt with the end who occupies the right tackle and the linebacker loops around free.
This kind of thing is going to force Book to get the ball out quickly like the Virginia quarterback does here.
It’s strange to say that patience with the protection is going to be key for Notre Dame, but it’s true. Clemson wants linemen to overcommit to help like the Boston College right guard does here. That is what lets the linebacker knife in as he waits to come through the gap. (It’s just a straight up whiff by the back)
3rd and long is not a spot any offense wants to be against Clemson. The best strategy for Notre Dame to win on 3rd down against Clemson is to get in as few 3rd down plays as possible and make most of them 3rd and short.
All of that can make things sound dire for the Irish and Ian Book, but one thing to keep in mind is that Book has been very good versus the blitz this season. He’s completed 60.5% of his throws for 8.5 yards per attempt with five touchdowns (and zero interceptions). His passer rating is actually better against the blitz than compared to when teams don’t blitz.
In terms of protection, the Irish faced what is arguably the best pass rush in the country against Pitt (first in sack rate and sacks per game). Book only completed six of eleven throws against the blitz, but was only sacked once and had 144 yards from those six completions. Included in that was that huge 3rd down throw and catch to Ben Skowronek that went for six.
Clemson has better corners than Pitt, but they both have been prone to giving up the big play through the air. In the last three weeks Venables’ defense has allowed 12.6 YPA when they have blitzed.
That could end up being a big deal in this game if Notre Dame is able to keep Book clean. Big play opportunities will be there. It’s up to the Irish to take advantage of them.