SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The formula Notre Dame’s football opponents forced the Irish offense to find an antidote for is the very one the Irish could adopt on defense to try to perpetuate Clemson’s lost season.
Leaning into the run on defense, committing extra resources to it, and daring the Tigers (4-4) to beat Notre Dame through the air — despite the nation’s top QB prospect in the 2022 class, sophomore Cade Klubnik — now at the controls of the Tigers’ offense.
His pedigree has been intermittent at best in his first season as the starter, with predecessor DJ Uiagalelei having relocated to Oregon State.
Klubnik, who threw a pick-6 in last November’s seismic Irish 35-14 upset of then-No. 4 Clemson at Notre Dame Stadium in a relief appearance, enters Saturday’s game with the 12th-ranked Irish (7-2) as the nation’s No. 74 QB nationally in passing efficiency.
The Irish counter with the nation’s third-best pass-efficiency defense and a No. 3 standing in passes intercepted (13) with senior safety Xavier Watts leading the nation individually with six. Overall, the Irish are 11th nationally in total defense and 10th in scoring defense.
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“The challenge will be to continue to improve, continue to figure out why you have the performance the way you did on Saturday,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said during his weekly Monday press conference, two days removed from a 58-7 Irish thumping of Pitt.
“What do we have to do to take this thing to another level? That will be my challenge for our program as the head coach. We have to continue to take this thing to another level, because there is another level for this team.”
The higher level needs to show up in the running game on both sides of the ball. It’s been a key storyline in all five meetings between the two teams since 2015.
In last year’s Irish ambush, Notre Dame dominated the ground game, 263 yards to 90, against a team that finished 12th nationally in run defense. In the 2020 double-overtime upset of No. 1 Clemson, it was even more disparate — a 208-34 dominance in the 47-40 victory. In the ACC Championship game, won by Clemson (34-10) six weeks later, the Tigers turned the tables (219-44).
In the 2018 College Football Playoff semifinal, won by Clemson, it was a 211-88 rushing advantage in the 30-3 rout. In the 2015 matchup at Death Valley, the Tigers won the game, 24-22, and the rushing battle 212-111.
Miami and NC State, in the Tigers' past two games, have thwarted the Clemson run game, with each pulling off upsets and handing head coach Dabo Swinney his first back-to-back losses since 2011.
In the 24-17 loss at NC State on Saturday, Clemson’s leading rusher Will Shipley left the game early and is now in concussion protocol. Beyond No. 2 rusher Phil Mafah, there is very little experience or production in the run game. Shipley’s status for Saturday’s game is yet to be determined.
Notre Dame is coming off a season-high passing total of 380 yards in the Pitt game, which in turn opened up the run game, with Audric Estimé’s 114 yards and three TDs highlighting it. But the Irish have their own injury challenge on offense, with TE1 Mitchell Evans out for the season with an ACL tear he sustained in Saturday’s win.
“You don’t make up for the production that Mitch gave our offense with one guy.” Freeman said. “Every person in that tight ends room will be asked to do more. I’m confident they’ll be able to.”
Irish quarterback Sam Hartman has some positive recent statistical history himself against the Tigers. In a 51-45 double-overtime loss while Hartman was leading Wake Forest, he threw for 337 yards and six touchdowns.
Clemson, despite its struggles — particularly on offense and special teams — has been in every game, and largely because of a defense that’s ranked No. 6 in total defense nationally with no apparent weaknesses.
Notre Dame's plan of counterpunch is to continue to stress simplicity over schematic tweaks.
“The message to the guys today in the team meeting will be: I don’t think we’re playing better because we’re doing more,” Freeman said. “I think we’re playing better, because our kids are playing with more velocity, because they know what they’re doing, why they’re doing and how they’re doing it.
“That’s the belief that I have as the head coach, and they all have to believe in themselves. I would rather do a few things at level 10 than a lot of things at level 7. That’s the message I’m going to give to them. We have to do the things we’re asking our players to do at the highest level. Once they master those things we’re asking them to do, then they’ve earned the right to do more.”
Sizing up Mickens
Notre Dame’s rise to a top 10 team nationally in scoring defense has been aided significantly by the development of the Irish cornerback position.
Heading into the 2022 season, it was arguably the position group with the most challenges and question marks. Three-quarters of the way through the 2023 season, it’s unarguably the strongest position group for the Irish.
Saturday against Pitt, cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens flexed just how deep that quality ran. With sophomore Jaden Mickey and freshman Christian Gray filling in for injured starters Ben Morrison and Cam Hart, the Irish still smothered the Panthers’ passing attack.
Morrison, a late scratch against Pitt with a quadriceps injury, will return this week as will Hart, who was limited to 20 snaps due to an unspecified upper-body injury.
And if second-year Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden gets lured away after this season, don’t discount Mickens as a viable candidate to replace him.
“I absolutely think Mike Mickens is ready to be a defensive coordinator, and so we gave him the passing game coordinator title during the offseason,” Freeman said. “He is a tremendous football coach, schematically and in the fundamentals of playing the cornerback position. One of the greatest things he does is the way he evaluates.
“I’ve said this story before, but at Cincinnati I wasn’t standing on the table for [All-American] Sauce Gardner when we started recruiting him. And Mickens did. Mickens said, ‘This is the guy that we need here.’ We knew right away when he got to campus he’s special. The same thing goes for the guys in this room now.
“He’s a great evaluator, and then he’s a great developer of the cornerback position. As far as the schematics, he has a brilliant mind. They’re all, in that defensive room, collaborative on the game plan. I firmly believe Mike Mickens is ready to be a defensive coordinator.”
Minoring in tempo?
The few times Notre Dame has sped up its offense this season, particularly at the end of halves, it has largely produced impressive results.
But not enough to inspire a more regular usage of an uptempo approach.
“I want to be able to have tempo as a tool,” Freeman said. “I don't want to major in tempo. But I do think, going from a defensive mindset, if I know the offense has the ability to go tempo, that presents challenges.
“And so, I don't want to major in it, but I do want to have ways to change the tempo of how our offense goes. Now, that could be tempo out of a huddle. That can be different shifts/motions, and then run a play without really giving the defense time to line up. I think there are different ways to create it without just going rapid fire, as fast as you can.”
Squibs
Remember when Notre Dame in the 2021 recruiting cycle put all its eggs on one running back’s basket and came up empty when Will Shipley picked Clemson? The Irish had to scramble and poached Audric Estimé from Michigan State and out-recruit LSU for Logan Diggs.
Here’s how that scenario looks deep into their junior seasons, with Diggs having transferred to LSU ahead of this season.
Shipley has 515 yards, a 4.6 yards-per-carry average and three rushing TDs. Diggs is LSU’s leading rusher with 611 yards, a 5.8 average and six TDs. Estimé has 911 rushing yards, a 6.2 average and 12 TDs.
• The ABC broadcast team for Saturday’s game, with a noon ET kickoff, is Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy and Molly McGrath.
• Just in case you were wondering, the Smokin’ Pig Restaurant — a pregame, must-visit Clemson home game staple — does not serve breakfast.
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