3 reasons why Notre Dame will upset Clemson and 1 why they won’t
By John Buhler
If Notre Dame football upsets Clemson football, here is what has to happen for the Irish.
No. 4 Notre Dame football has a snowball’s chance to upset No. 1 Clemson football on Saturday.
This is the biggest game of the 2020 college football season up to this point. Yes, this is bigger than when No. 2 Alabama hosted No. 3 Georgia a few weeks ago in Tuscaloosa. Again, there are similar implications with this game, as it could serve as a precursor for the ACC title bout over in Charlotte. Here is why the Notre Dame Fighting Irish can upset the top-seeded Clemson Tigers.
3. It is a home night game and the team is playing with momentum
It is not just Clemson who is undefeated this season. While the Golden Domers have played admittedly a soft schedule up to the point, that is not really on the Irish. They have battled the coronavirus and have navigated their mostly ACC schedule as a part of being full-time members for this year only. Notre Dame knew they had to circle this game on the calendar from the jump.
This game will be a rematch of a College Football Playoff game from two seasons ago. The Irish navigated a regular-season schedule to a perfect 12-0 before falling to the Tigers in the Cotton Bowl Classic back in 2018. While that may have been two years ago, it remains an ever-present reminder of where Brian Kelly’s team stacks up among the 10 best programs in the country.
The good news for the Irish is this game will not be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, but at home at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend. It will be under the bright lights on a November night in Northern Indiana. This may be an unfamiliar environment for Clemson, who rarely plays games in a hostile road environment because ACC football has been down as a whole recently.
You factor in Notre Dame getting off to a hot start and playing with a ton of confidence and you will have the recipe needed to concoct an all-time upset. Clemson will eventually fall to someone in ACC play. It might happen this year because we have seen the Tigers play sloppy at times. If Notre Dame plays a near perfect game under the bright lights at home, the Irish can do this.