Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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38 NOV. 5, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: CLEMSON in the ACC and 27th nationally last week with 22 total sacks (2.75 per game) through Week 8. These are respectable numbers, but much more was expected from a returning group of defensive players and future NFL Draft picks who combined for 35 sacks last season. Murphy leads Clemson with 5.5 sacks, while senior defensive tackle Tyler Davis is second with 4. Henry leads Clemson with 8 quarterback hurries and has contributed 2 sacks. Junior safety R.J. Mickens has 2 of Clemson's 7 interceptions, which are split among six differ- ent defensive players. The Tigers have forced 12 turnovers this season, only the 51st best takeaway mark in the country. And its plus-0.38 turnover margin was 47th nationally and seventh in the ACC before games of last weekend. Advantage: Even SPECIAL TEAMS Two blocked punts by Foskey against UNLV brought the total to 4 blocked kicks for the Irish, the most in a single season for the program since 2000. Entering play last week, Notre Dame was one of only five teams in the country with at least 4 blocked kicks. Clemson, with 4 blocks as well, also was on that short list. Tigers senior placekicker B.T. Potter has been terrific this season, making 15 of 17 field goal at- tempts and 31 of 31 point after tries. Led by Shipley's 31.7-yard average kick returns, Clemson ranked No. 9 nationally in kickoff returns through Week 8. Like Notre Dame, the Tigers have neither scored nor allowed a touchdown on any return this season. The Irish have also enjoyed good work in the kicking games. Against UNLV, Irish graduate stu- dent kicker Blake Grupe went 3 of 4 on his field goals, which improved the Arkansas State transfer to 8 of 10 on the season, to go along with his per- fect 20 of 20 on point after tries. Graduate student punter Jon Sot continues to shine, ranking 11th nationally after the UNLV game with a 45.28-yard average. Advantage: Even COACHING That a 10-3 record was considered a "down" year for Clemson in 2021 is a testament to what Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney has built in South Carolina. And, following his hiccup season — only the first time in the last seven that Clemson didn't win the ACC — the 14th-year Tigers' chief was tasked with filling two important coaching vacancies. Longtime defensive coordinator Brent Venables (Oklahoma) and offensive coordinator Tony Elliott (Virginia) both left Clemson for head coaching jobs after the 2021 campaign. Facing staff upheaval for essentially the first time since he took the Clemson top job in 2009, Swinney stayed in house and pro- moted Wes Goodwin (defense), a valuable sidekick and sounding board for Venables, and Brandon Streeter (offense), a former Clemson quarterback, to the coordinator positions. After Notre Dame's inexplicable 16-14 loss to Stanford Oct. 15 — and the up-and-down, unpre- dictability of this season — the jury remains out on Freeman. Surprisingly, UNLV was the only game this season that Freeman's Irish never trailed in. Advantage: Clemson INTANGIBLES One positive that came out of Clemson's three- loss season in 2021 is that because of endless inju- ries, many players who were not even expected to play were thrust into starting roles. Of all the side stories heading into this game, one stands out in particular. Clemson ranked No. 3 in the country in red zone offense before games last weekend with a .974 conversion rate. A rating that included 28 touchdowns, 10 field goals, and one failure on its 39 red zone trips. Conversely, Notre Dame entered its game against Syracuse tied with Rutgers for last in the country in red zone defense. Irish opponents had scored on all 17 of their red zone trips, with 14 touchdowns and 3 field goals. Additionally, through seven games, the Irish had scored only 10 points off 4 takeaways — tied for the fewest in the nation — and ranked 117th na- tionally with a minus-0.86 turnover margin. Notre Dame didn't win the turnover battle in any of its first seven games. After missing the CFP in 2021 for the first time in six seasons, Clemson is poised to rejoin the party in 2022 with an 8-0 record and No. 5 national ranking. But its undefeated start hasn't been a cakewalk. Three of its six conference games have been de- cided by six points, including a 51-45 double-over- time win over Wake Forest Sept. 24. Clemson enters this game off its bye week, fol- lowing a hard-fought 27-21 home win over then- No. 14 Syracuse Oct. 22. Advantage: Even Senior safety Jalyn Phillips ranked second on the team with 42 stops through the Tigers' first eight games. PHOTO BY DAVID PLATT/COURTESY CLEMSON ATHLETICS