It is Game Day in South Bend as the Tigers look to continue the road to Miami and another national championship. No. 1 Clemson visits No. 4 Notre Dame in the a national showcase game.
With Trevor Lawrence out due to COVID-19 D.J. Uiagalelei will get his first road start. Tyler Davis, Mike Jones and Jamie Skalski are also out again for the Tigers.
Location: Notre Dame Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30 P.M.
Television: NBC
Announcers: Mike Tirico, Tony Dungy, Kathryn Tappen
2020 Record: Clemson 7-0, Notre Dame 6-0
ACC Record: Clemson 6-0, Notre Dame 5-0
Series History: Clemson leads series 3-1
Last Meeting: Clemson won 30-3 on December 29, 2018
CLEMSON AND NOTRE DAME SET FOR HIGHEST-RANKED MATCHUP IN ACC HISTORY
Top-ranked Clemson will seek its highest-ranked road win in school history on Saturday, Nov. 7, when the No. 1 Tigers face the No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish on NBC.
Kickoff at Notre Dame Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
The game will be played 39 years to the date following the first time two ACC teams faced one another while ranked in the AP Top 10. That first intra-conference Top 10 matchup in ACC annals took place on Nov. 7, 1981,
when No. 2 Clemson traveled to Chapel Hill to face No. 8 North Carolina. Clemson defensive end Jeff Bryant jumped on a lateral that many assumed to be an incomplete pass, clinching a 10-8 Clemson victory that led the Greenville News to proclaim, “Clemson is 10-8cious.”
Now, in Notre Dame’s lone year of ACC football membership, the Tigers and Irish will be able to lay claim to having participated in the highest-ranked matchup of two ACC squads in conference history when Notre Dame
faces top-ranked Clemson this Saturday. Previously, the highest combined ranking for a game between two ACC teams was eight, set five times including most recently on Oct. 10 in No. 1 Clemson’s win against No. 7 Miami (Fla).
WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK
– Clemson attempting to open a season 8-0 for the ninth time in school history, joining the 1948, 1981, 2000, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 campaigns.
– Clemson attempting to win a seventh ACC regular season game for a sixth-straight season, adding to the longest streak in school history. It would give Clemson at least seven regular season conference wins in eight of the last nine seasons, dating to 2012.
– No. 1 Clemson and No. 4 Notre Dame playing the highest-ranked matchup of two ACC teams in conference history with a combined ranking of five. The previous highest combined ranking for a game between two ACC teams was eight, set five times including in No. 1 Clemson’s win against No. 7 Miami (Fla) earlier this year.
– Clemson and Notre Dame playing only the fourth November game between two undefeated ACC teams in conference history, joining the 1990 Georgia Tech/Virginia game, the 1997 Florida State/North Carolina game and the 2013 Miami/Florida State game.
– Clemson playing its first regular season game in school history in which both teams enter with an undefeated record and at least six wins. Clemson is 4-1 all-time in games between undefeated teams with at least six wins,
but all five previous contests came in postseason play.
– Clemson facing a second AP Top 10 opponent this season, joining the team’s 42-17 win against No. 7 Miami on Oct. 10. The 2020 season will represent Clemson’s first time facing multiple Top 10 opponents in a single regular season since 2013, when Clemson faced No. 5 Georgia, No. 5 Florida State and No. 10 South Carolina. Prior to facing Miami this year, Clemson’s eight previous matchups against AP Top 10 teams came in either an ACC Championship Game, bowl game or College Football Playoff National
Championship Game.
BATTLE OF UNDEFEATEDS
Saturday’s game will be the first regular season game in Clemson history between two undefeated teams with at least six wins to their credit.
Clemson has faced undefeated teams of 6-0 or better 18 times in school history, including a 4-1 record in those games under Dabo Swinney. All five of those contests have come in the College Football Playoff, including Clemson’s wins against 14-0 Alabama in the 2016 postseason, 12-0
Notre Dame and 14-0 Alabama in the 2018 postseason and 13-0 Ohio State in last year’s Fiesta Bowl.
The first time Clemson played a game in which both teams were undefeated with at least six wins came in the 1950 season finale, in which 8-0-1 Clemson faced a 9-0-1 Miami squad on New Year’s Day in the 1951
Orange Bowl. Clemson earned a 15-14 win in that game when Sterling Smith recorded a game-winning safety in the fourth quarter.
COMIN’ TO YOUR CITY
ESPN will broadcast College GameDay from Notre Dame on Saturday in advance of Clemson’s prime-time contest against the Fighting Irish.
The game will mark Clemson’s 26th appearance in ESPN College GameDay’s featured game and its third of the season. The Tigers enter the contest with a 17-8 record in the presence of College GameDay, including
victories in 13 of their last 14 appearances. Prior to Clemson’s loss in the College Football Playoff National Championship, Clemson had won 11 straight games when featured on College GameDay, which had been
the nation’s longest streak.
SAME TEAM, DIFFERENT NETWORK
Clemson will be making a rare appearance on NBC this week, representing Clemson’s first game to air outside the ESPN/ABC family of networks since the 2018 season opener vs. Furman, which was produced by Raycom
Sports for distribution via regional networks.
Clemson is 3-3 all-time on NBC. Clemson made its NBC debut in 1958, earning a 13-6 win against NC State to win the program’s second ACC title in three years.
Clemson played on the network again at the end of that season in the Sugar Bowl against LSU on New Year’s Day in 1959. Clemson wore navy blue jerseys with wide numerals on the front and back as well as orange helmets
with a white stripe to provide a contrasting color for the game’s national television audience.
Clemson’s next NBC broadcast came on the game’s biggest stage. The Tigers won the program’s first national championship in 1981 on NBC, as announcers Don Criqui, John Brodie and Bob Trumpy called Clemson’s
22-15 Orange Bowl win against Nebraska.
Clemson has played on NBC three times since 1990, including a Hall of Fame Bowl win against Illinois in 1990, and Gator Bowl appearances against Syracuse and Virginia Tech in 1995 and 2000, respectively.
TCI Predictions
Robert – Clemson 31, Notre Dame 24
Will – Clemson 24, Notre Dame 20
Gavin – Clemson 27, Notre Dame 21
Another championship season is underway for the Tigers. It’s time to gear up for another year of Clemson football.
Please stay safe and get your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!
