Clemson vs. Notre Dame Prediction: A beautiful day in the Valley awaits

Clemson welcomes Notre Dame to Death Valley for the first time since 2015.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Nov 03 12:11:03 GMT-04:00 2023

Saturday promises to bring in the best football weather of the season, with tailgating temps starting out chilly and a high in the upper 60s in the afternoon. Brilliant sunshine, colorful leaves, being back in Death Valley for the first time in a month, and an opponent like Notre Dame. It doesn’t get much better than that.

But can the Tigers pull out a win?

Dabo Swinney’s club is riding a two-game losing streak and is banged up – really banged up – and it faces an Irish team that blasted Pitt 58-7 last week.

CLEMSON (4-4, 2-4 ACC) vs. NO. 12/12 NOTRE DAME (7-2, INDEPENDENT)

WHEN: SATURDAY, NOV. 4, NOON ET
WHERE: MEMORIAL STADIUM (81,500), CLEMSON, S.C.
TELEVISION: ABC (Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, Molly McGrath)
RADIO: Clemson Athletic Network (Don Munson, Tim Bourret, Reggie Merriweather)
RADIO: Gridiron Radio Network (Noah Britt, Jon Reynolds, Jason Crowder)
SATELLITE RADIO: SiriusXM 82

CLEMSON/NOTRE DAME SERIES HISTORY

OVERALL: Clemson leads series, 4-3
HOME: Series is tied, 1-1
ROAD: Clemson trails series, 1-2
NEUTRAL: Clemson leads series, 2-0
LAST MEETING: Nov. 5, 2022 (35-14, L)
STREAK: Notre Dame, Won 1

NOTABLE

*After meeting twice in South Bend and twice in postseason play in the previous five years, Clemson will welcome the Notre Dame Fighting Irish back to Death Valley for the first time since 2015 when the teams square off.

*Notre Dame has visited Memorial Stadium only twice, first in 1977 and again in 2015. The Irish's 2015 visit ranks among the most memorable contests in the facility's history, as 12th-ranked Clemson defeated sixth-ranked Notre Dame in ESPN College GameDay's featured contest. Amid a torrential downpour from the remnants of Hurricane Joaquin, Clemson jumped out to a 21-3 third-quarter lead. The Tigers withstood a furious Notre Dame rally and snuffed out a Notre Dame two-point conversion attempt with seven seconds remaining to hold on to a 24-22 victory that spawned Head Coach Dabo Swinney's famous "Bring Your Own Guts" postgame comments.

*This Saturday, Swinney will again attempt to pass College Football Hall of Famer Frank Howard for sole possession of Clemson's all-time head coaching wins record. Swinney tied Howard with his 165th career victory in a 17-12 win against Wake Forest on Oct. 7.

WHAT CLEMSON HAS TO DO WHEN NOTRE DAME HAS THE BALL

Clemson’s defense has been solid this season, ranking sixth nationally in total defense. The Tigers rank just 57th nationally in forcing turnovers, however, and the defense will need to force a few Saturday to give its offense a chance.

This year, Irish quarterback Sam Hartman – who has faced Clemson five previous times and played against the Tigers four times - has put up 2,126 passing yards (236.2 yards per game) while going 149-for-228 (65.4% completion percentage) and throwing 18 touchdowns and five interceptions. Running back Audric Estime is one of the best in the country and has run for a team-leading 901 yards on 146 attempts (100.1 yards per game) while scoring 12 touchdowns.

The Irish will be without their leading receiver and tight end Mitchell Evans, who tore his ACL in the win over Pitt last week. He led Notre Dame with 29 receptions for 422 yards. Notre Dame will look to Holden Staes or Eli Raridon to fill the void left by Evans’ knee injury. Staes has 12 receptions for 163 yards and leads the team with four touchdown catches. Raridon recently returned from his own knee injury.

Notre Dame averages 38 points per game and will score Saturday, but the Tigers have to force field goal attempts and force those turnovers we talked about. Stop the running game and then putting pressure on Hartman – that’s just football every week – will be key.

WHAT CLEMSON HAS TO DO WHEN IT HAS THE BALL

I know, this sounds like a broken record, but the Tigers must take care of the football and score in the red zone. Clemson scored on its three red-zone chances last week but also turned it over twice. The pick-six wound up being the difference in the game.

