A huge college football contest will occur on Saturday evening as the Clemson Tigers invade Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend Indiana to rumble with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Tigers have not been as dominant as in years past, but they are still ranked 4th in the nation with an 8-0 record. The Irish have gone just 5-3 on the year, but they are off a big 17-point win over Syracuse and will be looking for a confidence-building win tonight. Clemson leads the all-time series 4-2.
The Clemson Tigers maybe 8-0 on the year, but they have hardly looked the part of a dominant team. Three of their last five wins have been by 6 points or less, including last week's 27-21 home win over Syracuse. The Tigers were favored by two TDs in that game and were down 21-10 at one point before rallying late. Now they have to face a Notre Dame team that beat Syracuse last week by 17 points on the road.
The offense has been good at times this year and bad at other times. Last week, the Tigers had just 10 points heading into the 4th quarter when a change at QB was made. Still, neither QB played well. D.J. Uiagalelei threw for just 138 yards with two INTs and no TDs before being replaced by Cade Klubnik, who threw for just 19 yards with no TDs and no INTs. It was the running game that led the Tigers to the win as they pounded out 293 yards against the Orange with Will Shipley having a huge game as he ran for 172 yards and two TDs in the contest. Shipley ran for just 678 yards in 9 games last year but has now run for 739 yards in eight games this year. He will take aim at an ND run defense that has had its struggles at times this year, while D.J. will be back at QB. Uiagalelei has thrown for 1803 yards with 17 TDs and just four INTs on the year, while also running for 350 yards and four TDs. The Irish defense could have its hands full in this one.
Speaking of defense, that is not an area that the Tigers have struggled at this year, but it still hasn't been up to some of the better defenses they have had in the last few years. Clemson had allowed 15 ppg or less in three of the last four years, but they have given up 19.9 ppg this year. They have allowed 20 points or more in four of their last five games and will now be facing a Notre Dame offense that is hitting its stride. The strength of their defense is stopping the run as they rank 7th in the nation in that department and that is the key to stopping the Irish. If Clemson stops the run in this one, then the Irish could be in big trouble.