Notre Dame defeated No. 1 Clemson 47-40 in double overtime on Saturday and the Fighting Irish are now the No. 2 team in the county according to both the Associated Press and coaches polls.
This is the first time Notre Dame has reached the second spot in the AP poll or higher since 2012 and just the third time since 1994.
Unlike the 2012 team, the 2020 Fighting Irish squad just proved it’s capable of hanging with and even defeating one of the perennial top-tier programs in college football (Oklahoma finished No. 15 in the AP poll in 2012).
But how did it happen?
Below are offensive and defensive observations, utilizing Pro Football Focus’ advanced statistics, from Notre Dame’s performance on Saturday.
Offense
Book Takes More Shots Downfield, Excellent On Short Passes
During the broadcast, ESPN’s College GameDay analyst David Pollack took to Twitter to express how much it would add to the Notre Dame offense if fifth-year senior quarterback Ian Book could connect on more deep balls each game.
At the time, this foreshadowed the importance. of Book connecting with senior wide receiver Avery Davis on the 53-yard post route that set up the game-tying score and sent the contest to overtime.
Those types of opportunities were available at various points in the game, and it was up to the Irish signal-caller to take the necessary chances downfield.
And to Book's credit, he took them more often than he had all year against the best secondary Notre Dame will in the regular season.
Coming into the matchup with Clemson, Book was averaging just three attempts of more than 20 yards in Notre Dame's first six contests and connecting on just 1.3 per game.
His rate of success stayed about the same against the Tigers, but he showed he was willing to take the necessary chances and hit on 3 of 8 passes of more than 20 yards.
Almost as important, Book continued to look excellent on short throws, completing 15 of 16 passes of 10 yards or shorter. The lone incompletion came on a drop by freshman tight end Michael Mayer (one of two passes he mishandled this game).
Going forward, this ratio of short and deep pass attempts would seem to be a recipe for success for Book, who produced at 90.5 PFF passing grade, the second-best mark of his career (behind a 90.6 against Bowling Green in 2019).
Kyren Williams Thrives Up The Middle
Early in the season, a large portion of Notre Dame’s ground attack came outside the tackles. For instance, in the season opener against Duke, sophomore running back Kyren Williams produced 89 rushing yards on his eight carries off of the left or right edge (11.1 YPC). His 11 carries between the tackles totaled just 23 yards (2.1 YPC).
But on Saturday, it was almost the complete opposite and Williams had one of the best days against a Dabo Swinney-led Clemson team in recent memory.
