On Saturday evening #4 Notre Dame was given an opportunity they had not received since playing USC in 2005, a chance to play the number one team in college football at home. During Brian Kelly’s tenure as head coach, Notre Dame has been thought of as having a bad reputation in big prime time games. Since Kelly took over as head coach, Notre Dame had been 0-4 against top-five opponents. On Saturday evening, Notre Dame had a chance to erase the previous narratives about them in big games by beating a Clemson team, who had won 36 regular-season games in a row and two national championships in the last five years. Notre Dame won on Saturday 47-40 in double overtime and was able to change the narrative about their play in big games. The question is how was Notre Dame able to defeat number one and how is this team different than previous Notre Dame teams who did not find success in these types of games?

On Saturday night, the stage was set for a top-five matchup in South Bend.  Notre Dame was ready to take on a Clemson team more vulnerable than ever with their backup quarterback, D.J. Uiagalelei, playing for Trevor Lawrence who tested positive for the coronavirus. Notre Dame came out of the gates strong with a 65-yard touchdown run by Kyren Williams on the third play from scrimmage. Notre Dame played well for the rest of the first quarter and entered the second quarter with a 10-7 lead. The Irish kept their foot on the gas and had many big plays including a fumble recovery for a touchdown by Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah in the second quarter.   Other than that play it was a pretty even quarter with both teams making two field goals.  Heading into half time Notre Dame was up 23-13. 

In the second half, the battle of top five teams continued and it started to live up to the hype. In the third quarter, Notre Dame was not able to extend their lead. Clemson then took control of the game by winning the quarter 10-0, which was capped off by an Ian Book fumble in the red zone. It was a tie game, 23-23, heading into the 4th quarter. Clemson played well in the 4th and had a 33-26 lead with under 2 minutes left. The drive started on the 9-yard line and Notre Dame had to go 91 yards to tie the game and send it to overtime. During the drive, Ian Book was able to connect with Avery Davis on a big pass play. After the big play, Ian Book was able to connect with Avery Davis again on a four-yard touchdown pass. In the first overtime, Clemson struck first and did so fast. On a two-play drive, Clemson scored on a D.J. Uiagalelei touchdown. Notre Dame was able to bounce back however after a big catch from Michael Mayer for a first down. After the catch, Kyren Williams was able to run in for a short touchdown. When Notre Dame got the ball back they did much of the same. Their second drive however was led by Ian Books after he had a ten-yard run and then a first down pass that we’re able to set up another Kyren Williams touchdown. Clemson then got the ball back knowing that they had to score to win the game. Clemson wasn’t able to capitalize though. They gave up two sacks on a drive where they were not able to pick up the first down. Notre Dame wins 47-40.

Notre Dame has not been terrible over the last few years, they were 29-3 in the last 32 games heading into Clemson, they just have struggled in big games. Not being able to win these big games have kept Notre Dame from being in the “elite” category, but how come Notre Dame was able to win the big game this time? When asked about the difference between this football team and the 2012 football (a team who lost 42-14 to Alabama in the BCS national championship) Kelly said, “This team is a more physical, faster football team across the board.” I tend to agree with this statement because Notre Dame has been able to recruit guys who have elite speed and are legitimate NFL players, guys like Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Kyle Hamilton, Liam Eichenberg, Michael Mayer, Kyren Williams, and Aaron Banks are some of those great players and they all seem locks to be NFL draft picks. With the legitimate professional talent on this team, Notre Dame was able to win a shoutout, even though experts said they did not have an explosive offense. Notre Dame stopped Travis Etienne, who is too many the nation’s top running back. Notre Dame ran for over 200 yards with the nation’s best offensive line according to Pro Football Focus. In my opinion, the difference between this Notre Dame team in previous ones is the speed they have, the experience, and the amount of talented depth they have on the roster.