Notre Dame, Ind. — Brian Kelly called his shot and Ian Book, Avery Davis, and the Irish defense proved him prescient, as Notre Dame upended No. 1 Clemson—the program’s first regular season loss in 1,122 days—47-40 in double overtime.
The contest concluded as Kelly predicted it would.
“I'm doing a lot of things I probably shouldn't be doing, but I told our team at our walkthrough today, I said, 'Listen, I just want you to know, when we win this thing, the fans are going to storm the field, and with COVID being is as it is, we got to get off the field and get to the tunnel,” Kelly offered.
“Now I beat them all to the tunnel, so that didn't go over so good. But they reminded me that I did tell them that. My skills of prognostication was pretty good today."
Offensive MVP: Ian Book
The quarterback has clinched three games with a final possession score prior to today’s victory while wining two more with touchdown drives in the final six minutes.
Add a comeback drive with 82 seconds and double overtime triumph to his 27-3 resume as Notre Dame’s starting quarterback.
Book finished with with 310 passing yards while avoiding an interception for the sixth straight game. He punctuated his effort with a 53-yard strike down the post to Avery Davis the set up the pair’s connection two snaps later, securing overtime for the first time at the stadium since a loss to unranked Northwestern in mid-November 2014.
Book bounced back not only from a dropped fourth-down connection with Ben Skowronek on Notre Dame’s penultimate possession of regulation, but also from a fumble lost—the ball wrested from his grasp by linebacker Jake Venables as the quarterback was about to score late in the third quarter with the contest tied at 23.
"I went up to him right away and I said, 'Listen, we're gonna need you to win this game for us. This will come down on your shoulders and you're going to win the game,” said Kelly of his post-turnover conversation. “He's shown it before, that he makes big plays down the stretch to win games. I just felt like if we gave him enough time, he would do it again. He did. He did it again.”
Defensive MVP: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
His play at scrimmage—nine tackles including 2.5 for loss—was enough to earn game honors, but it was the senior Rover’s penchant for the big play that provided Notre Dame its biggest boost as Owusu-Koramoah took a bobbled pitch by Travis Etienne 23 yards for the score, providing the Irish a 23-10 lead late in the second quarter.
“At first I was just going for the big hit,” Owusu-Koramoah admitted. “It was a play I had seen many times on film. Shaun Crawford alerted me that it was coming as well. The ball popped out and I grabbed it.”
Senior linebacker Drew White was strong throughout the contest, securing or combining on a whopping eight stuffs including four solo efforts.
Special Teams MVP: Jon Doerer
The senior’s four field goal outing was nearly an afterthought, but thanks to Book and the Irish defense, Doerer will now be fondly remembered for drilling kicks from 24, 27, 45, and 44 yards —while missing short on a 57-yarder to conclude the first half.
Two of Doerer’s offerings occurred after the Irish were stopped inside Clemson’s five and 10-yard lines, respectively, another after the Irish offense stalled following a turnover inside the Tigers 25-yard line.
The Tone Setter
Kyren Williams final 22 carries produced 75 yards, and included therein were a season-high 10 Stuffs with just three first downs to offset those minimal gains and losses.
Check that, 10 Stuffs plus two overtime touchdowns—and his initial carry that gained 65 yards on an untouched romp to pay dirt to provide a 7-0 Irish lead one official snap into the contest.
As impressive as his exploits on the ground and two overtime scores was Williams yeoman effort blocking for Ian Book in the passing game.
“I don’t ever shy away from contact. Whenever I see a blitz rusher I’m going to take him on how I see or feel best,” said Williams.
The Veteran Receivers Shine
Maligned throughout the 2020 season for who they are not, Notre Dame’s starting trio of Javon McKinley, Ben Skowronek, and Avery Davis put forth their best outing as a collective Saturday—when the Irish needed them most.
