Notre Dame vs Clemson Full Game Replay 12/29/2018 Cotton Bowl - CFP Semifinal
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Notre Dame vs Clemson Full Game Replay 2018 Cotton Bowl - CFP Semifinal NCAA College Football
Date: December 29, 2018
Season: 2018
Stadium: AT&T Stadium
Location: Arlington, Texas
Referee: Matt Austin (SEC)
Attendance: 72,183
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Clemson Tigers What to Watch:
The Cotton Bowl and Notre Dame are two stops on Clemson's path to a rematch with Alabama.
The Fighting Irish are making their first trip in the College Football Playoff since the system changed to a four-team playoff, while the second-seeded Tigers are participating for the fourth straight year.
Notre Dame plays a lot of ACC opponents, but that's not the only similarity between the Tigers' and Fighting Irish's seasons.
Along with having powerful running games and defenses that don't give up many points, both teams underwent quarterback changes, with Ian Book replacing Brandon Wimbush for Notre Dame and Trevor Lawrence replacing Kelly Bryant at Clemson.
According to OddsShark, Clemson started as a 10.5-point favorite, but even though many people underestimate the Fighting Irish's abilities, the Cotton Bowl will be a close game.
Late in the season, Clemson demonstrated its supremacy and provided the answer to the issue of who is the second-best team behind Alabama.
Clemson outscored their opponents 400-94 after defeating Syracuse by four points to end September. The team's 42-10 ACC Championship victory over Pittsburgh was the last annihilation of an ACC opponent.
The one criticism of Clemson, though, is that it hasn't been put to the test in a close game since the road trip to Texas A&M in Week 2.
Due to its dominance, Clemson hasn't had to contend with close games, but it's likely that it will encounter some kind of on-field hardship in the Cotton Bowl or the National Championship.
Bryant took most of the snaps in their season-closest victory in College Station, Texas, and Lawrence helped throw a touchdown pass to Tee Higgins in the second quarter.
Lawrence will have to make a few crucial throws in long-yardage scenarios against the third-ranked Fighting Irish, so how he responds to pressure will be crucial for the Tigers.
Because running back Travis Etienne will relieve pressure on his rookie quarterback, Lawrence won't have to make a throw in every desperate situation.
Notre Dame's defense, which is ranked ninth in scoring defense at 17.3 points per game, could slow down Clemson's offensive.
We might see a focus on running the ball out of the Tigers to target a defense that allows 133.5 rushing yards per game, as the Fighting Irish allow less than 200 passing yards per game.
Clemson's tenacious front four may make it difficult for Notre Dame's offense to move the ball, but the defense can keep it in the game for four quarters.
Austin Bryant, Christian Wilkins, Dexter Lawrence, and Clelin Ferrell might all be selected in the first round of the NFL draft in April, but they will be competing against a program that consistently produces offensive linemen of professional caliber.
In the month leading up to the Cotton Bowl, Clemson must figure out how to stop rushing back Dexter Williams, who is just 59 yards shy from being one of the FBS's 51 1,000-yard rushers.
The Fighting Irish rely on Book to select among his extensive list of targets, which includes Miles Boykin and Chase Claypool, in order to weaken the Clemson defense if Williams is unable to get going.
Boykin and Claypool have been reliable throughout the season, but Notre Dame's wide receivers don't have the same kind of national exposure as other players in their position.
With the exception of one game in which Claypool hauled in a single pass against Florida State, Boykin and Claypool have caught three or more passes each since the victory over Stanford at the end of September.
With Clemson devoting more people to stop the pass, Book will offer his team an opportunity to develop a balanced attack if he can consistently spread the ball about at AT&T Stadium on December 29.
Williams has enough of an impact to disrupt Clemson's defensive line, and Book will throw for 250–300 yards.
But with Lawrence, Etienne, and Higgins, Clemson has the offensive capacity to counter Notre Dame, and the Tigers will take a slight lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
The Tigers defense will be threatened by the Fighting Irish's final drive down the field, but Dabo Swinney's team will make some clutch plays to secure a position in the National Championship on January 7 at Levi's Stadium.
