WHAT WE ARE HEARING: PREVIEW AND PREDICTION FOR CLEMSON vs. NO.15 NOTRE DAME

Welcome to another edition of What We Are Hearing!

 

Saturday is an “Orange Out” for the Bourret Bowl! The legendary former Clemson SID will watch his alma mater battle the Tigers once again. For the first time since the BYOG hurricane game in 2015, Notre Dame comes to Death Valley. And for the first time in the last few meetings, there isn’t a national championship on the line, but the Tigers are desperate for a big win, and Notre Dame is hoping to climb back into the top 10 with only 2 losses. The Tigers are also looking for revenge for the beating they took in South Bend almost a year ago to the day. It was probably the Tigers’ worst showing since the 2013 loss to eventual national champion FSU, and don’t think the players and coaches don’t remember it like it was yesterday. The Tigers lead the all-time series with Notre Dame 4-3, so they need to win on Saturday in order to continue being the only program with a winning all-time record against Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oklahoma. It’s another noon game in Death Valley on ABC, but that didn’t damper the atmosphere when the Tigers played No.3 FSU! The crowd was electric, and the Tigers outplayed and should have beaten the Noles, never trailing until overtime. To add to the excitement, my brother-in-law will be one of the fighter pilots flying his jet over Death Valley before kickoff! He is a Lt. Col. In the Air National Guard, living in Columbia. He’s a UGA grad, but his dad, brother and wife are all Clemson grads!

 

It was a crazy press conference on Tuesday thanks to Dabo’s Monday night exchange with “Tyler from Spartanburg” during his weekly live radio show. It was probably his longest press conference ever at 1 hour, 5 minutes, and certainly the longest in my 9 years of covering them! In case you missed it, an igrate fan named Tyler called into Dabo’s radio show on Monday night with the complaints you've all seen from the spoiled, fair-weather fans who are disgruntled and miserable if Clemson isn't in the national championship every year with absolutely no perspective or appreciation for what Dabo has accomplished and no faith that everything in the program is fine with a bright future.

"So, I’m curious. Why are we paying you $11.5 million to go 4-4?" the caller asked Swinney after questioning his coaching hires and saying he sensed "arrogance." 

"You're part of the problem, to be honest with you," Dabo responded.

"The appreciation, the expectation is greater than the appreciation," he continued. "And that's the problem. We've won 12 10-plus-win seasons in a row. That's happened three times in 150 years. So if you want to know why, Clemson ain't sniffed a national championship for 35 years. We've won two in seven years. And there's only two other teams that can say that – Georgia and Alabama. OK?

"Is this a bad year? Yeah, and it’s my responsibility. Take 100% responsibility for it. But all this bullcrap you’re thinking and all these narratives you read … Listen, man, you can have your opinion all you want. And you can apply for the job. And good luck to you."

And what’s happened at Clemson is we’ve won so much – it used to be the fun is in the winning – now, even when you win, people like you complain, and criticize the coaches, and question everything," Swinney said. 

"To answer your question, I started as the lowest-paid coach in this freaking business," Swinney added. "And I’m where I am because I've worked my a-- off. Every single day. And I ain’t gonna let some smart a-- kid get on this phone and create this stuff.

"So, if you got a problem with that, I don’t care. I work for the board of trustees, the president, and the AD. And if they’re tired of me leading this program all they gotta do is let me know. I’ll go somewhere else where there is an appreciation."

Amen, Dabo! I highly suggest listening to the call below, as well as the full press conference video HERE! And if you are one of those people like Tyler, maybe it will wake you up! I remember Dabo being really angry about a Tigernet story by David Hood in 2018, writing that the 21-point win over the Gamecocks “felt like a loss.” That’s exactly the kind of thing Dabo is talking about! Ironically, Wednesday was the 15-year anniversary of Dabo's first win on All Saints' Day up at Boston College, another Catholic school. I was in the upper deck, freezing my tail off!

 

 

Enough of Tyler and the vocal minority of ingrates. Before I dive into the matchup, how about that exhibition on the hard wood by the Tigers?! In case you missed it, they trounced Newberry 90-39 with the starters playing about half the game and sharp-shooter Alex Hemenway sitting out. It was quite a display with transfer guard Joseph Girard from Syracuse making his Clemson debut. The Tigers will open the regular season on Monday night against Winthrop in Littlejohn. Hope to CU there! Also, the No.7 Women’s Soccer team beat No.9 Notre Dame on Thursday to advance to the ACC Championship. Hopefully that’s a good omen for Saturday!