McKinley secured receptions of 27, 14, and 45 yards as part of his four first-down, 102-yard evening before having the contest late with a head injury. Skowronek moved the chains on third down twice—and seemingly a third time on pass interference penalty that was overturned on the field of play.
Davis finished with 78 yards, his aforementioned 53-yard post and subsequent score from five yards out the highlights of an evening that included another near touchdown ripped from his grasp in the fourth quarter.
“Resilience. Take your losses as lessons,” said Davis of the near-miss that would’ve provided the Irish a seven-point fourth quarter lead. Don’t let a bad play ruin your day. I knew I let an opportunity slip but the game wasn't over.
The Record-Setter
All-world running back Travis Etienne was held in check by defensive coordinator Clark Lea’s stingy Irish defense, managing just 28 yards on 18 carries and another 57 through the air on eight receptions
In his stead? Freshman quarterback DJ Uiagalelei WENT OFF, passing for 439 yards—the most by an opposing quarterback in Notre Dame football history.
In his second career start, no less.
"We put a lot of emphasis on Etienne not wrecking in the game,” Kelly admitted. “DJ is a special player. Trevor Lawrence is a special player too. I'd like to have Dabo's problems with those two guys. He's (Uiagalelei) outstanding. His ability to throw the football today was pretty special.
“I think if we played them again, we would have to do some things a little bit differently because he is so explosive as a quarterback."
The Dead Zone Reborn, Finally
Notre Dame’s first 59 minutes included two field goals rather than touchdowns in two trips inside the Clemson 2- and 10-yard line, with both three-pointers the result of separate mistakes by freshman tight end Michael Mayer—one mental (a false start on 3rd-and-1) the second physical—a dropped pass near the goal line on a rolling dime thrown by Ian Book.
Book contributed to the near-futility with his aforementioned fumble and resulting touchback.
Among that trio of drives were 30 snaps, 190 yards…and six points.
In the offense’s final red zone appearance in regulation and two ensuing in overtime all resulted in touchdowns, turning a 33-26 deficit into a 47-40 double overtime triumph.
He Said It…
“It’s so amazing. I know from playing high school (quarterback) just a smidge of the hate and criticism the quarterback position gets. This is a game that's going to live on forever. Super proud of him and super proud of this team.” — Avery Davis on Ian Book
He Said It, Two…
“I know you guys want to talk about players, and what this means to the program, and I'm not really interested in all that stuff, but I'll be more than willing to answer all those questions. As a coach, you commit your vocation to this because you love seeing your players overcome what amounts to be sometimes difficult odds. That was fun to watch those guys.” — Brian Kelly in his opening address.
Saturday’s Irish Superlatives
- Passing: Ian Book 22-39, 310 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
- Rushing: Kyren Williams 23-140-3 TD, three additional first downs…Ian Book, 14 rushes, 64 yards, 4 first downs
- Receiving Yards: Javon McKinley 5 receptions (four first downs) 102 yards…Michael Mayer 5 receptions 67 yards, three first downs…Avery Davis 4 receptions, 78 yards, 1 TD
- Tackles: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah 9, Drew White 9, Kyle Hamilton 8
- Tackles-For-Loss: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah 2.5, Daelin Hayes 2, Drew White, Kyle Hamilton, Shayne Simon, Nick McCloud, Kurt Hinish with one apiece
- Stuffs: Drew White five solos plus three assisted…Kurt Hinish two solo with three assisted,…Owusu-Koramoah 2.5, Shayne Simon one solo and two assists, Daelin Hayes 2 solos
- Interceptions: None
- Forced Fumbles: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah 2
- Fumbles Recovered: Owusu-Koramoah (touchdown) and Nick McCloud
- Third Down Wins: Simon 2, White 2, Crawford 2
- Pass Breakups: Simon 2, White 1, Crawford 1
- Official QB Hurries: Hinish, Jayson Ademilola, Bo Bauer, Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa
- Field Goals: Jonathan Doerer 24, 27, 45, 44, missed 57
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