1 Alabama
2 ND
3 Ohio State
4 Clemson
5 Florida

Notre Dame might be way, way, way "overdue" to win one of these classic showdowns, but is this just the warm-up for the Dec. 19 ACC Championship?
https://notredame.rivals.com/news/bgi-staff-predictions-notre-dame-vs-clemson-1

Start to Bail on Jimmy?

With more DB’s needed will the Irish revisit him on the recruiting trail?

@MikeSinger I saw you posted a Tweet of him. I thought that was interesting.

for injured Sam Mustipher today.

Yes, this Clemson team was missing key pieces on both sides of the ball. Yes, ND's schedule has been pathetic prior to last night. And yes, they've looked fairly mediocre in some of their wins against the likes of Duke.

But ND is a "peer" program to us......that's a roster with comparable talent to PSU and Michigan. They don't have 5* kids at every position. They don't have 1st round talent at skill positions. They don't have any Heisman frontrunners.

But man......they are well coached. And they rise to the occasion in big games. They execute and they're fundamentally sound.......this is what PSU should look like. In fact, we probably have better athletes. But the biggest difference? (1) the QB position, and (2) fundamentally sound coaching all over.

We're not going to catch Ohio State in the talent gap. Never will. But we absolutely have the talent to do the kinds of things ND is doing. The difference in coaching is striking. That was never more apparent than it was last night in our respective games. Fortunately, I'm sure Michigan fans are saying the same thing, so we're not alone. But it begins and ends with player development and gameday preparation.



What do you think about this analysis?

Told poster if Clemson wins I wouldn’t post for a month. Impact is a man of his word. Later ✌️

I live in a small town of 25k outside of Akron. There was a family out for a bike ride yesterday in an unusually warm Nov day in NE Ohio. The youngest boy (7) who went to the catholic school that my kids went to was riding his bike across the crosswalk and a young lady who was 20 ran a red light and struck the child. The child didn’t make it.

I can’t imagine the pain that all parties involved are going through. Just a terrible accident. Please say a prayer for the family and hug your kids extra tight.

That we got the breaks I would argue the complete opposite.
Pass interference happens multiple times not called on Clemson and than than they even picked up a crucial one. Also false start on what would have been a touchdown or at very least a 1 st down inside the 2. Than a fumble on what would have been a first down inside the 4. Probably left 11 points on the field there.

also injuriesl Clemson got the crap kicked out of them in that game. And no mention of our top 2 wr out and than McKinley being gone in the 4th. Just crazy.

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Watch the full replay of the live show above. @Mason Plummer has provided a transcription of the first 10 minutes or so of the show if you're not able to watch. I will also be posting the audio of the postgame show on our podcast channel as well.

Opening Thoughts

“We thought maybe this was going to be an ugly game, but really, what an amazing game. What an amazing night; what an amazing sport. So many people looked great tonight. We got up early tonight when Kyren Williams busted out for a long touchdown run; that was great. Even as a fan though, you kind of got comfortable then start to think ‘Well, Notre Dame has been here before.’ It was such an up and down game. Early in the second half, Clemson took hold of the ball and finally found their rhythm and momentum. What a game, good for those guys! Good for us! Wow.”

Game-tying drive late in the 4th quarter

“Say what you want about Ian Book, but he is a winner. It’s not pretty sometimes but he has got stones; he really does. He’s got balls; he’s got moxie. It’s not pretty all the time, but on that last drive, it was the second or third time we saw Book push the ball downfield and get it to the seams. We saw a lot of bad routes in previous games, but we saw Book here find guys down the seam, like when he found McKinley and Davis a few times. It was really nice to see us pull out the whole play book. We ran the ball extremely well, Tremble got involved, and it was an amazing game. Truly an amazing game. I thought maybe at times we were throwing the ball a bit too much and I didn’t want them to forget about the run game. For Ian Book to play Clemson the way he did, so what they had some injuries. To not take a sack, just to be a custodian of the game, a custodian of the ball, it was tremendous.

“It really seemed like all the stars aligned tonight and I was thinking ‘If there was ever a time to do it, this is it.’ The defense played great; they did a great job with Etienne. They held him under 20 yards in the first half. Your playmakers made plays, and man, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. Every game he makes a play, and in this one he made 1-2 plays and you’re just like ‘Man.’ “Daelin Hayes is turning into a playmaker and becoming reliable, to top up in those big moments as a captain is amazing to see there at the end. It was a great time win, a great team effort, that’s why we love the sport. There were ups, there were downs, people picked each other up, and key playing. It was awesome to see, awesome.”

On last defensive stop/defense as a whole

“I think a lot of our fans remember the ‘05 Bush Push game and I remember on Southern Cal’s last possession -- I want to say we had sacks on first and second down. Then they threw the ball up the sideline and ended up winning. It kind of reminded me of that game and I was thinking ‘Ohhh no.’ The defense on that last series, I remember thinking that either Owusu-Koramoah or Hamilton was going to come up and make a play and put an end to this damn thing. Overall, this is what great teams do. You got to soak in the moment and really this is the moment everyone dreams about when you are growing up in the backyard.

“Kyren played great. When I watched the game I was thinking ‘That guys jersey is all nicked up! What a game, good for Ian Book. He deserves it.

