Instant Reaction | Notre Dame 35 Clemson 14

There always was a path to beat Clemson. I wasn’t sure that Notre Dame could navigate it, but the path existed.

The Irish didn’t just take that path tonight. They ran a bulldozer over it much like they did running the ball against Clemson’s defense.

Everything Notre Dame had to do to win the game, they did and then some.

Time of possession? Check.

Winning the Havoc rate battle? Check. Clemson came with a rate of 22.7%. They had 9.4% tonight. Notre Dame was at 16.9%.

Run the football? Ch-ch-check that box with a big old X. The ran for more yards against Clemson than anyone has since Lamar Jackson’s Louisville team in 2016.

Don’t give up big plays in the passing game? Only one reception of 20-yards or more and it came when the Irish were up four scores. Clemson averaged 4.8 yards per attempt and most of their yards came in garbage time.

Have the defense and special teams create points? You know what happened there.

It all led to a whooping.

Marcus Freeman’s team was more physical, better coached, and beat a team that knew what their game plan was going to be coming in. It didn’t matter because Notre Dame was just better.

- On 42 running back runs, Notre Dame had only three plays that went for 0 yards or less. Even with their limitations at quarterback, it didn’t matter. They ran the ball 73% of the time.

Logan Diggs and Audric Estime displayed great vision and continuously maximized yardage by gaining yards after contact. The offensive line was tremendous and the tight ends were as well. They needed to be.

There’s a reason this defensive line was hyped up so much before this matchup. Notre Dame shoved that hype right down their throats.

- What a job by the defense. Al Golden had a terrific game plan and seemed to dial up pressure at just the right time.

Clemson averaged 4.3 yards per play and only 3.3 in the first three quarters before the game became a blow out.

The corners did a great job on those perimeter screens and Benjamin Morrison had a star-making performance.

The interceptions are what make the headlines and when a true freshman has two, including a pick-six, that’s going to rightfully get talked about first. But they also tried to test him on the deep ball several times. He shut it down.

- This team could have easily rolled over after the Stanford game. They have done the exact opposite.

Freeman and the staff have helped them rally in a way that most didn’t think was possible. Limited by their personnel on offense, they have relied on their strengths and those strengths have only gotten better as the season has gone on.

On paper, Notre Dame should have had no business winning this game. Every game on paper where Notre Dame seemed outmatched was a game Brian Kelly never could win. As much as he finally figured out how to win the ones he should win, he never managed to crack the code to win the games he wasn’t supposed to.

Freeman didn’t just win one he wasn’t supposed to. His team dominated a team it wasn’t supposed to.

The Irish are not elite and that’s what makes this one even more impressive. This is better than any win Notre Dame had under Brian Kelly when you consider the circumstances. For Freeman, it may just be the start of things to come.

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