Even with struggles, Notre Dame can still be the team to upset Clemson

Do not be shocked if Notre Dame pulls off the home upset of Clemson on Saturday night.

Even though they have had struggles of their own so far this season, keep an eye on unranked Notre Dame to potentially stun Clemson at home on Saturday night.

The Tigers are undefeated at 8-0 and the No. 4 team in the nation after the initial College Football Playoff rankings. Although they are one of six undefeated teams heading into Week 10, Clemson has nearly succumbed to defeat on multiple occasions in ACC play. While it may take a complete game out of the Fighting Irish, here is why the Golden Domers can hand Clemson its first loss.

There are more things in Notre Dame’s favor here than most people probably even realize.

Notre Dame has the potential to play ultimate spoiler vs. visiting Clemson

After dropping their first two games of the season, and the first three under head coach Marcus Freeman dating back to the Fiesta Bowl defeat at the hands of Oklahoma State, the Irish have gone 5-1. Although their third loss on the year to Stanford was certainly head-scratching, the Irish have wins over North Carolina, BYU and Syracuse, a team that Clemson struggled mightily with…

Clemson may be coming off a bye, but the Tigers only barely survived the visiting Orange in Death Valley two weeks ago. Even more impressive, the Irish crushed the Orange in Syracuse to hand them their second loss on the season. This fifth win on the year pretty much guarantees that Notre Dame will go bowling, as the Irish only need to win one more game out of their next four.

If we take a real honest look at Clemson, we will see that four of their six ACC wins are by 10 points or less. Even more interesting, those narrow victories all came against Atlantic Division rivals who have played well this year: at Wake Forest by six in overtime, home vs. North Carolina State by 10, at Florida State by six and home vs. Syracuse by six again. They might get picked off.

Although the Tigers can run the football effectively with Will Shipley, the passing game has been inconsistent at best with D.J. Uiagalelei at quarterback. Keep in mind that true freshman five-star Cade Klubnik came in to relieve a struggling Uiagalelei last week. One could easily argue that is what tipped the scales in Clemson’s favor over the Orange. The game changed quickly after that.

So why does Notre Dame have a shot here? Well, it is a night game at home for the Irish who seem to have found their footing under Freeman in year one at the helm. If you remember, it was the Golden Domers who stunned Clemson in South Bend during the 2020 COVID season. That huge home win is what helped propel Notre Dame into the College Football Playoff that season.

Overall, what we have here is a much-improved Notre Dame team hosting a Clemson team that has seemingly gotten to 8-0 by the skin of its teeth, albeit in a very strong ACC this season. A few bad decisions at quarterback could get the home crowd into it and the Irish may not look back. Moreover, even if Clemson beats Notre Dame, the Tigers could fall to Louisville or South Carolina.

Clemson may improve to 9-0, but the Irish have a real shot at pulling off the upset on Saturday.

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