Notre Dame Football: Hot and Cold Takes for Clemson... ROUND 2 for ACC Championship

HERE WE GO

Hello everyone. What a wild ride it has been this year. First off, I appreciate all of you who participate in this every week. I don’t often get a chance to say thank you, but thank you! This column has been a bright spot during these strange times. Your enthusiasm, creativity, and support week in and week out has meant the world to me, SO THANK YOU. Ok enough of that mushy stuff let’s get down the HOT AND COLD TAKES for the ACC Championship matchup between the Clemson Tigers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

P.S. Can we take a second to laugh at the fact that ND made the ACC Championships in their only year in the ACC? LOL at the crowd who have been ragging on ND to join a Conference......

Cold Take

Kyle Hamilton. Pick. Finally.

Photo by Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

We’ve been waiting folks. Kyle Hamilton has had a very very good year. His stats haven’t popped off the charts, but anyone who watches knows how dominant of a player he has been. He has elite range against the pass and the run, while also being a dominant tackler. Howevvvvver, he has not come up with a pick this year (though he was robbed vs. Phil Jurkovec). I will stand by this fact though....big time players, make big time plays, in big time games (shoutout Santana Moss). Hamilton enters this game as probably the top safety in college football, against a generational quarterback in Trevor Lawrence. This was a matchup we were robbed of last time, and it should be a fun one on Saturday. Look for Hamilton to break on a crossing route in a big moment for a pick. I think for the Irish to win this game, there needs to be a big turnover and I think it will fall on our sweet prince, Kyle.

Hot Take

Joe Wilkins scores 2 touchdowns

Call me Crazy. Truth be told I struggled with this Hot Take. For some reason, Joe Wilkins name just kept popping into my head. The more I thought about it, the more I like Joe Wilkins in this game. I think he is one of the best route runners on the team, which showed against Duke and more recently against Syracuse. Clemson will also put an emphasis on stopping Javon McKinley, Ben Skowronek, and Michael Mayer in the pass game. That should leave Ian Book to look to his second or third option, and I strongly believe Wilkins steps up in a big moment. I don’t think he has tons of catches or yards, but takes advantage of an opportunity and snags a couple BIG catches in this one. Joe Wilkins makes plays, and we will see him make a couple, hell, they may be his only two catches/targets in the game.

Your Takes: Please leave your takes below (hot, cold medium-any temp). I will feature the Top Takes next week. GO IRISH!