Game Thread | No. 15 Notre Dame at Clemson

No. 15 Notre Dame (7-2) at Clemson (4-4)

Memorial Stadium | 12:00 PM ET | ABC | Line: Notre Dame -3.0| O/U: 44.5

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Five Players To Watch

Notre Dame DT Rylie Mills
The right guard position has been a problem for Clemson all season. It looks like both guard positions could be an issue with their best linemen, left guard Marcus Tate, rumored to be out as well. With left tackle Collin Sadler banged up, that means Tristan Leigh probably has to move back to tackle and Clemson will have to play two backups at both guard spots. Things aren't getting any easier for them against Notre Dame's duo at defensive tackle either. Mills has a big opportunity to dominate that match up.

Clemson QB Cade Klubnik
Klubnik came in for one series against Notre Dame last season and it was a memorable one for all the wrong reasons. He threw a pick to Benjamin Morrison and then never played again. He's had a rough season behind a bad offensive line. His nine fumbles lead the nation and he's fifth in the country in balls batted at the line of scrimmage. 

Notre Dame TE Holden Staes
With Mitchell Evans out for the season, Staes has a chance to fill his shoes as a go-to option on 3rd down. What Evans does as a whole will be replaced by committee, but his emergence as the top receiving threat on the team means those targets have to go to someone else with Staes as the prime candidate to receive them.

Clemson DT Tyler Davis
The Irish ran the ball at will against Clemson to close out their 2022 match up. Davis was on the field for that and no doubt he and his teammates have been reminded about that for the past year. One of the best defensive tackles in the country, Notre Dame's interior offensive line will have to play their best road game of the season to block him and fellow DT Ruke Orhororo.

Notre Dame CB Benjamin Morrison
Last year's Clemson game was Morrison's coming out party as a big-time player. Klubink loves to throw to the boundary, which means Morrison should be targeted frequently and there should be more opportunities for him to get his hands on the football.

Quotes of the Week

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman:
”I view it as just the logistics, the timeline in terms of when do you go to bed, you move your meetings up a little bit earlier on Friday. You try to get them to go to sleep a little bit earlier Friday night and then you wake them up. You have to make sure there's not this progression from when you wake up to finally get in a play like you do maybe with 3:30 games or a night game. 

“It's we wake up and we have to stimulate our body. We have to get going the minute you get downstairs. We'll still have a little walkthrough that we usually have on noon games, but the mindset when you wake up has to be OK, we gotta get ready to go.”

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker:
”Of course the same defensive coordinator and staff, that all exists. Much like us there’s a lot to pull from that’s similar and the same and then there’s enough to pull from where you have to say, ‘Okay, here are some changes they’ve made’ that have made them in our opinion, better.” 

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden:
“I think, obviously, there's a big span in there, just playing them last year, just perimeter speed, length on the perimeter, big-time tight ends, a quarterback that can move and multiple running backs. They make you defend the whole width of the field. They can take the top off of it with speed, and they can get the ball underneath and make you miss. So, it's a challenging group.”  

Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman:
”Being 0-5 is probably on the other side of that scale. I think it's a new year. We're going down in a hostile environment playing a really, really good football team. The record doesn't say that, but I went through every single one of their games and they're all close, one-score games. We're gonna have to go play on the road and one of the greatest environments in college football, so it's going to be a challenge. That's why you come here. That's why you play at this place. That's why the games in November matter is because people remember November. To go down there and try and execute at the highest level will be an extremely difficult challenge, and I believe we will be up for it.”

Notre Dame RB Jadarian Price:
“The mindset doesn’t change. Going through the process every week, the mindset never changes. I’m still going to practice hard every week. So is every other running back in our room. We know it might be unexpected how the rotation goes. It’s just how the game goes. The good thing about that is you don’t know what to expect, so you’re always locked in. My name could be called (snaps) at any second. Someone could go down at any second, and I know that I’m locked in. I know every single job. It’s not one person knows this set of jobs, the other running backs know this. No. All the running backs know all the jobs. It’s a good thing that we all have that knowledge and skillset, so whenever our name is called we can get it, even though we don’t have a set rotation or routine.” 

Notre Dame S Xavier Watts: 
”Ive played safety for two years or it’s like my first full year starting. So, just trying to take it to the next level. Just trying to become a veteran, I guess. So, like you said, just watching a lot more film, meeting with coaches a lot more, just studying more, studying more tendencies and just being more confident coming into the game. Like, ‘Alright, I’m that guy. I can make these type of plays. So, just go out there and show it and do it’.” 

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