ND FOOTBALL: Notre Dame shocks No. 4 Clemson

Nov. 6—SOUTH BEND — On a college football Saturday that featured multiple jaw-dropping results, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish added to the bizarre happenings against No. 4 Clemson in primetime at Notre Dame Stadium.

The Irish outplayed the undefeated Tigers in all three phases of the game Saturday night, capping off a dominating 35-14 win with a sea of green and gold storming the field at the conclusion of Marcus Freeman's biggest victory as head coach.

"Man, I wish I could get up here and just say we're happy with the win, because this is a special one," Freeman said. "It's not every day you get the opportunity to play in this place, jam packed with those fans and have an opportunity to beat a top five team in the country. It's really special.

"I'm extremely pleased with way our guys played. Offense, defense, special teams, really all three phases played well. We're going to enjoy this one. We're going to enjoy it (Saturday), (Sunday), and then at some point (Sunday), we'll get back to work and get ready for Navy."

The tone was set pretty early Saturday night behind a big-time play on special teams from Notre Dame (6-3).

Following a three-and-out forced by the Irish defense, Clemson had the punt team on to kick it away on 4th and 14 from their own 21-yard line.

Instead of a likely impressive punt with the wind to his back, Clemson punter Aidan Swanson's attempt would be blocked by Notre Dame defensive end Jordan Botelho.

The ball ricocheted up in the air and into the waiting arms of Notre Dame linebacker Prince Collie. From there, Collie would race 17 yards into the end zone to hand the Irish a 7-0 lead with 9:08 to play in the first quarter.

The block was Notre Dame's sixth of the season, which now leads the country.

"That group did it again," said Freeman of the special teams unit. "Kudos to (Notre Dame special teams coordinator Brian) Mason, and to his hard work and dedication. I challenged that group (Friday). Everybody in the country knows we're coming after the punt, but when you find ways to execute and play with relentless effort, it doesn't matter if a team knows you're coming or not. ... I'm just so happy for that group."

Notre Dame's offense sputtered for a lot of the first half, especially in the passing game with quarterback Drew Pyne being at just 4-of-10 passing for 41 yards and no touchdowns at the break.

However, inspired play from the Irish defense — 71 total yards and four first downs allowed through the first two quarters — and a good rushing attack from the Irish offense helped Notre Dame bring a 14-0 advantage into the locker room.

The Irish rushed for 122 yards in the first half, picking up 67 of them on the team's best offensive drive of the game up until that point late in the second quarter.

Notre Dame drove 78 yards in 11 plays, while chewing almost six minutes off the clock.

The Irish would score on a 1st-and-goal from the Clemson five, with a five-yard scamper to the end zone by Pyne with 38 seconds until halftime.

In the second half, the expectation was to see the fourth-ranked team in the country pick itself up off the artificial turf and mount a comeback.

Instead, the Tigers continued to struggle, while the Irish reaped the benefits.

Following a scoreless third quarter, both teams combined to put 35 up on the board before the end of the contest.

Following the first-career interception by Notre Dame defensive back Ben Morrison off of Clemson backup quarterback Cade Klubnik with less than a minute remaining in the third, the Irish offense capitalized with a short field early in the fourth.

Notre Dame traveled 15 yards in three plays before running back Audric Estime punched it in from two yards out with 14:37 remaining to hand his team a dominating 21-0 lead on the Tigers.

For the game, the Irish commanded the line of scrimmage, running recklessly with a trio of more-than-capable running backs.

Notre Dame racked up 263 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 47 carries against a strong and physical Tigers defensive front.

Both Logan Diggs (114 rushing yards on 17 carries) and Estime (104 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries) took full advantage on a night where the Irish offensive line held control of the line of scrimmage.

"I don't want to say we physically dominated them, but we knew going into it that we had to run the ball," Freeman said. "You look at every game that we've won, and I think we rushed the ball 40-plus times. That's been our backbone. We knew this defensive line was special, but we couldn't shy away from our strength. It was a challenge to our offensive line, to our quarterback and to our running backs.

"But I think at some point during the game, (the offensive line)'s confidence rose and they said that they could block anybody in the country. They showed they could do that (Saturday)."

While special teams was scoring on blocked punts and the offense was running it down the throats of Clemson, the defense got into the scoring act with a touchdown of its own courtesy of Morrison.

On a 2nd-and-10 from the Notre Dame 19-yard line, Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei looked for wide receiver Joseph Ngata down the right sideline.

Instead of Ngata, Uiagalelei found Morrison at the ND 4. From there, the freshman defensive back ran his second INT of the game back 96 yards to put the Irish ahead 28-0 with 12:58 to go.

"That one was kind of cool because I had been struggling with that possession all year long," Morrison said. "I had been having problems keeping my eyes back on the back shoulder fade. (Saturday), I was just focused on the details. On that play, I could've just picked up a PBU, but I trusted in my abilities, flipped my head around, and there the ball was."

For the game, Morrison had seven tackles, two interceptions and a pass breakup.

"It means everything," said Morrison of his performance. "I pray for moments like this, so for it to actually come full circle, it's a really cool feeling."

The Tigers managed to find the end zone a couple of times later in the fourth, but by then, it didn't matter. The Irish had already secured their strongest win of the 2022 season to this point.

"It's been a little bit of an up-and-down season to say the least," said Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer, who's touchdown reception late in the game gave him the Notre Dame career record for touchdowns by a tight end at 16. "We've been working hard, we've kept our head down, and we've done what we needed to do. And I'm happy that the outcome was what it was."

Evan Lepak can be reached at evan.lepak@goshennews.com or 574-533-2151, ext. 240326. Follow him on Twitter @EvanMPLepak.