This year’s ACC Championship versus Clemson Dec. 19 will mark only the second time since 1902 that Notre Dame will face the same team twice in one season.
The other was in 1997 versus LSU, a 24-6 victory at Baton Rouge, La., in November and a 27-9 defeat at the Independence Bowl a little more than a month later.
According to research by Wikipedia, rematches that occur in conference championship games (begun by the SEC in 1992) have seen the regular-season winner — as Notre Dame was on Nov. 7 with a 47-40 double-overtime victory versus then No. 1-ranked Clemson — also post a 29-16 record in the league title game against the same foe.
In bowl games, though, the advantage has been with the regular-season loser, who has produced a 15-7 record in the rematch. (Two other bowl games had ties in the regular season.)
Notre Dame and Clemson also are vying for a national title. In four previous bowl games where No. 1 was on the line between two teams that had met in the regular season, the loser in the regular season avenged it in the bowl each time. The most recent was in 2011, when Alabama lost at home to LSU 9-6 in November, but then won 21-0 in the national title showdown between them.
In his final three seasons at Division II Grand Valley State (2001-03), Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly twice played Saginaw Valley in rematches from the regular season.
In 2001, Kelly’s Lakers won 38-7 in the regular season but had a more difficult time in the playoff game before prevailing 33-30.
In 2003, Grand Valley State lost 34-20 to Saginaw Valley during the regular season (its lone defeat) — but then won 10-3 in the quarterfinals of the playoffs against them before winning their second straight Division II national title. Kelly then was hired to be the head coach at Central Michigan the following year.
From his experience, Kelly said don’t be misled by the 47-40 double-overtime score in the first game — because he believes the defenses will have a much greater say this time, as it did for his GVS squad in 2003 with the 10-3 decision.
“You learn so much about your opponent — both teams do — that sometimes when you play a second time it makes it hard to move the football, because the defense gets the edge the second time,” Kelly said in his meeting with media Dec. 7. “Those are probably the things that I've learned in the rematches, that the defenses tend to get a little bit of an edge against you because they have seen you and they know a little bit about where they can lean on you a little bit.”
The Nov. 7 meeting with Clemson saw some effective red-zone defense by both teams during the 60-minute regulation time. The Fighting Irish and Tigers kicked four field goals apiece while finishing with a 33-33 verdict after four quarters.
“You learn the strengths and weaknesses of each team,” Kelly said. “So maybe what you lose in terms of tendencies and breaking tendencies, you pick up in getting a better in-depth knowledge of where to attack and having complements off of that. ... I don’t think this game is about who out-schemes who.
“… That’s why it’s about physicality for me. It’s about playmakers making plays, and then fundamentals — because these games are generally going to be close, hard fought and separated by one score, and sometimes low-scoring games.”
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