Clemson loses top ranking but goals are still possible (2024)

CLEMSON, S.C. — For Clemson’s streak of conference wins coming to an end, here are 28 final thoughts after the Tigers’ 47-40 double-overtime loss Saturday at Notre Dame:

1. For the first time this season, Clemson is no longer the No. 1 team in the Associated Press Top 25. That honor belongs to Alabama. The Tigers dropped to No. 4 following what Clemson coach Dabo Swinney referred to as “an epic game,” while the Fighting Irish rose to No. 2. Ohio State occupies No. 3. If Clemson and Notre Dame meet again in the ACC championship — as is the expectation — it could be another top-five matchup.

2. Everything goes through Charlotte, N.C., for a team that owns a five-year winning streak in ACC title games. The Tigers know they can still punch their ticket to the College Football Playoff, even with Saturday’s loss. In the short term, Saturday will hurt. But when he looks at the bigger picture, Swinney can take plenty from what he saw in South Bend.

“We didn’t win the game, but you saw what this team is made of,” Swinney said. “This team is made of the right stuff.”

3. It speaks to Clemson’s dominance on the recruiting trail that the true freshman who threw for more yards against Notre Dame than any other quarterback in Figting Irish history will be the backup if the teams do meet again. D.J. Uiagalelei, the five-star freshman, started again for junior Heisman Trophy contender Trevor Lawrence, who was still in COVID-19 protocol. Uiagalelei went 29-of-44 for 439 yards and two touchdowns.

“D.J. is a special player. Trevor Lawrence is a special player, too,” said Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly. “Boy, I’d like to have Dabo’s problems with those two guys.”

4. Notre Dame, however, offered neither a scholarship.

5. Lawrence is expected back in practice Monday.

6. It’s clear Clemson’s current players mean a lot to Swinney, who said after the game that he has never been prouder of his team. Swinney led Clemson to national championships in 2016 and 2018, going 15-0 the second time to cap a historic season. But Clemson has already had to overcome more this season than it has in any other, including COVID-19 and injuries. Unable to play Saturday: Lawrence, linebacker James Skalski, linebacker Mike Jones Jr. and defensive tackle Tyler Davis. Wide receiver Frank Ladson Jr. dressed but didn’t play his usual role on offense. Clemson also dealt with a slew of in-game injuries, including safety Nolan Turner, safety Lannden Zanders, cornerback Andrew Booth Jr., defensive end Justin Mascoll, wide receiver Joseph Ngata, left guard Matt Bockhorst and defensive tackle Bryan Bresee. Clemson, which still boasts many of the nation’s best recruits at backup positions, won’t get much pity. But the injury count is significant.

7. In that regard, the Tigers’ idle week couldn’t come at a better time. Sure, Clemson would love to get back on the field and start moving on. But not having a game until Nov. 21 at Florida State allows Lawrence to ease his way back and gives Swinney time to assess who is dealing with what. Asked specifically about Bresee, who appeared to injure a knee in the second overtime, Swinney had no immediate update after the game.

8. Clemson lost for the first time in regular-season play when ranked No. 1. The Tigers were looking for their highest-ranked road victory in school history, but instead left Notre Dame with three significant streaks snapped. A 50-game winning streak on Saturdays, a 36-game winning streak in regular-season games and the 28-game winning streak against ACC opponents all are kaput. Clemson’s status as the gold standard of college football won’t change overnight, but it had been years since the Tigers met any sort of match in conference play — even if the Irish count in ACC standings only this season.

“I have great respect for what I saw from Notre Dame,” Swinney said.

9. The loss will haunt Clemson in the coming days, especially considering how often the Tigers beat themselves with turnovers and sloppy execution.

“We don’t have to play perfect,” Swinney said, “but if we just play a little cleaner, we win the game. You just can’t get yourself in a hole like we got ourselves in and consistently win against great teams.”

10. The Tigers were indeed in an early hole for the second consecutive week after the game’s first drive. Prior to Saturday, Clemson had given up just 21 points in the first quarter this season, although 14 of them were scored on the first two drives of the first quarter against Boston College on Oct. 31. The Irish picked up right where the Eagles left off. Notre Dame sophom*ore running back Kyren Williams proved to be a nightmare for Clemson on the ground and in picking up blitzes in pass protection. On the second play of the game, he found a hole and got past Turner for a 65-yard scoring run. Those types of mistakes are easy for Clemson to cover up against less-talented teams, but not Notre Dame.

