SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Clemson football has disguised its flaws all season.
But not tonight.
All of the No. 4 Tigers’ worst attributes manifested themselves in Saturday night’s 35-14 loss to unranked Notre Dame — quarterback issues, defensive inconsistency, a knack for coming out flat — and Clemson will take a blow in the next College Football Playoff rankings because of it.
Notre Dame flat-out bullied Clemson with a dominant rushing attack (263 yards), a stingy defense and two non-offensive touchdowns to give rookie coach Marcus Freeman his first signature win. The Fighting Irish (6-3) have now won six of their past seven games.
Clemson (8-1) was shut out through the first three quarters, benched starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei for backup Cade Klubnik for a second consecutive game (Uiagalelei later returned), and logged its worst run defense performance of 2022.
Clemson’s loss to Notre Dame snapped the nation’s longest active winning streak at 14 games, and also snapped a 38-game win streak against unranked opponents when ranked in the AP Top 5, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Watching Saturday night’s game, it was easy to forget the Tigers actually clinched the ACC Atlantic Division title and a spot in next month’s conference championship game earlier in the day when Syracuse lost to Pittsburgh.
Notre Dame, a non-conference opponent, seized control from the start by blocking a punt and returning it for a touchdown on Clemson’s first attempt.
The Fighting Irish entered the game with five blocked punts, tied with South Carolina for the FBS lead this season, and made it six when linebacker Jordan Botelho cruised through several blockers to stuff an attempt from Aidan Swanson.
Linebacker Prince Kollie returned the ball 17 yards into the end zone, giving Notre Dame a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and marking the first blocked punt returned for a touchdown against Clemson since Boston College did it in 2008.
Notre Dame added to its lead when quarterback Drew Pyne, who’s been playing in place of injured starter Tyler Buchner since Week 2, scored a five-yard rushing touchdown with 38 seconds left in the second quarter. That gave Notre Dame a 14-0 halftime lead.
Clemson bookended those two Fighting Irish touchdowns with a putrid first-half offensive performance. On six offensive drives, the Tigers punted four times, let the clock run until halftime once and turned it over on downs once.
That fourth-and-4 failure, early in the first quarter from Notre Dame’s 38-yard line, was an aggressive and correct call for a Clemson team in desperate need of spark.
But it lacked execution, with Uiagalelei overthrowing wide receiver Beaux Collins on a deep ball when he had running back Phil Mafah open for a more manageable checkdown. Clemson was 0 for 6 on third- and fourth-down conversions in the first half.
Clemson also had an ugly ending to the period, with Uiagalelei taking a sack and right guard Walker Parks drawing a 15-yard personal foul penalty (and starting a small skirmish between the teams) as the final seconds ran off the clock.
The teams played a scoreless third quarter before coach Dabo Swinney benched Uiagalelei in favor of Klubnik, who also replaced him against Syracuse and led a comeback win. Klubnik had no such luck against Notre Dame: on his very first pass attempt, he faced heavy pressure and threw an interception.
Gifted with great field position at Clemson’s 4-yard line, Notre Dame quickly capitalized with running back Audric Estimé’s two-yard touchdown run. The Fighting Irish led 21-0 at that point and pushed their lead to 28-0 when cornerback Benjamin Morrison intercepted Uiagalelei and returned it for a 96-yard touchdown.
By then, the blowout was in full effect. Clemson avoided its first shutout since 2003 with a one-yard Will Shipley rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter but still finished with a season-worst 281 yards of total offense.
Star tight end Michael Mayer made sure the blowout was officially still on by catching a 17-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to put Notre Dame up 35-7. Uiagalelei made the final score a little more digestible with a four-yard touchdown pass to receiver Joseph Ngata in garbage time.
After Saturday’s loss, Clemson is bound to see a drop in the CFP rankings after debuting at No. 4 last week ahead of No. 5 Michigan, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 TCU.