 

On to the matchup…

 

MISCELLANEOUS

Clemson is 4-3 all-time against Notre Dame and the only program with an all-time winning record versus Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oklahoma….Dabo is still seeking his 166th win as head coach to establish a new Clemson record…Clemson has lost consecutive games in the same season for the first time since 2011 and consecutive ACC games for the first time since 2010. The streak of 161 games without consecutive losses was the longest in the nation and more than twice the length of the next-longest streak in Clemson history. Alabama now has the second-longest active streak (136), last losing consecutively in 2014, and Georgia is second at 62 games since 2019….Clemson is now 33-9 following a loss under Dabo, winning 22 of the last 25….Clemson is 90-12 during the regular season since 2015. Of the 12 losses, 10 were decided by 10 points or less…The Tigers have not gone consecutive games without a rushing touchdown since the first 3 games of 2009, Dabo’s first full season as head coach…Clemson is one behind Alabama for the most Power Five wins since 2013. Ohio State has 4 fewer, and Georgia has 11 fewer…Dabo won 161 of his first 200 games coached, ranking him tied for 5th all-time with Bob Stoops and Robert Neyland, one win shy of Penn State legend Joe Paterno and Nebraska legend Tom Osborne. Urban Meyer had the most at 170…Last week’s 7-point loss at NC State dropped Dabo’s win percentage to .793, just behind Nick Saban’s .803…

 

NOTRE DAME SYNOPSIS

The Irish come into the game ranked No.15 with a 7-2 record, and they lost to Ohio State on the last play of the game, so they are that close to being in playoff contention. The moment the news broke that Sam Hartman was transferring to Notre Dame, I knew that they’d be a tough out on the schedule, even at home. Hartman is an NFL quarterback playing in college, and he lit up the Tigers at Wake last season. It was the worst career game for Wiggins, and true freshman Toriano Pride struggled as well, along with Fred Davis, who was later dismissed from the team. Wiggins has come a long way since then; that game was a turning point in his career, and he was the Defensive MVP in the ACC Championship. Hartman can make all of the throws and has been a starter forever, so he’s as savvy as they come. He can even scramble better than people think (e.g., his 4th and 13 run at Duke to keep the game-winning drive alive). However, Hartman has looked human in his last two games against Louisville, throwing 3 interceptions in each meeting. Let’s hope the Tigers can replicate what the Cards were able to do against him. Hartman has completed 65.4 percent of his passes this season for 2,126 yards and 18 touchdowns with 5 interceptions. He’s been sacked 12 times, but 5 of the sacks and 3 of his INT’s came in the loss at Louisville. He also has 2 rush TD’s this season. Since their 33-20 loss at Louisville, the Irish have blown out USC 48-20 and clobbered Pitt 58-7.

 

The pro-style offense Hartman is running at Notre Dame is much different than the slow-mesh offense he ran for years at Wake, and it seems to suit him. The Irish lost their offensive coordinator and former quarterback, Tommy Rees, to Alabama, but the offense has been good for the most part under Gerad Parker. He was their tight ends coach last year under Rees and was the offensive coordinator at West Virginia for 2 years before that. He obviously did a good job with Michael Mayer and the tight ends last season, and their tight ends have been featured prominently again this season. The offense did struggle against a very good Ohio State defense, and they only combined for 34 points at Duke and at Louisville, so perhaps their 48 points against USC is more of an indictment on the Trojans’ notoriously bad defense than an indicator of the Notre Dame offense. However, Pitt usually plays great defense for Pat Narduzzi, and the Irish hung 58 points on the Panthers last week.

 

The big news out of South Bend this week is that TE Mitchell Evans tore his ACL and will be out for the season. The 6’5, 260-pound junior had picked up right where All-American Michael Mayer left off, leading the team in both receptions (29) and yards (422). He was Hartman’s favorite target on 3rd down, so that is a big loss for the Irish. They have a another great tight end, however, in 6’4, 242-pound sophomore Holden Staes (#13). The Atlanta native only has 12 catches this season, but 4 of them went for touchdowns. They love to run rub routes with him near the end zone, just like the play to Renfrow that beat Alabama for Dabo’s first national championship.

