Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1305649
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 7, 2020 47 In his 13th season at Clemson, head coach Dabo Swinney has cemented his place among the col- lege coaching elite. Swinney holds the postseason hardware that Kelly is vying to secure. From an experience standpoint, first-year Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees will face his greatest challenge while going against the highly esteemed Brent Venables, who has been a defen- sive coordinator 21 years and won national titles at two different schools while serving in that capacity. Advantage: Clemson INTANGIBLES Clemson has no equals in the ACC. It's faster and bigger than any conference opponent it will play, Notre Dame included. The Tigers haven't lost a regular-season game (including three ACC Champi- onship games) since getting clipped by Syracuse in 2017. Yet, even that season, Clemson rebounded and reached the College Football Playoff. With two national championships in the last four seasons and five straight College Football Playoff appearances, the Tigers know dominance. Meanwhile, these are the games and settings Notre Dame hasn't performed well in for most of the last 25 years. In 20 tries since 1999, Notre Dame's lone win against a top-five opponent came in 2005 when former Irish coach Charlie Weis beat No. 3 Michigan. Advantage: Clemson GAME PREVIEW: CLEMSON Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LT 79 Jackson Carman 6-5 335 Jr. 64 Walker Parks 6-5 295 Fr. LG 65 Matt Bockhorst 6-4 315 R-Jr. 57 Paul Tchio 6-5 300 Fr. C 62 Cade Stewart 6-3 305 Gr. 54 Mason Trotter 6-2 280 R-Fr. RG 56 Will Putnam 6-4 300 So. 72 Blake Vinson 6-4 300 R-So. RT 71 Jordan McFadden 6-2 300 R-So. 77 Mitchell Mayes 6-3 300 Fr. TE 88 Braden Galloway 6-4 240 Jr. 84 Davis Allen 6-6 250 So. WR 2 Frank Ladson Jr. 6-3 205 So. or 10 Joseph Ngata 6-3 220 So. QB 5 D.J. Uiagalelei 6-4 250 Fr. 7 T. Phommachanh 6-3 220 R-Fr. RB 9 Travis Etienne 5-10 205 Sr. 23 Lyn-J Dixon 5-10 195 Jr. WR 3 Amari Rodgers 5-10 210 Sr. 13 Brannon Spector 6-1 195 R-Fr. WR 17 Cornell Powell 6-0 210 5th-Sr. 6 E.J. Williams 6-3 190 Fr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 5 K.J. Henry 6-4 255 R-So. or 7 Justin Mascoll 6-3 255 R-So. DT 13 Tyler Davis 6-2 300 So. 90 Darnell Jefferies 6-2 290 R-So. DT 11 Bryan Bresee 6-5 300 Fr. or 59 Jordan Williams 6-4 310 R-Jr. or 44 Nyles Pinckney 6-1 300 Gr. DE 98 Myles Murphy 6-5 275 Fr. 3 Xavier Thomas 6-2 270 Jr. SLB/NB 6 Mike Jones Jr. 6-0 220 R-So. 22 Trenton Simpson 6-3 225 Fr. or 12 Tyler Venables 5-10 200 Fr. MLB 15 Jake Venables 6-2 235 R.So 17 Kane Patterson 6-1 225 So. WLB 10 Baylon Spector 6-2 230 Gr. 30 Keith Maguire 6-2 230 R-Fr. or 42 LaVonta Bentley 6-0 235 R-Fr. CB 1 Derion Kendrick 6-0 190 Jr. or 31 Mario Goodrich 6-0 190 Jr. SS 36 Lannden Zanders 6-1 200 So. 16 Ray Thornton III 6-1 205 R-Fr. FS 24 Nolan Turner 6-1 205 5th-Sr. 18 Joseph Charleston 6-0 190 So. CB 26 Sheridan Jones 6-0 185 So. or 23 Andrew Booth Jr. 6-0 195 So. CLEMSON DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 29 B.T. Potter 5-10 180 Jr. 41 Jonathan Weitz 5-11 190 R-Fr. P 48 Will Spiers 6-5 225 5th-Sr. 39 Aidan Swanson 6-3 180 R-Fr. KO 29 B.T. Potter 5-10 180 Jr. 39 Aidan Swanson 6-3 180 R-Fr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LS 46 Jack Maddox 6-3 235 R-Jr. 52 Tyler Brown 6-0 220 Gr. H 22 Will Swinney 5-9 185 Sr. 81 Drew Swinney 5-8 185 R-So. PR 3 Amari Rodgers 5-10 210 Sr. 1 Derion Kendrick 6-0 190 Jr. KR 23 Lyn-J Dixon 5-10 195 Jr. Special Teams Through six games, true freshman defensive end Myles Murphy led the Tigers in both tackles for loss (8.0) and sacks (3.5) while ranking third in total stops (28). PHOTO BY KEN RUINARD, USA TODAY SPORTS/COURTESY ACC