Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney can often be quite detailed and loquacious in his press conferences previewing a game.
However, when asked on Sunday on what he believes is the most pivotal matchup this Saturday in the ACC Championship when his Tigers attempt to avenge their 47-40 double-overtime loss at Notre Dame on Nov. 7, he was as succinct as they come.
“It will be up front in the trenches,” he replied. “We got our butts kicked in the first game. Just that simple.”
The glaring stat from that game was Notre Dame out-rushing Clemson 208-34, particularly limiting all-time ACC rushing leader Travis Etienne to 28 yards on 18 carries.
There are at least two other data points that have stuck with Swinney.
One, whereas Notre Dame was 10 of 19 on third-down conversions (52.6 percent) — especially with fifth-year senior quarterback Ian Book keeping drives alive by avoiding the constant blitzes — Clemson was 4 of 15 (26.7 percent), or half as efficient in that category where the Fighting Irish have excelled all season.
Finally, the Irish also won the turnover battle 3-1, outscoring the Tigers 10-0 off of them, highlighted by senior rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah forcing an errant handoff that was fumbled and he returned for a 23-yard score and a 20-10 Notre Dame advantage.
Still, there is nothing that hits home harder at a superpower program such as Clemson — national champions in 2016 and 2018 and a playoff team five consecutive years since 2015 — than getting beat in the trenches the way it did.
That’s where the clear disparity was between the two programs when they met in the semifinals of the 2018 College Football Playoff, a 30-3 victory by the Tigers.
That year was the reverse of this season when Clemson out-rushed the Irish 211-88, had a significant advantage in third-down conversions (9 of 18 compared to 5 of 17 for Notre Dame) and also was plus-one in turnovers.
Clemson’s defensive line featured a bevy of veterans who would be among the top 17 picks in the NFL Draft a few months later, although one of them was ruled ineligible to play versus Notre Dame.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame’s offensive line in 2018 had no one drafted and was starting four players who are now either fifth-years seniors (left tackle Liam Eichenberg and right guard Tommy Kraemer) or seniors (right tackle Robert Hainsey and left guard Aaron Banks).
This year, it’s the Irish offensive line replete with veterans while Clemson is much younger along the defensive front, including former five-star 2020 recruits Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy.
“Book was a couple years younger, and all these big monster offensive linemen they got, that are all like graduates now, they were a couple years younger, so we were kind of the reverse,” Swinney said. “We don't have any seniors on the D-line and they got a bunch of graduates.
“We've had to have be a little more package oriented than maybe we were in ‘18 with that veteran defense.”
On the other side of the line, Notre Dame also has two fifth-year senior ends starting in Daelin Hayes and Ade Ogundeji — plus two seniors in the interior with Kurt Hinish and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa — and the confidence in utilizing quality depth behind them to keep fresh legs in the game.
Conversely, Clemson had four new offensive linemen starting this season, and Etienne’s rushing totals dropped from 1,658 yards and 8.1 yards per carry in 2018 and 1,614 yards and 7.8 yards per attempt in 2019 to a more modest 758 yards and 5.1 yards per carry this season.
“They’re built up front,” Swinney said of Notre Dame’s defense. “They’re incredibly well coached — this is as good a well-coached team as you’re going to see. They don’t make a lot of mistakes, they tackle well. We just made some big plays on them [in November].
“Their linebackers are really good, they’ve got two of the best players that you’ll see in college football [Owusu-Koramoah and safety Kyle Hamilton].”
Swinney said the goal on offense this time is not so much about being better balanced as it is being more efficient, especially on third down.
He pointed out after Irish sophomore running back Kyren Williams’ first carry of the game went for a 65-yard touchdown, the Tigers did well to limit him to 75 yards on his final 22 attempts.
The difference for Swinney in the November game was Book’s amazing sense of the blitzes and escape skills, which produced 67 rushing yards for him, and only eight yards of lost yardage for Clemson.
“Ian Book had a field day against us,” Swinney said. “He extended plays and he made a lot of off-scheduled plays. They’re one of the best scramble teams out there. You’ve got to give them credit for that, because that’s coached. It’s not like they’re just out there playing street ball.
“They coach the scramble drill and they know what they’re doing and on the same page. There’s a lot of chemistry. Ian does an awesome job of managing the pocket and stepping up when he needs to and slipping out and extending plays and then running.
“From the beginning of the year to now, their ability to throw the football has made them even more dangerous because they’ve been able to run the ball well. And then defensively, they can get pressure with that front.”
For Swinney, better “balance” in the offense is not as important to him as better efficiency.
“They were 5.1 [yards per carry], and we were 1.0, so we need to be more efficient than that,” he summarized. “It’s amazing that we even had a chance to win the game, to be honest with you, with the turnovers and how poor we were on third down and how inefficient we were.”
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