 

The Irish are also more talented at wide receiver than they’ve been in the past. 5’9, 192-pound senior Chris Tyree (#4) made the move from running back to receiver, and it’s paid off big. He has 19 catches for 417 yards and 3 touchdowns this season, and he’s an electric return man. He made an incredible 82-yard punt return for a TD against Pitt last week. With his RB background, it’s critical that the Tigers wrap him up because he will break arm tackles and has the speed to take it the distance on any play! He had 2 catches for 26 yards as a running back against the Tigers last season. Like Staes, WR Jaden Greathouse (#19) only has 12 receptions this season, but the 6’1, 213-pound freshman has 3 touchdowns catches. 6’1, 220-pound junior Jayden Thomas (#83) and 6’0, 198-pound freshman Rico Flores, Jr. (#17) each have 17 catches and one score. Including the injured Evans, 12 different players have caught TD passes for the Irish, so Hartman does a great job spreading the ball around.

 

Junior RB Audric Estime (#7) carries most of the load in the running game. The 5’11, 227-pound wrecking ball has rushed for 901 yards and 12 touchdowns on 6.2 yards per carry this season. I’m sure you recall his 18 carries for 104 yards and a TD against the Tigers last season. He had a hat trick last week, rushing for 114 yards and 3 scores on 19 carries against Pitt. He rushed for 95 yards and 2 TD’s against USC the week before. Estime has yet to score through the air this season, but he has 13 catches for 109 yards. The Tigers will need to beware of throws to him in the flat or on outlets when Hartman is pressured. 6’1, 195-pound freshman Jeremiyah Love (#12) averages 6.5 yards per carry with one TD. 5’10, 203-pound sophomore Jadarian Price (#24) averages 5.2 yards per carry with 2 scores. 5’9, 204-pound sophomore Gi’Bran Payne (#3) averages 3.5 yards per carry with one rush TD and 2 TD catches.

 

Marcus Freeman was a great defensive coordinator for both Cincinnati and Notre Dame, and under second-year defensive coordinator Al Golden, the Irish are as good as they’ve ever been on that side of the ball. Ironically, Golden was fired by Miami the day after Dabo and the Tigers handed the Canes their worst home loss in history, 58-0 in 2015. I’m sure Golden enjoyed getting some payback against Dabo last season in South Bend! Senior Marist Liufau (#8) is an outstanding linebacker and second on the team in sacks with 2.5. He also has a forced fumble and recovery. Another Hawaiian senior, DE Jordan Botelho (#12) leads the team with 3 sacks. On the back end, the Irish have a stingy secondary. Cade will have to know where senior safety Xavier Watts (#0) is at all times. The former receiver leads the nation in interceptions with 2 in each of their last 2 games. 2 of them were off of reigning Heisman Caleb Williams! With receiver skills, he’s a threat for a pick-six every time he makes an interception, and Cade’s already thrown two pick-sixes this season. Sophomore CB Benjamin Morrison (#20) is a Thorpe Semifinalist and was a freshman All-American last year with 6 interceptions. He also picked off Caleb Williams in the last game he played. He missed the Pitt game with a quad strain last week, but he will make the start on Saturday. Their second-best corner, graduate Cam Hart (#5) injured his shoulder in the Pitt game but will also start against the Tigers. The Irish only have 19 sacks in their 9 games, but they have 13 interceptions, 14 forced fumbles and 5 fumble recoveries. The Tigers will have to avoid the catastrophic turnovers on Saturday in order to win this game! They were unable to do so in all of their losses.

 

Like the Tigers, the Irish have had their kicking issues. Senior Spencer Shrader has a big leg and is 4-6 from over 50 yards, including a 54-yarder, but he is 10-15 on the season with a miss inside 40 yards.

 

Notre Dame is ranked No.12 in scoring offense (38.3 points per game), No.44 in passing offense (263.8 yards/game), No.56 in rushing offense (164.11 yards/game) and No.41 in total offense (427.9 yards/game). The Irish are ranked No.9 in scoring defense (15.3 points/game), No.40 in rush defense (121.33 yards/game), No. 4 in pass defense (158.6 yards/game) and No.11 in total defense (279.9 yards/game). They are No.76 in sacks (2.11/game), No.8 in interceptions per game (1.44), No.2 in forced fumbles per game (1.56) and No.77 in penalty yards per game (53.8). The Irish are No.52 in 3rd down conversions (42%) and No.52 in opponents’ 3rd down conversions (36.43%). They are No.41 in red zone offense (88.24 score percentage), No.16 in red zone TD percentage (73.53) and No.2 in red zone defense (64 score percentage, 36 TD percentage).

