A look at what the media is saying after Notre Dame’s thrilling 47-40 victory against Clemson on Saturday.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Public address announcer Mike Collins knew there was no stopping it, so may as well issue a quick reminder.
“Be careful out there,” he said from somewhere high above the field, as a stream of students flooded the Notre Dame Stadium playing surface like water from a faucet. At least they had their masks on as they partied on, reveling in a win worthy of the utmost enjoyment.
Rush the field, go raise a glass and for good measure, take a coronavirus test when it’s all over.
Field-storming is not a wise idea amid a global pandemic, but there was no better illustration of the collective catharsis Notre Dame fans everywhere surely felt when the Irish thwarted Clemson’s last-ditch lateral attempt and drew the curtains on an all-timer. The Irish won a big one. How they did it – and what they displayed – was equally impressive and encouraging for whatever else this season has in store.
No. 4 Notre Dame toppled No. 1 Clemson 47-40 in double overtime, handing the top-ranked Tigers their first regular-season loss since 2017 and beating a top-five team for the first time in Brian Kelly’s 11 seasons. Not since 1993 had the Irish bested the No. 1 team, and since then, they had been searching for that type of win, only to be publicly denied it and the spoils that would have likely come attached.
From a national perspective or even within Notre Dame fan circles, it was a statement. No almosts or another big-game blunder. Notre Dame punched up and added a bold-font first line to a résumé Kelly already considered worthy of acceptance into the sport’s ruling class, but now can attempt to sell that idea to more willing buyers.
1. Ian Book Delivers
The chorus is too familiar. “Be the reason Notre Dame wins.” The fifth-year senior was everything you want to see from a quarterback trying to lead a game-tying drive and win an overtime game. Calm. Poised. Unflinching. And at his best.
All that came not long after his fumble on the goal line late in the third quarter that spoiled a prime chance to break a 23-23 tie. His resolve was as impressive as his play.
2. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Again
Notre Dame’s star senior linebacker should have a section reserved in this recurring article. The Irish needed their best defenders to be at their best, and there was no doubt he’d be capable. All he did was help force fumbles on back-to-back plays and score a touchdown on the first. And he helped write the exclamation point on the ending, with a half-sack on Clemson’s final drive.
Put him anywhere, and he’s going to show up, as a rusher, run defender or in coverage. That three-level effectiveness should put him in NFL first-round conversation.
3. Pass Rush Awakens Late
Look no further for a great example of the difference between hurries and sacks. There’s nothing wrong with the former. Sacks, though, put the offense backward. That’s a must against an explosive attack. Notre Dame’s front didn’t get home very often in regulation and allowed Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei time to dish from the pocket, scramble and create. He’s skilled at both, and he completed passes when flushed and under pressure.
But he can’t operate the same when he’s backed up into third and an ocean to go. Nor can he make something from nothing if he’s on the ground. It took a while, but Notre Dame proved that five-sack showing the week before at Georgia Tech wasn’t a fluke.
Before the game, the story was about Clemson's superstar quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, who was sidelined by a virus and league protocols.
During the game, the story was about Clemson's freshman quarterback, D.J. Uiagalelei, who stepped in, rallied the Tigers from a double-digit deficit for the second straight week and, in the process, threw for more yards against a Notre Dame defense than any player in the program's storied history.
At the end of the game, the quarterback who deserved all the attention was the overlooked veteran, the guy who endured a thrashing by this same Clemson team in a playoff game two years ago, the QB who had won so much but never the big one. On Saturday, Ian Book etched his name into Irish lore with a legendary performance in a 47-40 double-overtime win that snapped a 36-game, regular-season winning streak.
"Before the game, Coach [Tommy] Rees told me this would be a game you'd remember the rest of your life," Book said. "I kept telling myself that all day, before every series."
In the end, the numbers look like this: 310 passing yards, one touchdown -- pedestrian if you looked only at the box score.
On the field, Book was a sorcerer.
Clemson's vaunted defensive front was frustrated again and again by Book's runs. He scrambled six times for 67 yards, including a 12-yard scamper on second-and-13 in double OT that set up the winning score.
Notre Dame's offense had been maligned all season for its inability to inject life into a listless downfield passing attack, an offense that lacked a big-play threat. Then Book's 53-yard completion to Avery Davis with a minute left to play and the Irish trailing by seven became the biggest play of his career.
For two decades, the Irish have endured the slights and jokes, a team whose greatness ended with the Grunge era, a facade always waiting to be exposed by the truly elite. But on Saturday, Book willed Notre Dame to a win over the top-ranked team in the country, not through some trick play or cheap call, but by one heavyweight blow after another.