The Tigers are also banged up – and I mean banged up – on this side of the ball. It looks like starting left guard Marcus Tate is out and won’t be back, and he joins starting right guard Walker Parks on the shelf. The guy who has started at left tackle started at right guard last week – Tristan Leigh – and will likely be there this week? We think? But left tackle Collin Sadler is also battling an injury, and Mitchell Mayes or Harris Sewell will have to step in somewhere and play.

At receiver, Antonio Williams (toe) is out, and it’s likely that running back Will Shipley (concussion protocol) is also a no-go. Wide receiver Tyler Brown is also battling a lower leg injury and an eye that got poked last week at NC State.

Notre Dame is 40th against the run but gives up just 3.51 yards per carry and 121 yards per game. Can the Tigers and Phil Mafah – who will have to carry the load Saturday – do enough to keep the Irish defense honest and give Klubnik time?

WHAT WILL HAPPEN

If nothing else, the call from Tyler in Spartanburg lit a fire under Swinney, who has ensured there is no country club atmosphere at practice this week. We’ve heard that he’s called out players for being soft, and practices have been among some of the most notable of the season. Maybe that gives the Tigers – who are used to playing these noon games – a spark.

Add in the crowd and being back at home, and these Tigers will rally and respond and surprise a few people.

But then in the second half, all of that wears off, and it’s just football. And that’s when depth will begin to show, and the Irish will follow the gameplan of Miami and simply wear down the Clemson defense with the running game.

FINAL SCORE: NOTRE DAME 27, CLEMSON 17

TigerNet picks

David Hood - TigerNet senior writer - 27-17 Notre Dame
Mickey Plyler - The Roar 105.5 morning show host - 20-17 Notre Dame
Nikki Hood - Staff writer - 28-24 Clemson (she said she has a feeling)
Brandon Rink - Associate editor - 23-16 Notre Dame
Tony Crumpton - Associate editor - 24-21 Notre Dame
Pigskin Prophet - 27-24 Notre Dame
Ryan Kantor - Contributing Writer - 28-14 Notre Dame
Ariana Pensy - TigerNet Intern - 31-24 Notre Dame
Merrell Mann - Photographer - 24-21 Clemson

PREDICTION TRACKER

Game	Actual	David Hood	Plyler	Nikki Hood	Rink	Crumpton	Prophet	Kantor	Pensy	Mann
Duke	28-7 DU	38-20 CU	31-17 CU	45-17 CU	31-16 CU	34-20 CU	37-17 CU	41-17 CU	35-10 CU	35-13 CU	-
CSU	66-17 CU	56-3 CU	56-0 CU	42-10 CU	52-3 CU	45-6 CU	60-13 CU	41-10 CU	21-14 CU	45-3 CU	-
FAU	48-14 CU	38-10 CU	49-14 CU	49-17 CU	42-17 CU	42-10 CU	44-3 CU	41-10 CU	45-14 CU	42-14 CU	-
FSU	31-24 FSU OT	30-24 FSU	31-30 CU	28-20 FSU	30-28 FSU	28-27 CU	30-27 CU	31-28 FSU	37-34 FSU	29-28 CU	-
SU	31-14 CU	30-20 CU	34-17 CU	35-17 CU	28-23 CU	31-21 CU	34-23 CU	28-17 CU	35-31 CU	28-24 CU	-
WF	17-12 CU	37-13 CU	47-17 CU	38-10 CU	38-16 CU	42-13 CU	45-9 CU	35-10 CU	35-14 CU	38-17 CU	-
MIA	28-20 MIA 2OT	31-20 CU	31-21 CU	30-17 CU	24-20 CU	28-20 CU	27-17 CU	24-17 CU	28-24 CU	31-17 CU	-
NCSU	24-17 NCSU	28-13 CU	31-13 CU	28-17 CU	26-16 CU	27-17 CU	38-10 CU	24-14 CU	28-24 CU	24-14 CU	-
Points	-	7	8	5	5	4	6	9	7	4

* Points: 3 pts for best correct prediction of the week (tiebreaker is Clemson score), 2 pts for picking score exactly, 1 pt for picking the correct winner