“We just missed the fit,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “They’re good enough. … They divided us and got away from the safety.”

11. Matters got worse for Clemson when the Tigers turned the ball over. Twice. A week after coaches told senior slot receiver Amari Rodgers, senior running back Travis Etienne and redshirt senior field receiver Cornell Powell that the trio would need to make plays for Uiagalelei to stay in a rhythm, Etienne and Rodgers fumbled in the second quarter. For Etienne, it was his second fumble to be returned for a touchdown in as many weeks. Rodgers’ catch and fumble set up a Notre Dame field goal one series later for a 10-point swing that would prove to be the difference in the first half. Including Lawrence’s first pick six of his career against Syracuse on Oct. 24, Clemson has now given up 24 points on turnovers in the past three games. The Tigers are plus-4 on the season in turnover margin, but were minus-2 Saturday and minus-1 against Boston College.

12. The Irish bottled up Etienne and made it clear they had no intention of letting Clemson establish the run. Etienne finished with 28 rushing yards on 18 carries for the fourth-lowest output of his career. The three games in which he rushed for fewer than 28 yards prior to Saturday all came in 2017, when he was a freshman. Ohio State, however, did hold him to 36 yards on the ground in the 2019 Fiesta Bowl national semifinal. How did Kelly rank the plan to stop Etienne?

“Obviously,” Kelly said. “We put a lot of emphasis on him not wrecking the game.”

13. Etienne also had a moment toward the end of regulation Clemson would like back. Facing second-and-9, he rushed for a loss of 5 yards as Clemson was called for holding. But Notre Dame declined the penalty to get the Tigers in third down, which is when Etienne caught a short pass from Uiagalelei and ran out of bounds, stopping the clock for the Irish. Clemson then punted and Notre Dame tied the score after a perfectly executed eight-play, 91-yard drive that took 1:26 and sent the game into overtime.

14. Despite Etienne’s struggles, however, a large chunk of his problems Saturday night fell on Clemson’s offensive line. Swinney said at the beginning of the season that his first-team O-line was playing as well as any unit he had ever had, but questions remain about the group and its interior run-blocking. Elliott said Clemson knew Notre Dame was going to commit to stopping the run and make the Tigers win with the passing game, although he acknowledged that’s nothing new. How does Clemson restore momentum in the run game?

“The biggest thing for us is just finishing blocks, being able to recognize when teams are going to force us to get off double-teams,” Elliott said. “Be in position with our hands and our feet to make sure that we can secure those single blocks so we can climb to the next level.”

15. After Bockhorst went down, Clemson replaced him with redshirt freshman Mason Trotter, who prior to Saturday had played just 58 snaps this season, mainly against Georgia Tech and Syracuse. Clemson’s second-team offensive line ranked as Swinney’s biggest concern heading into the season, and when Trotter’s helmet came off in the fourth quarter, the Tigers put in true freshman Paul Tchio. It demonstrated Clemson’s lack of experience behind the starting group and the need for Clemson to build depth. Within the starters, Clemson needs to shore things up along the interior. In addition to the run-game struggles, starting center Cade Stewart was responsible for the sack on second down in double overtime, after Uiagalelei had just taken a sack a play earlier. The offensive line is arguably the biggest area where Clemson needs to take the next step on the recruiting trail.

16. Elliott also said Clemson’s staff will look at the Tigers’ run-pass option opportunities as it evaluates schematically this week.

17. Asked how he felt about where his offensive line is eight games into the season, Elliott brought up what seems to be a theme: The O-line is solid in pass protection but needs to take the next step with run blocking. He’s putting much of that responsibility on himself and the staff.

“We have to do a good job as coaches to help them figure out just how to get more things — or put them in better situations to where we can take advantage of some of the defenses’ aggressiveness in the run game so that we can generate some more productivity there,” he said.

18. A final thought from Elliott, who said Etienne was “obviously very upset” and spent time getting encouragement from Swinney after the game.

“All of us in that locker room, everybody in our program, we’re going to live and die with Travis Etienne,” he said. “We understand that not everybody is perfect and we’ve got to go back to the basics.”

