Notre Dame spotted Clemson ten first half points with a pick six and a fumbled punt and the Fighting Irish could not recover in a 31-23 defeat. A sputtering offense could find no traction in the final 20 minutes even though the defense tightened up and gave them numerous opportunities. Punter Aidan Swanson pinned Notre Dame deep in its own territory five consecutive times in that stretch while quarterback Sam Hartman could not find time in the pocket or an open receiver.

Tailback Phil Mafah was a force for Clemson. He ran for 186 yards on 36 carries with two touchdowns. Special teams also played an important role as the Tigers dominated play and field position all day. Offensively, Notre Dame was just three of 13 on third down. Hartman had by far his worst game of the season, going 13 of 30 for 146 yards and two interceptions. Many of his throws were under duress but several others simply did not come close to being completed. Cade Klubnik was not much better for the victors but he didn’t have to win the game by himself.

The Irish took the opening kickoff and marched down the field with Audric Estime leading the way. The drive stalled in the red zone, however, and that would become a recurring theme for the visitors. Notre Dame’s 3-0 lead didn’t last long as Clemson returned a punt to the Irish 41 yard line moments later. Mafah blew past Marist Liufau on the next play on his way to a 7-3 Tiger advantage. The teams exchanged field goals to make it 10-6 Clemson before the Tigers embarked on a long march to make it 17-6 early in the second period. Klubnik hit Tyler Brown for a nine-yard touchdown.

Hartman tried to answer for the Irish, but his horrible pass was picked off by Jeremiah Trotter and returned for a touchdown. As the clock wound down toward halftime, Notre Dame could only manage another three points as red zone failures continued to mount. The Irish had a first and goal at the Tiger three yard line and could not gain an inch.

Trailing by 24-9, Notre Dame saw it’s first glimmer of hope early in the third quarter. Klubnik was picked off by Xavier Watts, who returned the ball to the two yard line. This time, Estime was able to punch it in and the deficit shrank to 24-16.

Despite the momentum shift to the Irish, the Tigers responded with a clutch scoring drive from which Notre Dame would never recover. Mafah covered the last yard and Clemson led by 31-16. Hartman answered by engineering a drive he finished with a 26-yard scramble to make it 31-23, but no one could have predicted how frustrating the next 21 minutes would be for Notre Dame.

The Irish defense finally regrouped and shut down Clemson’s attack the rest of the way, but the offense would not threaten to score again. Swanson’s punts repeatedly kept Hartman in the shadow of his own goal line, and Notre Dame could not move the ball well enough to alter the poor field position. The level of offensive futility underscored the weakness of the Irish game plan, the deficiencies at wide receiver, Hartman’s poor decision-making and lack of accuracy, and the fact that the Tigers dominated the Irish offensive line.

The red zone failures on both sides of the ball were also critical. Clemson came into this contest with a poor record of execution in this area while Notre Dame was among the nation’s best. These prior stats were meaningless today. Had Notre Dame been able to score at least a pair of touchdowns from close range instead of having to settle for three first half field goals, those eight additional points would have offset the gifts they provided to the Tigers.

Make no mistake, though. The Irish did not deserve to win this game. They looked unprepared for Clemson’s early intensity and were outplayed in all three phases. The coaches deserve much of the blame, particularly Offensive Coordinator Gerad Parker, who called an awful game, Wide Receivers Coach Chansi Stucki, and Head Coach Marcus Freeman. Notre Dame is not a place for inexperienced coaches to undergo on the job training. Unfortunately, this has been the theme in all three losses this season.

Let’s review the answers to our pregame questions:

• Can the Irish replicate last season’s success in the ground game? Estime ran well but the red zone was where everything came to a halt.
• Will Notre Dame’s defense be able to create turnovers? Two turnovers including another interception by Watts kept the game within reach. The offense and special teams gave it away three times, however, and those errors were more consequential.
• Can Hartman and the Irish receivers deliver explosive plays? Yes, the passing offense blew up in their faces.
• Which offensive line will do the best job of protecting its quarterback? Clemson’s patchwork line won that battle against the overrated Irish front by a wide margin.
• How far can Clemson ride the emotional wave driven by fan criticism? All the way to the field storming celebration.
• Can the Notre Dame special teams continue to provide a spark? [Insert another lame explosion joke here]
• Will Briningstool outperform the Irish tight ends without Evans? He was held in check with only two receptions. The Irish tight ends could manage only one.
• How long will the Big-10 honchos be able to shield Michigan from punishment? At least until after the playoffs. The Big-10 desperately wants a championship, no matter how tainted it may be.

The loss drops the Irish out of major bowl consideration and effectively places this season into the “disappointment” category. Will any changes be made? I would like to believe so but I tend to doubt it. At minimum, the team needs an upgrade at Offensive Coordinator and must continue to improve the talent level on the roster.

At quarterback, it is time to end the practice of bringing in a hired gun from the transfer portal and begin to develop the current group of young players. There may be growing pains associated with this plan, but the team and its coaching staff have more work to do to become a true contender than the next version of Sam Hartman can provide. Hartman, to his credit, took much of the blame for this loss, but that is of little consolation now that the team has arrived at the crossroads leading to 2024 and beyond.