My first reaction to tonight’s win?
“We’ve got ourselves a (blankity blank) head football coach.”
Notre Dame didn’t just beat #4 Clemson Saturday, 35-14. They pushed the Tigers around. They did the only things they could do to win when Clemson knew exactly what those things were, and they did them spectacularly well.
That’s special.
The win signals what hopefully is coming: Notre Dame’s got a coach that not only knows what he’s doing, but knows he knows what he’s doing. Bring a chunk of the phalanx of recruits that were on hand into this group and…Who knows what could happen?
Ben Effing Morrison
There have been flashes of great stuff from the freshman cornerback from Arizona this season. Tonight was his announcement to the college football world that Notre Dame unearthed a gem.
The Clemson Tigers clearly planned to target Morrison from the start, and Morrison was having none of it. He made the tackles and he made the picks – two of them, one that resulted in DJ Uiagelelei’s temporary benching, and the other of them returned for a backbreaking touchdown. He blanketed Clemson receivers all night.
Brian Effing Mason
Double the man’s salary tomorrow. I said it last week: Mason has utterly transformed the special teams unit from an afterthought to a weapon. Everyone in the world knew ND was gonna try to block Clemson’s punts and yet the Irish got to one early, giving them a quick 7-0 lead for the second week in a row without needing the offense. I’m so thrilled with what he’s done with the punt block unit that I don’t even care that Blake Grupe has gone cold as a field goal kicker.
Harry Effing Hiestand
It would take too long to give you a headline for all five linemen, so here you are. Just as in 2017, Hiestand’s unit got off to a slow start (boy howdy, did it) but just as in 2017, they’ve come together to form a formidable position group. Basically playing without a passing game, the Irish ran it down Clemson’s throat the entire game. 263 yards! By the end of the game, the Tigers were crying uncle as Audric Estime and Logan Diggs shredded them to pieces. Both got into triple digits.
Joe Alt, Jarrett Patterson, Zeke Correll, Josh Lugg, Blake Fisher. Remember the names. These Irish will make sure you do.
Most of all, Marcus Effing Freeman
When Notre Dame elevated Freeman, all us fans knew there could be growing pains. We didn’t know how bad they would be early, but we knew they could happen. We didn’t bank on injury apocalypses at almost every one of ND’s thinnest position groups, we didn’t bank on Marshall or Stanford, and we didn’t bank on questioning everything a couple games into the season.
But maybe that’s why this one feels extra sweet. Freeman faced off with one of the handful of most accomplished coaches of the century tonight and straight up kicked his ass.
Dabo: “this was an ass kicking, period. Just flat out got our tails handed to us.”
— Richard🇬🇾Johnson (@RJ_Writes) November 6, 2022
The thousands that stormed onto Notre Dame Stadium’s field certainly felt something special starting, and maybe Freeman did too, when he yelled his guttural “LET’S GO!” to cap his postgame interview.
The questions aren’t gone. Notre Dame still doesn’t have a functional passing game. Time will tell if there was a little more of Clemson’s complete lack of trust in their quarterbacks than we want to admit in this performance. The pass interference penalties, at least the ones that were actual infractions and not made up in some halfhearted effort to help the ACC’s bell cow, need to be cleaned up.
But this team is something now. You can talk about winning out without sounding insane. You can dream of, somehow, keeping the 10-win streak alive if everything falls into place. You can dream of landing a big fish in the grad transfer market at QB in the offseason and it being the piece needed to make this team an honest to God contender in 2023.
They’re big dreams, but let’s dream them. Notre Dame’s given us all the right to do so.
speechless
that was awesome
loudest ND home game i can ever remember (which starts in 2007 so like not much competition)
what a fucking game guys : D
Awesome win. Been waiting all year for them to put together a complete game and what a time to do it. Kicked their ass from beginning to end. And did it without any passing threat and minimal run threat from qb.
No idea if they’ll win out but I do know they are gonna punch usc in the mouth, and keep punching them.
Really happy for freeman and the team for sticking this out, doubling down and keep getting better
“No idea if they’ll win out but I do know they are gonna punch usc in the mouth, and keep punching them.” …line of the week….maybe the year.
I’m so happy, not only for the (incredible, amazing) win, but that my brother and I got to be there for a field storming. I’m tired and sore but ecstatic
It’s a shame Marshall and Stanford happened, this team should be 7-1 right now. That aside, what a glorious win tonight. Beating an 8-0 #4 Clemson team (even if they’re maybe not that good) is quite the statement for Freeman. Hopefully this picks up forward momentum for the whole program. Other than Oklahoma 2012 and Trevor-less Clemson (which still took OT) did Kelly ever have a win this impressive? It’s at least debatable.
Also scratch DJ U off any kind of transfer candidates wish list, IMO. Crazy how great he was in the 2020 game and now has just not built off it at all and has regressed from there. Even for 5-stars sometimes it doesn’t always work..
Debatable opinion, but I don’t think this one happens without losses to Stanford and Marshall. Not sure what Tommy Reese and Marcus Freeman learned, but those two games forced them to do a lot of reevaluation IMO. And this offensive line is just looking so different. Think they had a necessary learning curve also.
Well going by wins against top 5 Clemson teams, Marcus Freeman is already at Brian Kelly year 10 levels, so let’s hope another SEC team doesn’t try to poach him.
Andy,
Big thanks for a heartfelt, sincere, and very well stated instant reaction. I read it about 5 this morning, waited up for it actually. Concur with all.
For Tigers_039, yes! A damn loud game. This is super huge, as you all know it’s my hobby horse. Since the video board we’ve seen that our crowd can get noisy for the very big ones, but this synergy last night was super — especially the south end zone. But I’ll give full marks to the students.
Themann1086, I am very jealous. My last field storming was a ways back, always love them. I did do 44 pushups in the stands for UNLV, but… not the same!!
And CardinalBB, yes. Punch the Trojans hard. OK first things first, but, yes!!
I do want to give Rees credit for sticking with what worked. Too many OCs start trying to get cute but he really pulled the old “run it til they stop it” card, especially in the 4th, and it was a thing of beauty. Huge credit to Hiestand and the work he’s done with this line.
Morrison’s pick was such a huge ball don’t lie moment after those two BS penalties
oh and the backbreaking lob to Mayer for the TD was perfect
Last night was like living in a dream. 10/10, audiences rave, encore.
This is so awesome for coach freeman and the squad. From a validation standpoint, hes said the right stuff for months, done the right stuff, been all the changes I wanted to see from the head coach, yet the on field results were murky and frustrating. But this entire game serves as an external validation to him and who he is. I love it, I’m tickled, for once we’re the team exposing the “overrated” foe, WERE the ones executing the play when everyone knows it’s coming, WERE the ones getting the most out of our best. This is a team of maulers, purpose built by their HC, our HC, and they can grind the rest of the schedule into dust. I asked my dad after the game “is this what it was like watching the irish when Lou coached?” And he said without hesitation “yes”. I love it, go irish!!!!