The Notre Dame Fighting Irish let a golden opportunity slip away as they dropped a 31-23 decision to the Clemson Tigers on Saturday afternoon. The defeat came despite facing an injury-plagued that had dropped its last two contests. One painful reality connected to the loss is that it likely eliminates the Irish from a New Year’s Day bowl berth for the second consecutive year.
Trouble emerged early for Marcus Freeman’s squad and despite opportunities to make a comeback, the effort ultimately failed. That futility was best shown by the Irish’s inability to push across any points over the final 21 minutes of action, with Notre Dame’s offense coming up short on seven different drives.
Below is a look at some aspects of the crushing defeat:
First Half Disaster
On two of the first three plays of the game, Audric Estime gained 48 rushing yards. From that point, much of the remainder of the opening two quarters was a mess that resulted in a 24-9 halftime deficit for the Irish. Estime’s early running offered hopes of a possible touchdown but Notre Dame ended up settling for the first of three field goals from Spencer Shrader.
Both teams punted after that three-pointer, with missed tackles by the Irish on the latter punt giving Clemson possession past midfield. On the first play, the Tigers’ Phil Mafah blew past Notre Dame defenders for a 41-yard scoring run. After each team then notched field goals, the Tigers marched 75 yards on nine plays to make it 17-6. That was followed by Sam Hartman throwing a pick-six to Clemson’s Jeremiah Trotter, who stepped in front of Holden Staes and dashed 28 yards to boost the Notre Dame deficit to 18. The Irish managed to whittle three points off that number by halftime, though the effort marked the second time a Red Zone incursion failed to garner a touchdown.
Hartman on the Move
Finishing the afternoon with 146 passing yards and throwing a pair of interceptions, Hartman did manage to distinguish himself by once again using his feet to pick up valuable yardage. The first of these came late in the first quarter when he took off up the middle and gained 38 yards. The dash eventually led to Notre Dame’s second field goal.
In the third quarter, Hartman tallied what became the final score of the game when he avoided a sack and then moved deftly down the sideline for a 26-yard score. The clutch play offered Irish fans hope that a similar result to another key Hartman run against Duke would materialize. However, that proved to be an elusive wish.
Trying to Stop the Workhorse
One key absence for the Clemson offense was running back Will Shipley, who sat out the game due to a concussion. He regularly teamed this season with Mafah to lead the Tigers’ running attack, with Mafah more than picking up the slack. Carrying the ball 36 times, Mafah gained 186 yards and scored two touchdowns.
The latter of Mafah’s touchdowns came after the Irish had established some early momentum in the third quarter by converting an interception from Xavier Watts into a touchdown. On the ensuing drive, Mafah gained 33 of the 75 yards, including the final one with a plunge to give the Tigers back their 15-point lead.
Reversal of Fortune
One week ago, the Notre Dame special teams excelled with a pair of scores in the rout over Pittsburgh. This unit’s performance against Clemson, the field goal kicking of Shrader notwithstanding, took an early turn in the opposite direction. The first sign of this came with the aforementioned punt by the Irish in which they had the Tigers’ return man stopped for virtually no yardage, but let him pick up 16 yards and set the stage for Mafah’s touchdown.
The most glaring mistake by Notre Dame in this department came with less than five minutes left in the first quarter. Chris Tyree appeared ready to pick up some decent yardage as he fielded a punt. Instead, the ball bounced off his face mask and resulted in a Clemson recovery of the muff. A solid defensive effort managed to keep the damage to a field goal.
Next Up
For the second and final time this season, the Irish will have a weekend off as they prepare for the final two contests of the season. The first of those will be Senior Day against Wake Forest on November 18. The matchup should be interesting, given the fact that Hartman transferred from there to join the Irish last offseason. The two schools have met a total of five times, all since 2011, with the Irish winning all five clashes and outscoring the Demon Deacons, 194-88.
I think the biggest issue is OC. Also missing Harry. But we need to do something about the offense.
Recruiting and development of skill position players other than the tight ends. ND needs to take a hard look at how Ohio st and Alabama are recruiting and developing these positions. The NFL is littered with skill position players from the above mentioned schools. Notre Dame has little to nobody making plays in the NFL other than a few tight ends.
I actually think the
OLine coach might be as good as Harry H. Not set on that opinion.
I’d like to know if the coaches are so afraid of academic requirements that they aren’t challenging the players during the semester. If it’s that tight then Notre Dame should join the iVy league in football and send a message to the NCAA.
The current situation with NIL, transfer portal, and money in general will make it unsustainable for college football to keep the student in student athlete. Notre Dame must be able to have students be athletes.
Saw the 2024 schedule. 4 or 5 losses look like a safe bet unless something changes significantly.
A&M
USC
FSU
And either
Louisville or
GATech
Look at any away game and add 7 to 10 points to the opponent and take 7-14 points away from the Irish if the opponent is at all tough and fired up.
They all want a piece of that Catholic school.
Excellent! Great victories at home, not on the road! again and again
In different ways Coach Freeman may be where Holtz was in 1987. A good team with significant progress, but with significant issues.
Holtz replaced his defensive coordinator. Freeman probably needs to replace his offensive coordinator.
Credit Sam Hartman for taking blame.
But the team as a whole was not ready to play in the hostile South. And away from home.
That’s on the coaching staff. The staff and coach Freeman need to quit looking a this or that tactical issues and wonder why when the Irish play away from South Bend they seem timid.