Book's backfield mate, Kyren Williams, ran for 140 yards and three scores, and those numbers fail to do justice to how much he contributed, picking up blitzes, blocking downfield, infuriating Clemson's battered defense with one hard run after another.
Notre Dame's defense held star tailback Travis Etienne to just 28 yards on the ground, dominating the line of scrimmage and chipping in with a touchdown of its own, when Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah returned an Etienne fumble 23 yards for a touchdown.
Before the game, the Irish seemed destined for a losing narrative, even if they won the game. Lawrence was sidelined, an asterisk waiting to attach itself to the final score. But how could Lawrence have done more than the freshman Uiagalelei, who threw for 439 yards and two scores? The final score had nothing to do with Lawrence's absence and everything to do with Notre Dame's physicality, Book's overall play and Williams' brilliance.
And yet, prior to kickoff, Williams said Kelly formulated an escape plan for his team for when the fans inevitably rushed out of the stands and onto the field. It was a mark of the strangeness of 2020, preparing to avoid contact with a crowd at diminished capacity, a means of staying safe from the coronavirus during a celebration. But the footnote is that Kelly was planning for that celebration all along.
No, Notre Dame didn't deserve the No. 4 ranking this year. It deserves better now.
BlueandGold.com's Postgame Show: Mike Goolsby Breaks Down Notre Dame's Victory Over Clemson
Opening Thoughts
“We thought maybe this was going to be an ugly game, but really, what an amazing game. What an amazing night; what an amazing sport. So many people looked great tonight. We got up early tonight when Kyren Williams busted out for a long touchdown run; that was great. Even as a fan though, you kind of got comfortable then start to think ‘Well, Notre Dame has been here before.’ It was such an up and down game. Early in the second half, Clemson took hold of the ball and finally found their rhythm and momentum. What a game, good for those guys! Good for us! Wow.”
Game-tying drive late in the 4th quarter
“Say what you want about Ian Book, but he is a winner. It’s not pretty sometimes but he has got stones; he really does. He’s got balls; he’s got moxie. It’s not pretty all the time, but on that last drive, it was the second or third time we saw Book push the ball downfield and get it to the seams. We saw a lot of bad routes in previous games, but we saw Book here find guys down the seam, like when he found McKinley and Davis a few times. It was really nice to see us pull out the whole play book. We ran the ball extremely well, Tremble got involved, and it was an amazing game. Truly an amazing game. I thought maybe at times we were throwing the ball a bit too much and I didn’t want them to forget about the run game. For Ian Book to play Clemson the way he did, so what they had some injuries. To not take a sack, just to be a custodian of the game, a custodian of the ball, it was tremendous."
Adam Rittenberg, ESPN: College football Week 10 scores, Top 25 analysis and must-see moments
On a night when Trevor Lawrence watched from the sideline and Travis Etienne couldn't get going against a stout Notre Dame defense, freshman quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei nearly lifted Clemson to its biggest win of the season. Uiagalelei passed for 426 yards, the most ever against Notre Dame, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Notre Dame ultimately stifled Clemson in the second overtime, as a Tigers defense that held up for most of the night couldn't stop Ian Book down the stretch and in overtime. Clemson's incredible win streaks -- 39 regular-season games, 29 ACC games, 14 road games -- all ended at Notre Dame Stadium.
What looked like another night of what-ifs for Book and Notre Dame turned into a signature performance that will go into program lore. Book, who had repeatedly led the Irish into Clemson territory but not the end zone, orchestrated a dramatic eight-play, 91-yard drive to force overtime, then two touchdown drives as Notre Dame took down the nation's top-ranked team. Book finished with 310 pass yards and 64 rush yards as Clemson largely took away the Irish running backs after the game's opening possession. Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (two takeaways, one touchdowns) led the defense, which gave up a record passing total (439 yards) but made enough plays when it needed them.
In the pregame buildup to Saturday's matchup against No. 1 Clemson, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly insisted it was "not the end-all" for the program, win or lose.
Kelly was right. No. 4 Notre Dame's 47-40 double-overtime victory against the Tigers doesn't ensure an ACC championship, a College Football Playoff berth or the program's first national championship since 1988.
Notre Dame students rushed the field despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. That will temporarily distort the lasting memory of what the Irish (7-0, 6-0 ACC) pulled off at Notre Dame Stadium against the Tigers (7-1, 6-1 ACC), a game Sporting News thought would be the game of the year before the season started.
Sometimes it's good to be right. This was more than one game. This was a game that silenced the talk about the program being overrated or undeserving of the special treatment that comes with that fat NBC contract. This was a game that put the Irish back in the heavyweight class with No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Ohio State.
Those programs took the Irish's place at the top of college football's pecking order in the last 30 years. Notre Dame waded through the Bowl Championship Series and College Football Playoff eras with blips of success that were overshadowed by the corresponding failures.