“I loved what Rees did with Tommy Tremble tonight. Running him out into space and displacing him to let him be a lead blocker in a lot of spots. What a humble kid too. He isn’t catching as many passes as he probably should, but he is really the motor of the offense, and I liked seeing him getting involved in the passing game.”

Game ball

“Ian Book gets the game ball for me, and man does he deserve it. He should get a gold-plated game ball. To hang in there and complete the passes he did and take some of the shots he did, man what a game. I loved the scheme tonight too. We flashed that inside running game I had been calling for, finally.”

Confidence

“Now that they finally got it done and beat Clemson, I don’t really even worry about the ACC Championship just yet. Worry about that if and when you get there. Notre Dame got it done tonight and maybe goes into that game with more swagger and a little bit of confidence knowing they did it once already. Of course, it is difficult to beat a team twice and especially with all of their weapons back, but Notre Dame will have theirs back too. Notre Dame’s weapons are not the same as Clemson’s but they are still there.”

Notre dame beat Clemson on special teams and on offense. Clemson's offense beat us during the second half but not after that.

JOK is going first round. He's terrorizing offenses right now.

What a game Kyle Hamilton had. You look at Etienne's stat line and part of his problem was KH shooting in on run blitz.

You can't say Lawrence's absence didn't hurt. Most across the country watched DJU's performance and give him the credit he deserves, and some say the Irish would have won regardless, but some of the third-down misses that DJU failed to covert you have to wonder if TL would have moved the chains. Also, in the grand scheme of things, if TL had been available, would the Irish have been able to key in on stopping Etienne like they did? Maybe, but I'm not so sure. That proved to be colossal.

Kyrin Williams absolutely picked up that stinking blitz all night long. I mean dude, let's face it, he played lights out last night.

Right now, the Irish need to divorce this game from their memory banks and move on. We're famous for post-win letdowns.

It's not a foregone conclusion that the Irish will lose in the ACCCG. We shouldn't accept that from anyone here or elsewhere in the college football world. Play physical football and inspired like they did and let's see what happens. You get the feeling Ian Book has rediscovered the downfield passing game. That, added into what already exists, is like adding a whole nother dimension that makes this team dangerous. If the irish play physical and can run the football, they should be able to fight to the very end.

After playing spotless football the first 6 games we started to see just a few false starts and holding penalties. BUT, overall, considering the magnitude of the whole thing, they held tough in a stressful situation. In seasons past, boneheaded mistakes would have killed this team. Winning is about playing hard, mistake-free football.

The Irish abandoned the run in the fourth quarter but went back to it in OT. That's coaching. My hat is off to Tom Rees and BK. That's keeping cool in the face of adversity. Kudos.

The talent gap between Clemson and ND is real, but you see it mainly in terms of depth. If a Tiger player gets covid, suspended or injured, they've got options and the replacements are 5-stars that can step in and compete right away. Notre Dame is man for man with them in terms of the starters, but things get shaky if there's adversity. If you're going to be a championship team and win consistently, you gotta get similar quality of depth.

When my son played varsity FB in highschool, I used to tell him he didn't have to win the game himself, just don't lose it with boneheaded mistakes. Manage the game well and you'll win. That's Ian Book's MO. He's a winner. He's not Jalen Hurts or Joe Burrows, but he's a winner. At times his mediocrity is mid blowing, but he's gritty and scrappy, which ain't half bad.

The game went over my setting on the recording.

Story: https://notredame.rivals.com/news/top-players-against-clemson

Mine ran out with it in the second ot tied at 40 and after the 2 yard run from Williams. Sucks😡

nm

Offside on 4th and inside the 1: FG instead of TD
Dropped pass by tight end in the end zone: FG instead of TD
Touchback after coughing the ball up inside the five: Would be TD

Dabo even said at halftime, Clemson was lucky to be down by only 10.

Sit the team down on Monday and show them the 1993 Boston College game.

As happy as we are, one slip up can change everything. Some of us lived it in ‘93.

What a game! Keep it going Irish!

experience for him.

Deleted

Despite the win, my hate for this man grew 10 fold tonight. His antics on the sideline are so ridiculous. Dude deserved a couple unsportsmanlikes tonight but instead they reverse that crucial PI all because Saint Dabo said it wasn’t a foul. And then he slams his headset when they call one on his guy on the next drive. They got every close call all night and all he can do is cry. Seriously just STFU you holier than thou, phony POS.

One of the criticisms of ND back a few years ago is that we didn't have the team speed to play with the big boys of college football. I thought we matched up team speed with Clemson all across the board. More importantly, I don't think we lose physicality at the expense of speed. We are big where we need to be big, are physical, and have plenty of speed at key positions.

The first thought when Williams broke through the line on the second play from scrimmage was that he would get caught by the Clemson defenders. He pulled away.

Befitting the occasion.

With all the election chaos around the country, this BIG WIN by the Irish sure helped a lot of people, including myself, both mentally and emotionally. If your candidate won, then this victory was the cherry on top and if your candidate lost, it provided much easing of any pain.

For me, this great victory does more for my mental psyche than whomever we choose as the country's leader....because at the end of the day, we are all Americans, but only a special group of us Americans (and non-Americans welcome too) are FIGHTING IRISH!

Sorry for the sermon....now back to regular programing!

Is this bigger than any of the '12 wins?

Against one of the best DC coordinators. Threw in some new wrinkles and put some real pressure on the opponent