DALLAS– Notre Dame didn’t see this coming.
Clemson punched a huge hole in the Irish’s dreams of winning a national championship, blowing away Notre Dame, 30-3, Saturday afternoon in the College Football Playoff national semi-finals at the Cotton Bowl Classic before a crowd of 71,107 at Cowboys Stadium.
This game brought back haunting nightmares of the 2012 Orange Bowl when the Irish entered the BCS national championship game against Alabama with a 12-0 record, only to limp away after getting rolled by the Tide in a 42-14 loss.
“I left that game thinking there was so much work to be done,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. “It was almost like, ‘They should be playing the Bears.’ This was a different feeling. This team is on the brink. We gave up four big plays. We hadn’t done that all year. Offensively, we struggled moving the ball, but I didn’t feel there was an overwhelming difference in talent.”
Still, the loss raised this lingering question: Can Notre Dame, one of the traditional powers in college football which claims 11 national championships and has over 100 consensus All Americans in its proud history, ever win another national championship in a era where the sport is now dominated by Southern schools like Alabama, Georgia and Clemson.
Kelly built his best team to date by developing players from four straight Top 20 classes But Clemson had a clear edge over Notre Dame in terms of NFL talent. The Tigers have six players, including their entire front line of Austin Bryant, Clelin Farrell, Christian Wilkins and suspended Dexter Lawrence– who are likely first round draft selection. The Irish may have six draftable players.
The Tigers also have Trevor Lawrence, the best freshman quarterback in the country. Lawrence, whose long hair is reminiscent to the character Sunshine in the Disney movie, “Return of the Titans,” was an easy choice for Offensive Player of the game after he completed 27 of 39 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns. Two of them were 52-and 42-yard home run bombs to 6-4 freshman wide receiver Justyn Ross. The 6-6 Lawrence, who replaced veteran Kelly Bryant as a starter in September, also threw another 19-yard scoring strike to 6-4 sophomore wide out Tee Higgins in the first half when the Tigers broke out to a 23-3 lead.
Clemson’s All American running tailback Travis Etienne punctuated the convincing victory with a 62-yard touchdown burst in the third quarter. “Notre Dame was a Top 10 defense. They hardly give up any big plays. I think they only gave up two 40 yard plays all season” Clemson coach Dabo Swinny said.
Kelly built his best team to date by developing players from four consecutive Top 20 classes. But the talent gap and speed between Clemson and the Irish was noticeable in this match up. The Tigers have six players — including their entire defensive front line of Austin Bryant, Clelin Farrell, Chris Wilkins and suspended 6-4, 350-pound defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence– who are likely NFL first round picks. Notre Dame might have six draftable players.
There was just no holding back this experienced, opportunistic Tigers’ team which has 50 juniors and seniors on its roster. “This is what we came to do,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinny said. “The senior group won its 54th game and they’re going back to their third national championship in four years. And, man, we’re so excited to have the opportunity to go to California and represent the ACC and play another great opponent.”
Notre Dame, which jump started its season after coach Kelly and offensive coordinator Chip Long made the bold decision to replace starter Brandon Wimbush with junior Ian Book after the third game of the year, could never get its offense in sync with the game was on the line,
Book completed just 17-of- 34 passes for 160 yards and one interception and was sacked six times. Clemson finished with 538 yards total offense. Notre Dame had just 248– and only 88 yards rushing. The Irish only converted five of 17 third down attempts.
“This loss hurts,” Book admitted. “You see a team like Clemson, you know this is playoff football, and this is what you’re going to get. And we know how we have to play to win in games like that. We just got to play better. . You’re not going to win a game when you only score three points. We didn’t need any super human efforts today. We just needed to dowht we’ve been doing all season, and we weren’t able to do that.”
