Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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36 NOV. 5, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: CLEMSON BY TODD D. BURLAGE CLEMSON RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE Heading into its bye last weekend, Clemson was averaging 185.4 yards rushing per game, situating it fifth in the ACC and 40th nationally. Those pedestrian rushing numbers are some- what surprising with preseason All-ACC sopho- more tailback Will Shipley the Tigers' headliner on a deep running back unit. Shipley, a four-star recruit that Notre Dame worked hard to land, leads Clemson in rushing yards (739), yards per carry (6.0) and touchdowns (10). His 92.4 rushing yards per game ranked third in the ACC and his touch- down total was second through Week 8. Junior quarterback DJ Uiagalelei complements Shipley well in the running game. The dual-threat signal-caller is second on the Tigers with 350 yards rushing (43.8 yards per game) with 4 touchdowns. Sophomore tailback Phil Mafah backs up Shipley and has been solid in his limited role, recording 35.4 yards rushing per game, while adding 2 of Clemson's 18 rushing touchdowns. Notre Dame was tied for 61st in the country in run defense through its first seven games, allowing 139.4 yards per outing. With only 3 fumble recoveries and a middle-of- the-pack NCAA rating in rushing defense, Notre Dame's performance in this category hasn't been jaw dropping. But it's a significant improvement from when it dropped to No. 101 in run defense after an 0-2 start in early September. Advantage: Clemson CLEMSON PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE This became an area of great concern for Clem- son last season when Uiagalelei, a first-year starter, completed only 55.6 percent of his passes with 9 touchdowns and 10 interceptions for a passing of- fense that ranked just 103rd nationally with 191.2 yards per game. Improvement from Uiagalelei in 2022 was non- negotiable for this perennial playoff participant, and the former five-star recruit has delivered. Through eight outings this season, he is complet- ing 63.8 percent of his passes for 1,803 yards with 17 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Six different Clemson receivers have at least 15 catches and seven different Tigers have at least 1 touchdown grab. Freshman wide receiver Antonio Williams leads Clemson with 29 receptions for 364 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sophomore wideout Beaux Col- lins leads the Tigers with 5 touchdowns and has hauled in 18 catches for 290 yards. Senior wide re- ceiver Joseph Ngata (20 catches for 324 yards and 1 TD) and sophomore tight end Jake Briningstool (15 catches for 164 yards and 4 scores) also have emerged as reliable targets. Through Week 8, Uiagalelei ranked seventh in the ACC with 225.4 passing yards a game and his 17 touchdowns were third. Graduate student offensive tackle Jordan McFad- den — a preseason All-ACC selection — anchors an offensive line that's allowing 1.75 sacks a game, only the fifth-best pass protection mark in the league. For Notre Dame, the storyline in this category didn't change much through its first seven games. The Irish headed into their matchup against Syra- cuse last week with only 1 interception, the fewest in the country. And while the Notre Dame turnover numbers have been dismal all season, its quarterback pres- sure stats are trending up. After recording 4 sacks against UNLV — 3 by senior defensive end Isaiah Foskey — Notre Dame climbed to 23rd nationally with 2.86 sacks per game. With 6 sacks on the season, Foskey has 21.5 for his career, leaving him only 3 short of tying the Notre Dame record of 24.5 set by Justin Tuck (2002-04). The Irish headed to Syracuse ranked 70th in pass- ing efficiency defense. Advantage: Even NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. CLEMSON RUN DEFENSE After the Irish rushing offense struggled in losses to Ohio State and Marshall to open this season, it ranked just 110th nationally with an average of 103.0 yards per game. On PaPer Sophomore running back Will Shipley led the way for Clemson's rushing attack during its 8-0 start, totaling 739 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground. PHOTO BY DAVID PLATT/COURTESY CLEMSON ATHLETICS