Written by Ernie Casanova
ARLINGTON, TX– This year’s College Football Playoff started with a huge bang, but a very lopsided one. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish came out with hopes of clinching their first-ever berth in the CFP National Championship, while the Clemson Tigers had stepped into AT&T Stadium with other plans. After a competitive first quarter, Clemson found their groove and put a halt to the Irish’s early strong start. The Tigers clinched their third CFP National Championship berth in the last four years defeating the Irish 30-3, while Notre Dame finished their season 12-1.
After a very strong defensive start, Notre Dame had the entire venue convinced that this would be an equal battle against the ACC Champions. They kept the Tigers in check early, with Clemson only having a total of three first downs in the first quarter. Tigers QB Trevor Lawrence was 6-11 with 35 passing yards and Clemson had 40 yards less than the Irish while attempting only two fewer plays than they did. The Irish’s defensive line was forcing Lawrence to move out of the pocket, attempting to prove the narrative that he isn’t as successful on the run.
The Tigers made the correct adjustments to put an end to it quickly.
The second quarter became a play-pen for the Clemson Tigers, and it went on for the rest of the evening. While the running game for the Tigers didn’t kick in yet, Lawrence started to play lights out showing the world that he can do it all. On the Tigers’ first possession in the second quarter, it took them only 1:04 to score after Lawrence found speedy WR Justyn Ross for a 52-yard bomb. Notre Dame blocked the Tigers’ extra point kick, but it wasn’t enough juice to hold them over. After Clemson K Greg Huegel missed a 49-yard kick going wide left, Clemson’s next drive saw Lawrence finding Ross again deep, this time for a 42-yard touchdown.
After a quick four-play drive from Notre Dame saw them give the Tigers the ball back with 48 seconds left, Lawrence made quick work of it by finding WR Hunter Renfrow for a 32-yard pass to put them in scoring position. Instead of attempting the field goal, they gave it a shot for the end zone where WR Tee Higgins made up for a dropped touchdown pass earlier by catching a bobbled one with such beauty to close out the half. “On that play, I was laser-focused on the ball,” said Higgins of the catch after the game. “I found nothing else but the ball and made the play.”
Clemson went into the locker room leading 23-3 and the quick momentum shift was a surprise to everyone present inside of Jerry’s world.
The second half was already very much decided. Clemson’s defense shut down all aspects of the Fighting Irish’s offense, even after Notre Dame’s defense was giving them chances to try and make some magic on the scoreboard. Nothing was working out, and Irish QB Ian Book was getting harassed all night. With just over three minutes left in the third quarter, Tigers RB Travis Etienne broke free a dashed into the end-zone for a 62-yard touchdown on a drive that only took three plays. At the end of the third quarter, Clemson had out-gained Notre Dame in total yardage 303-138, and there was no coming back there from the Irish.
Book did all he could with his feet to avoid the heavy pressure but it wasn’t enough. He finished the game going 17-34 with 160 yards and an interception, adding 17 rushes for 30 yards. RB Dexter Williams was targeted heavily, but he too couldn’t make anything come into fruition. He finished with 54 yards on 16 rushes and three catches for 29 yards.
“They know how to execute. They know exactly what to do to get the win and get to
the next playoff game. I see everything as a blessing and an opportunity for not just
me, but the younger guys as well. It’s a lesson learned. We have to continue to
push, keep our heads up and move forward as a team,’ Williams mentioned after the game.
WR Miles Boykin, last year’s Citrus Bowl hero, finished with five catches for 69 yards leading the receiving corps as there wasn’t much they were able to do. Notre Dame came into this game with one of the deepest defenses in the country and allowed a total of 538 yards throughout the game with 211 coming from the ground.
Lawrence, who was the game’s offensive MVP, finished with an amazing stat line of 27-39 with 327 yards and three touchdown passes while breaking the record for most touchdowns thrown in a CFP Semifinal. His 27 completions are also the second most ever in a CFP Semifinal, and he finished with a passer rating of 165.
It was a feast for Lawrence connecting with Ross throughout the night, as Ross finished with excellent numbers. He tallied up six catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns averaging 24.7 yards a catch, with Renfrow sitting behind him with four catches for 62 yards. Higgins, who made the unbelievable catch in the end-zone, finished with four catches as well for 53 yards. Etienne rushed for 109 yards on 14 rushes while averaging 7.8 yards per carry and now holds the school record for most rushing yards in a single season.
Clemson’s defense was unstoppable, notching six sacks and eight tackles for a loss to go with two forced fumbles. Albert Huggins, who was Dexter Lawrence’s replacement, only had one tackle but made a huge impact just by his presence and field IQ.
“I mean he just did what he could do,” mentions DE Clelin Ferrell of Huggins. “It wasn’t a big surprise, we know what he can do. He’s played a lot of snaps. He’s been a starter for us for a lot of games so I wasn’t really surprised by the expectations that everybody had for him and we knew what he brings to the table.”
Defensive end Austin Bryant was the defensive MVP, as he finished three tackles for a loss and two sacks. “We made too many mistakes,” said Irish offensive lineman Sam Mustipher. When you are on this type of stage and you turn the ball over and have penalties, those are drive killers specifically for our offense. Notre Dame had three sacks on Lawrence and also had five tackles for a loss, but they couldn’t prevent the big plays that were huge in terms of field position and momentum.”
Notre Dame still had a tremendous season finishing 12-1 and should look forward to possibly being in this stage the same time next year.
“Notre Dame came into this game hardly giving up any big plays, and we were one of the leaders in the country in big plays,” mentions Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney after the victory. “So really proud of Trevor and his poise and how he managed the game the whole way through. So, phenomenal night. We’re going to celebrate this tonight. And we’re going to load up and get back to Clemson and get ready to go to California.”
Clemson will now travel to Santa Clara to take on the winner of the Capital One Orange Bowl CFP Semifinal between Alabama and Oklahoma on January 7th.
(Image Credit: Greg Atkins / The SkyBoat)