Holtz put a chip on the shoulder of the Irish for 1988-1993. Those teams played with joy and with a little anger to revenge disrespect for the Lady on Top of The Dome.
Where is that. For Notre Dame it’s about that. It’s alway about avenging the disrespect, be it from when the Irish students kicked the crap out of the KKk in 1924 ( read Todd Tucker’s book) or when any team especially from the evangelical South takes pleasure in beating the Irish and Catholics. Jesus may have said turn the other cheek but in football I think he’d like his Mother’s team to slap it.
Several posts from you lately where you imply people from the South are racist. How incredibly tolerant of you.
God Bless
It’s good to hear from so many of you again! But where’s Southside and Spicy and a few others?
C-Dog, you have an optimistic comparison to Holtz’s 87 team. My wife and I were at Pitt that year (a loss in the sleet) and at the Cotton Bowl (a crushing loss). Still, we (Curme’s) new what was coming for 88…and I hope you are right about Coach Freeman.
There is one disturbing difference though…Lou inherited a thoroughly dysfunctional program that hadn’t had much real college coaching in 5 years. A few fools on this site might claim that about Kelly’s program, but it would be total nonsense.
How to fix it? Well, a new OC might help…if it does not, as when Coach Davie, (who we liked) picked a passe OC instead of what he needed. I see Freeman as a lot more similar to
Davie, who was a great DC at T A&M and ND, but had no HC experience. Norm Chow would have saved him IMO…but his choice was a guy from Purdue that the game had passed by.
COACH – don’t make the same mistake!
BGC 77 82
(
It’s good to hear from so many of you again! But where’s Southside and Spicy and a few others?
C-Dog, you have an optimistic comparison to Holtz’s 87 team. My wife and I were at Pitt that year (a loss in the sleet) and at the Cotton Bowl (a crushing loss). Still, we (Curme’s) new what was coming for 88…and I hope you are right about Coach Freeman.
There is one disturbing difference though…Lou inherited a thoroughly dysfunctional program that hadn’t had much real college coaching in 5 years. A few fools on this site might claim that about Kelly’s program, but it would be total nonsense.
How to fix it? Well, a new OC might help…if it does not, as when Coach Davie, (who we liked) picked a passe OC instead of what he needed. I see Freeman as a lot more similar to
Davie, who was a great DC at T A&M and ND, but had no HC experience. Norm Chow would have saved him IMO…but his choice was a guy from Purdue that the game had passed by.
COACH – don’t make the same mistake!
BGC 77 82
(
” . . . stunning ND loss at Clemson” ? Hardly.
Credit where credit is due !
Clemson dominated the LOS despite several key injuries along their lines. They’d been waiting to outphysical and avenge their three TD loss last year, and they did just that. Anyone surprised with their effort and determination bought the hype about how their four losses defined their team.
Marcus Freeman is out coached AGAIN, Te OC should return to coaching tight ends, ND should spend some money to hire an OC with experience, Our offensive plan is too simple, No screen passes to slow down the pass rush, No mis directions in the ground game, 2 speedsters Price and Love to hit the corners since the inside was clogged with CLEMSON, Hartman had a bad game, He should have been replaced for a series or 2 to observe, Our right tackle 54 also had a bad game, The ND passing game really missed Evans, No slant passes poor judgement by Hartman, The ND offensive unit is too talented to play so predictable, ENOUGH GO IRISH Richard M, Magnone rmags50@yahoo,com
PARAGRAPH 2 in this article: “ Notre Dame failed to score in seven drive”………
That speaks volumes doesn’t it? The very predictable play calling could be read like a kindergarten play. Notre Dame is better than this. Notre Dame deserves better than this and it’s time for a new offensive coordinator. Lou Holtz used to win games like this.
Now we have the distinct marking giving Dabo Swinney the most wins of all time as a Clemson coach. I still have hope for the future. It’s time for a new authentic offensive coach. And a better off pensive scheme would’ve kept the Irish on all towns in the Ohio State game. A better off pensive scheme would’ve had Notre Dame winning this one at Clemson..
We have the capabilities in the cash to get somebody and spare us the excuses of “how things could not be worked out.”
And I love the Irish, but when something is so glaring that needs to be fixed it’s time to do that isn’t it?
I have been reading up on Christian Taylor who is currently in his 4th year as offensive coordinator. I wish I knew a way to get his name to someone who could pass it on to Freeman. Since taking over at William and Mary his offenses are rewriting the record books both passing and running. He is described as being very innovative, creative and aggressive. His teams put up a lot of points. They also talked to his athletic director and the athletic director cited his numerous strengths and one of the things mentioned is Taylor has a wide background in many different types of offenses but during the interview he stated letting come in and evaluate the talent and then I will structure a system to fit the talent that is here.
Perfect irisheye on EVERY POINT
Guys a lot of Notredame fans say Notredame doesn’t have explosive,speedy electric playmakers at the skilled positions. I don’t agree with this.Faison,Tyree, Braylon James are all really fast 4:4 or faster. Love,Price and Estime are fast. Love is a touchdown waiting to happen. The problem is Notredame is not utilizing or underutilizing this speed. Not getting the ball consistently to these players in space. Is it Parker or Hartman.? Probably a little of both. I hope Freeman brings in an elite experienced offensive coordinator. I believe if he does you would see a big difference with this offense Imo the talent is there.