19. While Clemson struggled to run the ball, Notre Dame had plenty of success. And it wasn’t just limited to Williams. Clemson couldn’t contain Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book, who ran for 64 yards on 14 carries. He’s the third ACC quarterback this season to have success on the ground against Clemson, joining Virginia’s Brennan Armstrong and Miami’s D’Eriq King. Swinney said Saturday he knew the combination of Clemson finding success in the run game and limiting Book on the move would be crucial.

“He just bought time and bought time and bought time,” Swinney said. “Extended plays, extended plays.”

20. Book also created problems for Clemson as a passer, despite entering Saturday with just six throws on the season that went for more than 20 yards. He finished the game 22-for-39 for 310 yards and a touchdown with throws that went 28, 45, 29 and 53 yards. The 53-yarder to Avery Davis on Notre Dame’s final drive of regulation helped force overtime. Davis beat backup Clemson safety Ray Thornton III, who is Zanders’ backup at strong safety. Joseph Charleston was also in on the play at free safety for Turner. Despite Notre Dame’s early run, Turner had a crucial pass breakup on third-and-7 in the fourth quarter that forced Notre Dame to settle for a field goal to up three points instead of seven.

21. During a week when Uiagalelei drew praise for his composure, Book provided the same for Notre Dame, even when trouble hit. In the fourth quarter, with the score tied and Notre Dame facing third-and-1 from the Clemson 7, middle linebacker Jake Venables forced a fumble by Book that will linebacker Baylon Spector recovered in the end zone. Clemson’s offense punted the ball right back to Notre Dame, and the Tigers had a costly penalty when Booth didn’t see Notre Dame call for a fair catch and made contact with the returner for a 15-yard penalty. Notre Dame went up three points on a field goal. But at the time of Book’s fumble, it felt as though Clemson had just gotten the type of momentum the Tigers so often seize. But Book delivered down the stretch.

22. Swinney also said last week that something would have to give on third down. Clemson’s offense entered Saturday converting on third down 50 percent of the time and its defense limiting opponents to third-down success just 27 percent of the time. Saturday, the script was flipped. Notre Dame converted 10 of 19 third downs. Clemson went 4-of-15.

23. For the second consecutive week, Clemson got little production out of Ladson and Ngata, the 6-foot-3 sophom*ore receivers. Swinney said he expected Ladson, who had a hip pointer in practice last week, to play, but he was listed on only special teams Saturday. Ngata, who is still battling back from an abdominal strain suffered in September, started the game but was clearly in pain and didn’t last long. He had one catch for 14 yards during the Tigers’ second drive, which ended with a 53-yard touchdown catch from Powell.

24. Powell is rising to the occasion.

Grown man play by Cornell Powell.

This right here is Clemson Football.#ALLIN 🐅🐾 pic.twitter.com/tS0F4MXgRU

— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) November 8, 2020

The fifth-year North Carolina native easily could have transferred to receive more playing time. But he stayed put, continued to develop and led all receivers in catches during spring practice. He finished with six receptions for a career-high 161 yards Saturday, one week after he set a career high against Boston College with 105 yards. Of his 418 receiving yards this season, 266 have come in the last two games. He and Uiagalelei also connected for a 51-yard reception early in the fourth quarter to set up a Clemson field goal.

“All of us inside the program know that he’s a heck of a talent with a ton of potential. He just needed opportunity,” Elliott said. “And he needed to be willing to do whatever it takes to maximize his opportunities.”

25. Prior to Saturday, Swinney had never been in a multiple-overtime game as the Tigers’ head coach. Clemson is 7-7 all time in overtime games with the most recent win coming in 2016 against NC State.

26. A positive for the Tigers: Junior kicker BT Potter made a career-high four field goals on four attempts, hitting 25-, 45-, 46- and 30-yarders.

27. At 4 hours and 8 minutes, Saturday’s game is the second longest in Clemson history.

28. Clemson typically spends idle weeks self-scouting and should do so again this week. Pay attention to Etienne. The worst game of his 2019 season came against North Carolina, which was followed by an open week. He returned as focused as ever before and went on to win his second ACC Player of the Year award.

(Photo of Travis Etienne: Matt Cashore / USA Today)