 

CLEMSON STATUS

Here's a little inside info for you. A source told me that Hunter Helms has been running with the 1's in practice all week. Dabo has adamantly said a few times this week that Cade is still the starter, though. Perhaps, he's just trying to light a fire under Cade or wants to have Hunter ready to go in if Cade struggles early with another catastrophic turnover. Either way, it's something worth mentioning. Cade has played great at times with several games over 300 yards passing, and the offense is 5th nationally in red zone opportunities, but the turnovers Cade has made have killed the Tigers in their losses. I can tell you that Helms moved the offense as well as Cade or better in the scrimmages last spring and summer, so I believe the Tigers can with Helms--especially if he doesn't give the opponent 7-14 points like Cade has done. Don't get me wrong, I still believe in Cade, and he is going to be a superstar. The only question is when he will stop making enormous mistakes.

The injuries are piling up for the Tigers and have cost them at least a couple of losses. Will Shipley was knocked out of the game last week for a second straight time in Raleigh and is in concussion protocol. The good news is that his neck is fine, but he will be a game time decision on Saturday. It just depends on whether he is cleared by the protocol. Starting DE Justin Mascoll, starting DT Peter Woods and starting WR Antonio Williams all missed last week’s game with injuries, as did starting safety RJ Mickens and backup corner Jeadyn Lukus. Williams and Mickens will not play on Saturday, while Woods, Mascoll and Lukus will be game day decisions. If Shipley cannot play, the Tigers can’t afford to lose Mafah. Behind him are former walk-on Domonique Thomas and redshirt freshman Keith Adams. True freshman Jay Haynes was practicing again this week but will likely not be available. Freshman WR Tyler Brown was hurt last week and missed a few series, but he’s thankfully good to go. At one point last week, the Tigers were missing their top 3 receivers!

 

The Tigers’ defense is good enough to have won a national title this season, which will always leave us wondering what might have been if not for an unprecedented number of self-inflicted mistakes on offense and special teams. The Tigers are No.6 in total defense and No.5 in offensive trips in the red zone. 9 times out of 10, that equals national championship. The Tigers are second-to-last in fumbles lost (one less than Nebraska), and that has made them 124th in red zone scoring. If they were just average in turnovers, the Tigers would be 8-0 and playoff bound! But at the end of the day, all that matters are points and wins, so the Tigers are sitting at 4-4 and 2-4 in the ACC. I feel sorry for the defensive players, who have been close to perfect. They allowed just 202 total yards at State last week, but they had one coverage bust and one missed tackle that resulted in 122 yards and 2 TD’s. They held No.3 FSU to 22 total rush yards and 17 points in regulation. Freshman Khalil Barnes has done a great job replacing Mickens, but it’s going to hurt if Mascoll and Woods can’t play. Hopefully, Denhoff won’t have to play too many snaps at defensive end because there is a noticeable drop off when he’s been in. The Tigers have more depth at defensive tackle, especially now that Tre Williams is available. He played in a few snaps for the first time this season at NC State and can play in 3 more games this season while retaining his eligibility for the year. I mentioned the terrible game Wiggins had against Hartman at Wake last season, although he did have the game-winning PBU in the end zone in overtime. I have to believe he’s had this game circled for an opportunity to get revenge on Hartman. How poetic would it be if he comes up with an interception or a pick-six on Saturday?!

 

Dabo told us on Sunday that Weitz made 11 of his 12 attempts in practice last week and that redshirt freshman and former starter Robert Gunn hasn’t come close to taking his job back, so Weitz will continue kicking field goals despite his bad miss at State last week.

 

PREDICTION

I actually considered predicting a Clemson loss for the first time in my 9 years of writing these predictions. You know that my track record has pretty damn accurate on score predictions over the years, but this has been such a bizarre season with the fluke turnovers and missed kicks, that it makes it nearly impossible to predict what the Tigers will do. Like Dabo, I keep thinking that the worm has to turn eventually and that the Tigers will stop beating themselves. It scares me that Notre Dame is No.2 in forced fumbles (though they’ve only recovered 5) and No.2 in red zone defense, and Clemson is No.124 in red zone offense! Call me a hopeless optimist, but with all the noise surrounding the Tigers this week and Dabo as fired up as I’ve ever seen him, I have to believe the Tigers will show up like they did against the Noles at noon a little over a month ago, but that this time, they will either avoid a catastrophic 14-point-swing turnover or a missed easy field goal. Eat a poop sandwich, Tyler from Spartanburg! Tigers finally get a big win and remain the only program with an all-time winning record against Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oklahoma!

 

 

CLEMSON    24        Notre Dame    20