Unlike in the 2018 College Football Playoff 30-3 loss to Clemson, the two areas where Notre Dame matched up well with the Tigers this Nov. 7 — and were even superior — was along both lines.
Whereas Clemson had four new starters along the offensive line this year, the Notre Dame defensive line was comprised of all fifth- or fourth-year seniors, and also possessed quality depth to keep fresh legs.
Meanwhile, whereas Notre Dame’s offensive line had the most starting experience returning in school history, Clemson’s defensive front was banged up and much younger, including five-star freshman recruits Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy.
Those differences were manifested in the rushing totals during Notre Dame’s 47-40 double-overtime victory. The Fighting Irish finished with a dominant 208-34 yards advantage on the ground and limited all-time ACC rushing leader Travis Etienne to 28 yards on 18 carries.
This time Notre Dame will be minus reliable center Jarrett Patterson, while Clemson returns 2019 second-team All-ACC pick Tyler Davis at defensive tackle, plus is expected to have linebackers James Skalski and Mike Jones Jr. in the lineup as well.
Minus Patterson, Notre Dame started sophomore Zeke Correll at center in the 31-17 victory at North Carolina on Nov. 27. Meanwhile, senior Josh Lugg started at right guard in that same contest because fifth-year senior Tommy Kraemer was shelved after having undergone an emergency appendectomy.
Although Correll suited up for this past weekend’s regular season finale versus Syracuse, a 45-21 Irish win, a game-time decision was made that his ankle injury was not healed enough to play in the game.
Thus, the versatile Lugg — who also started the final five games (and basically six) at right tackle last season — was shifted to center and senior Dillan Gibbons started at right guard and played 51 snaps, while Kraemer on Senior Day was inserted for 21.
From an experience standpoint, the best bet against Clemson on Dec. 19 is Lugg will start at center while Kraemer will be back to full strength at right guard. However, head coach Brian Kelly was non-committal on Monday on what the starting unit would be.
“We're still evaluating,” Kelly said. “We want to get Zeke back and get him back healthy… for some preparation and practice. Josh did a very good job. I thought the play of Dillan Gibbons was really, really solid.
“We've got some options there, which we'll evaluate here over the next few days, so we're not ready to make any announcements as to what that looks like. What the positive of this is that we know that with Lugg and Zeke and now even with Dillan and getting Tommy back — and Tommy did a nice job when he was in there as well — that we've created some depth. We'll look to find out what that best rotation is.”
Although it’s not preferable, Kelly is somewhat open to a timeshare in the line’s interior.
“I don't know that you ever really want to be moving guys in and out of the lineup there,” he said. “You like continuity, but in this instance, we'll see what pans out to be the best situation for us.”
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