Written by Ernie Casanova
ARLINGTON, TX— As we get ready for this Saturday’s CFP Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl between the Clemson Tigers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, today’s media day gave some people a new perspective. You can forget all the talk about Clemson’s offensive cogs such as QB Trevor Lawrence or RB Travis Etienne, as well as WR Hunter Renfrow. You can also leave out the fact the Notre Dame QB Brandon Wimbush is transferring, with Ian Book playing lights out and likely taking over the reins for the time being. Just in case anything happens to Book, Head Coach Brian Kelly still has another weapon at the signal caller position. Wide Receivers Chase Claypool and Miles Boykin have been lights out for the Irish, so an offensive outburst is what we expect in this game from each team.
It’s what the fans want. But what was deemed to be a high scoring game with Clemson being the favorite, is now able to potentially become a defensive battle for the ages.
Clemson starting defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence is most likely going to sit out, and in will come in a big Albert Huggins. Tigers’ star defensive end Clelin Ferrell has a total of 26 sacks in his career so far, adding 10.5 this year. He says he’s ready to avenge last year’s early exit, and his play along with juggernauts Christian Wilkins and Austin Bryant on the defensive line has majorly contributed to a ranking of third in total defense for the Tigers. Wilkins has 46 tackles with 12.5 being for a loss along with four and a half sacks, with Bryant having six and a half sacks and 11 tackles for a loss. Clemson also ranks second across the nation in sacks with 46 and the secondary added nine interceptions as well.
But it doesn’t end there.
Notre Dame’s defense is fully intact and has one of the best teams in terms of depth on that side of the ball. Standout Irish cornerback Julian Love who was a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe award, which is given to the nation’s top defensive back, says he is 100% ready to line up against Clemson’s big-bodied receivers and ignores all of the outside “underdog” noise.
“I mean, it’s tough. I’m going to be honest,” states Love. “I’m not the biggest guy, by any means, but I think it’s just really going toe to toe and really kind of applying your will to it. And so from Miles [Boykin] and me, it’s kind of knowing the different releases, getting into the body — some guys don’t mind being pressed, some guys really can’t be pressed so it’s knowing your opponent. The Irish, who have are in the top 20 as well in total defense, also have major players as well.
Linebacker Te’von Coney finished the season with 107 tackles along with three and a half sacks, and Love is now Notre Dame’s career leader in pass break-ups. While Love did only finish with one interception, he had 61 total tackles and 15 pass break-ups. Defensive Tackle Jerry Tillery, who saw his number in total tackles drop from last year, did have eight and a half sacks this year. He finished with nine last year, but he still has Saturday to play and potentially another game after if victorious.
He too knows the doubt the Irish have had to overcome in terms of recognition. “I think we’re pretty good, too. I think they have a talented defensive line but so do we,” mentions Tillery of Clemson. “They have a lot of playmakers up there, but we’ve made a lot of plays, too. But that’s always the story when Notre Dame’s playing. When we played Michigan, that’s what they were saying. Oh, Michigan’s defensive line, they’re so great. When we played Syracuse, they’ve got a lot of good players on their D-line. It was all about them. We’ve played a lot of defensive lines and it’s always them. But people aren’t really talking about us until after the game.”
When asked if that’s better, Tillery responded “Exactly. So that’s what we’ll be waiting for.”
You can feel the confidence oozing from each team, but the defenses were respectful of one another yet aware of their talents, which surely makes it much more enticing.