You don't remember the Irish going 12-0 in 2012. You remember Alabama blasting Notre Dame 42-14 in the BCS championship game. You don't remember the Irish finishing 12-0 in 2018. You remember Clemson throttling the Irish 30-3 in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
With the victory against Clemson on Saturday, Kelly affirmed those losses were "not the end-all" either. The Irish are 30-3 since 2018. This validated that success. You can't call Notre Dame overrated, and we know the next thing that will come out of the nay-sayers' mouths:
Clemson star quarterback Trevor Lawrence didn't play because of a positive COVID-19 test last week. Yes, that was a huge factor, but freshman quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei passed for 439 yards and two touchdowns, adding another on the ground. He rallied the Tigers back from a 10-point halftime deficit. He led the go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter, too.
No. 4 Notre Dame’s double-overtime victory over No. 1 Clemson will be remembered as a game of historical consequence that may have few consequences. It was steeped in history, but could be recast in just a few months. It had the requisite historical touchstones, officiating controversies (and delays) and a scintillating performance by a star — freshman quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei — that we’ll be gazing at for many more autumns.
Make no mistake, Notre Dame outlasting Clemson, 47-40, in double overtime will be a vintage bottle in the most elite of Notre Dame collections. Even if a speech by President-elect Biden bumped it off NBC for a while. It showcased the onions of senior quarterback Ian Book, the otherworldly disruptive ability of linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and highlighted Notre Dame’s ability to dominate in the trenches against one of the standards in college football.
It’s the most impressive regular season victory of the 11-year Brian Kelly era, the first Irish win over a No. 1 team since 1993 and it required a 91-yard drive in the final 1:48 for Notre Dame to tie the game and force overtime. “A night I’ll never forget, no matter how old I am,” Book said.
But this is where reality intersects history, as Book may need to recapture that magic for another night. Consider this the most 2020 sentence of the college football season, the kind that would get you drug tested if you wrote it in February: For Notre Dame to make the College Football Playoff, they may still need to beat Clemson in the ACC title game with Trevor Lawrence at quarterback, as he’ll be back from his COVID-19 hiatus.
Notre Dame is in position to win the regular season ACC title, which would be a humorous historical footnote and the rare first for a program that’s accomplished nearly everything. The Irish would be 1-for-1 in their history, as the pandemic forced them to have a shotgun football marriage with the ACC for a season.
In terms of the big picture, Notre Dame is certainly in much better position to secure the program’s second-ever College Football Playoff bid. But as Clemson’s Dabo Swinney was quick to point on Saturday night in the wake of his program’s first regular-season loss since 2017, Clemson still has everything in front of them.
“No one was handed a trophy tonight,” he said. “They didn’t roll out a stage and hand out a trophy … The only thing we can’t be right now, we can’t be 11-0. It’s the only thing we can’t be.”
Notre Dame will vault up to No. 2 or No. 3 in the national rankings, with the sport’s most impressive win this season. But with a matchup against Clemson likely in the ACC title game, there’s little assurance that this win keeps them from slipping past No. 4 if they lose that game. And how will the CFP committee view a win over Clemson without Trevor Lawrence?
Notre Dame has a trap game at Boston College this week, and Kelly’s focused on first-world problems. “We’ve got a target on our backs now,” he said. “There are so many more things on my plate.”
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- During Notre Dame's team walk-through before Saturday's game against No. 1 Clemson, coach Brian Kelly issued a proclamation, and a warning.
"I just want you to know," Kelly told the players, "When we win this thing, the fans are going to storm the field."
Kelly added that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which includes a recent rise in cases on Notre Dame's campus, the players needed to exit the field as soon as possible after the game.
"Coach Kelly, you might as well call him a prophet," linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah said. "Prophet Kelly."
Kelly's words came true moments after No. 4 Notre Dame completed a 47-40 win over Clemson in two overtimes Saturday night at Notre Dame Stadium. Students stormed the field from all four corners of the stands, creating a mass celebration in the middle of the field. Notre Dame limits attendance to students, faculty and university personnel -- other than players' families -- and while Saturday's game drew only 11,011, most of them seemed to enter the field at the end.
"With COVID being as it is, we've got to get off the field and get to the tunnel," Kelly said. "Now I beat 'em all to the tunnel. So that didn't go over so good, but they reminded me that I did tell them that, so my skills of prognostication were pretty good today."
Notre Dame's public-address announcer repeatedly asked fans to leave the field, but many remained for several minutes.
Clemson players and coaches quickly exited to the tunnel in the northeast corner of the field, while most Notre Dame players and coaches headed for their tunnel. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said he didn't mind the field rush from the Notre Dame fans, saying, "It was an epic game."
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