Notre Dame Knocks Out No. 4 Clemson in 21-Point Rout
Coach Marcus Freeman said Notre Dame versus Clemson wasn’t a David-versus-Goliath matchup.
It was going to be a heavyweight bout.
He was right, and the Irish landed a number of punishing blows throughout the match. By the final bell, the No. 4 Tigers were lying on the mat, down for the count.
Notre Dame (6-3) defeated Clemson (8-1) 35-14 for the program’s 27th straight regular-season victory over an ACC opponent.
“This is a special one,” Freeman said. “It's not every day you get the opportunity to play in this place, jam-packed with those fans and have an opportunity to beat a top-five team in the country.”
Tight end Michael Mayer led the Irish in receiving for the eighth time this season with four catches for 44 yards. He also snagged his 16th career touchdown pass, breaking Ken MacAfee’s record for a Fighting Irish tight end.
For Mayer, it was an accumulation of three years of hard work and dedication, which never ceased, even after Notre Dame opened the season with losses to No. 2 Ohio State and Marshall.
“We're going to keep fighting,” Mayer said. “No matter what anybody says or thinks about us, we don't care.”
The Irish struggled through the air against Clemson. Quarterback Drew Pyne completed 9 of 17 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown.
Even without a passing threat, Notre Dame picked up 263 yards on the ground for 5.6 yards per carry and two scores against the nations. No. 7 rush defense. The Tigers entered Saturday allowing just 87.9 yards on the ground per game.
Sophomore running backs Logan Diggs and Audric Estime both exceeded 100 yards on the ground, each outgaining Clemson counterpart Will Shipley by more than 40 yards.
“I don't want to say we physically dominated them, but we knew going into it that we had to run the ball,” Freeman said. “You look at every game that we have won, I think we rushed the ball 40-plus times. That's been our backbone. We knew their defensive line was special, but we couldn't shy away from our strength.”
The offense also received a major boost from the defense and special teams.
Notre Dame hit Clemson on the chin early in the first quarter when defensive lineman Jordan Botelho blocked a punt straight up into the air, which linebacker Prince Kollie caught and returned 17 yards into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
It was Notre Dame’s fifth blocked punt in the last four games and sixth of the season, which set a modern-day single-season school record dating back to 1937.
“Everybody knows we're coming after punts,” Freeman said. “We're not tricking anybody. It's about the way we teach it and the way they go out and they execute it. Today was a great job by the punt block unit.”
Later in the game, freshman Benjamin Morrison delivered the knockout blows by intercepting Clemson on back-to-back drives.
His first pick at the end of the third quarter set up a three-play, 14-yard Notre Dame touchdown drive.
Morrison returned his second interception for a 96-yard pick-six to put Notre Dame up 28-7 with 12:58 left in the fourth quarter. It also marked the first time an Irish opponent failed to score on a red zone opportunity this season.
The Tigers finished with 281 yards of total offense and two touchdowns, but the majority of their yards and all 14 points came in the final quarter with the Irish employing a preventive defense.
Through the first three quarters, Notre Dame limited Clemson to just 127 yards of offense with 49 rush yards on 2.6 yards per carry.
JD Bertrand led all players with 12 tackles while also picking up a sack and two TFLs. Defensive end Isaiah Foskey added another sack and now has 8.5 on the season and 24 in Irish his career. He’s 0.5 sacks away from Justin Tuck’s all-time Notre Dame record.
“Our defense came up huge today,” Freeman said. “ I'm proud. They have done a really good job all year.”
The last 21-point Clemson loss came against Ohio State in the 2020 College Football Playoff Semifinals.
“Our fans deserve this,” Mayer said. “They deserve just win. It's been a little bit of an up-and-down season, to say the least. We've been working hard. We've kept our heads down. We've done what we need to do, and I'm happy with the outcome.”