How’d We Do Last Week
As mentioned last week, I will feature the Most Interesting, Most Wildly Inaccurate, and Most Accurate Takes for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the previous week. Here we go!
Interesting
The first COMBO take to make it in here. Hilarious by NDFanDan and a wonderful addition by CW that made all of us laugh. That’s clean family fun ya’ll.
Wildly Inaccurate
Hand up! Ben Skowronek didn’t do much at all this game sadly. I think he will rebound this week, coming up with multiple clutch contested catches on third down.
Accurate
ncocd with another pretty accurate take here. Book finished 69%, 199 yards, 1td, 9 rushes, 46 yard. The score was 31-13. Solid takes on multiple fronts and love the specificity.
And now onto the takes between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Clemson Tigers
Cold Take
Clemson starts the game with a 3 and out.
Normally, Clark Lea starts a bit slow and conservative. I think this week is the exact opposite of that. This is going to be a big stage for rising star Freshman quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, and getting him off to a slow start would be a massive win for the Irish. Look for Lea to bring pressure, load of the box, and force Uiagalelei into errant throws. My biggest concern about this approach is letting Travis Etienne slip out of the backfield as he is clearly a go to target. In this type of game, you have to come out hot to try and get the Tigers playing from behind. I want to see a fast, loose, and aggressive defense right off the bat.
Hot Take
Ian Book throws for 3 touchdowns
This seems like a lot, and I get that. My rationale here is that I think Clemson will load up the box as soon as the Irish get close to the red zone. Ian Book and Tommy Rees know that heading into this week and will dial up a LOT of plays for this area of the field. I also think offense won’t settle for field goals as this is a game where they need touchdowns. This pressure to get into the end zone will force people to step up, and I think they rise to the challenge. Look for him to target Joe Wilkins (I think he runs the crispest routes), and his tight ends. (sneakily think Brock Wright gets a TD btw)