Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1307521
20 NOV. 14, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI N otre Dame's football echoes have been awakened. Not that they've been in a slum- ber with a glittering 40-6 record (.870 winning percentage) the past three and half years that included a berth into the 2018 College Football Playoff. However, a missing element was a one-for-the-ages triumph that shakes down the thunder and gives "that Ol' Notre Dame feeling." The 47-40 double-overtime victory versus No. 1 Clemson has now checked that box and thrust the Fighting Irish back into the limelight of college football in what was a likely preview of the ACC championship game on Dec. 19 in Char- lotte, N.C. — and maybe the College Football Playoff, too. Clemson took its first lead of the game (33-26) with 3:33 remaining in regula- tion on a three-yard touchdown run by its All-American running back Travis Etienne, and then regained possession on downs at its 47-yard line with 2:10 left and the score still the same. At that point, victory seemed imminent. But a penalty and poor clock manage- ment by the Tigers gave Notre Dame one last series on offense from its own 9-yard line with 1:48 remaining. Fifth-year senior quarterback Ian Book (22-of-39 passing for 310 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions, plus 67 rushing yards) connected on a 53-yard pass to senior slot receiver Avery Davis to the 4-yard line, and on third-and-goal Book and Davis hooked up again for a four-yard score with 22 seconds left. Clemson took a 40-33 lead in the first overtime, but Book & Co. responded again, capped by a three-yard scoring run by sophomore running back Kyren Williams. In the second overtime, Williams again scored from three yards out for the 47-40 edge, and then fifth-year senior defen- sive ends Ade Ogundeji (with an assist from senior rover Jeremiah Owusu-Kora- moah) and Daelin Hayes had back-to- back sacks of Clemson freshman quar- terback D.J. Uiagalelei (29-of-44 passing for 439 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions) that put the Tigers into What Tho' The Odds Notre Dame's dramatic late rally in regulation sets up 47-40 double-overtime triumph versus No. 1 Clemson