College Football
No. 2 Clemson Beats No. 3 Notre Dame 30-3
Clemson beat Notre Dame 30-3 to punch their ticket to the National Championship in Santa Clara, California on January 7th. The Tigers dominated the Fighting Irish after a close first quarter of play. Clemson’s QB Trevor Lawrence torched the Fighting Irish in the air passing for 327 yards passing and three touchdowns. A big part of Trevor Lawrence’s success was in part due to wideout Justyn Ross’s big night. Ross had 148 yards receiving with two touchdown receptions. Late in the third Travis Etienne broke off a 62-yard run to seal the game and finished with 109 yards rushing.
Clemson Defense Dominates
Clemson’s defense did well keeping Notre Dame in check. Ian Book faced pressure most of the night and although he helped keep drives alive, he wasn’t able to muster much against the Tigers. Even without Dexter Lawrence, fellow defensive lineman Albert Huggins stepped in and filled the voice admirably. The Tiger secondary, one of the bigger question marks of the defense kept Notre Dame from getting a lot of success in the air. Clemson held Notre Dame to the lowest points scored since losing to Oregon State 41-9 in the 2001 Fiesta Bowl. The Tigers only allowed 248 yards of total offense and forced two turnovers.
California Dreamin’!
With the win against Notre Dame, Clemson finds themselves in the National Championship for the third time in four years. If Trevor Lawrence can continue the play from tonight’s performance, I don’t see how Clemson does not have a good chance at beating Alabama. Lawrence is playing beyond his years and having weapons like Travis Etienne and a killer wide receiver corp is only going to make it super tough on any defense. Let’s not forget about that dominant defense too. Still, Alabama is still ‘Bama so get ready for round four of Clemson-Alabama for the National Championship.
Photo credit to guarav kumar Flickr.
