GameDay Central: Notre Dame Fighting Irish-Clemson Tigers ACC Championship

The No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-0, 9-0 ACC) host the No. 3 Clemson Tigers (9-1, 8-1) at 4:00 p.m. ET in the ACC Championship Game. BlueandGold.com gets you ready with what you need to know before Saturday's tilt.

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GAMEDAY INFORMATION

Date: Dec. 19, 2020

Site: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.

Kickoff: 4 p.m. ET

Television: ABC

Radio: This game can be heard on Notre Dame’s IMG affiliates.Series Facts: Clemson leads 3-2, but Notre Dame won the last meeting 47-40 in double overtime in South Bend on Nov. 7.

Head coaches: Clemson — Dabo Swinney (139-32, 13th season); Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (102-37, 11th season).

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FIVE CLEMSON PLAYERS TO KNOW

QB Trevor Lawrence (#16) — Popular opinion among football scouts is the junior is the best NFL signal-caller prospect since Andrew Luck in 2012. He is 33-1 as the starter with a national title, but was unable to play in the Nov. 7 meeting at Notre Dame while recovering from COVID-19. Although he has completed 66.4 percent of his career passes with 86 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, what is underrated is his running skills and executing the zone read. Last year he rushed for 563 yards, 5.5 yards per carry and nine scores. That brings us to…

RB Travis Etienne (#9) — The all-time leading rusher in ACC history, he romped for 1,658 yards, 8.1 yards and 24 TDs in 2018 and 1,614 yards, 7.8 yards per carry and 19 TDs last season. This year with a revamped offensive line he has never quite been able to get untracked and has had a more mortal 758 yards and 5.1 yards per attempt output. Notre Dame’s game plan on Nov. 7 centered on limiting him, and he was limited to a paltry 28 yards on 18 carries (1.6 yards per carry). Can Lawrence’s presence with the read option open up the ground attack more?

WR Amari Rodgers (#3) — Top target on the team has snared 61 passes for 845 yards (13.9 yards per carry) and six touchdowns. Against the Irish he grabbed eight passes for 134 yards, although he was overshadowed by Cornell Powell’s six catches for 161 yards and a 53-yard tally.

DT Tyler Davis (#13) — A second-team All-ACC performer in 2019 as a freshman, the 6-2, 300-pound defensive tackle was not available against Notre Dame because of an MCL sprain. His presence this time and the absence of Notre Dame center Jarrett Patterson is projected to close the gap in the control of the line of scrimmage the Irish had in the November victory.

LB James Skalski (#47) — The quarterback of the Clemson defense, like Lawrence and Davis he was not available in the Nov. 7 meeting because of a groin injury. Even in the Dec. 5 victory at Virginia Tech, he was withheld in the second half while dressed in street clothes. How much he will be able to help against the Irish this time could be an X-factor.