Matt Freeman, who covers Notre Dame football for the Irish Sports Daily, gives his view on Saturday’s game between No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 11 Clemson in Death Valley.
Q: This game will be won or lost based on what Notre Dame’s running game can or can’t do against Clemson’s front seven. Do you see it the same way?
Freeman: “I definitely see it that way. That is the strength of the Notre Dame offense at this stage of the season. If they can get the running game going, then it obviously helps out quarterback DeShone Kiser tremendously. You don’t want third-and-long against anybody, and especially Clemson with their speed on defense and in the secondary. If they can get C.J. Prosise going, then that is going to be very beneficial to what they want to do.”
Q: How important is it for Notre Dame to the run the football, especially when it comes to the passing game?
Freeman: “They want to keep wide receiver Will Fuller on the wide side of the field just for that reason because if you are stacking the box, it is hard to cover him without the backside safety leaving someone on the closed in of the field open, too. That is why they want to get Prosise going to free up the play action to Fuller because obviously he is the deep threat. They will keep him on the wide side of the field for much of the game in hopes to get him in one-on-one match ups for the most part.”
Q: Notre Dame likes to bring pressure with safeties and linebackers so what is its scheme going to be when it comes to attacking Clemson’s young and inexperienced offensive line?
Freeman: “We were kind of talking about that up here with our ‘football experts,’ and we are not 100 percent sure what defensive coordinator Brian Vangorder will do because typically he does like to blitz the heck out of teams. But with Deshaun Watson’s ability to create on the fly, you want to be able to keep him in the pocket for the most part. I think you will see those exotic blitzes that he comes with, but it will be interesting to see if it is more of a controlled aggression versus some of the wild stuff he has pulled out against some teams like Texas where he was sending everybody from anywhere. I still expect to see some delayed safety blitzes coming. I will be curious to see what the role for linebacker Jalen Smith is as far as if they are going to send him and try to get him to the quarterback or keep him as a spy on passing situations? It will be an interesting dynamic on that side of the ball to see how they try to control Watson’s running ability.”
Q: How concerned is Vangorder about Watson’s ability to create things and keep plays alive with his legs?
Freeman: “Last year against some spread teams, Vangorder was a little too aggressive and he got beat when the quarterback left the pocket and he had no one there to stop the quarterback or even put pressure on him once he got outside the pocket so there were wide open passes down the field so with Watson’s arm that is not an ideal situation for a secondary.”
Q: Speaking of the secondary, it seems that might be the weakness on this defense. Is that the case and can Clemson exploit this weakness with its talented wide receivers?
Freeman: “The secondary is the main concern for Notre Dame at this point in the season, especially in this game going up against a quarterback like Deshaun Watson. The bright spot, the majority of the big plays have all come on trick plays. Virginia hit them for a 56-yard double-reverse pass and UMass ran the same play last week for about 60 yards. They are not giving up too many big plays just on straight up, drop back and throw it over their head kinds of things. They have been playing very conservative for Notre Dame cornerbacks. They have tried to keep everything in front of them for the most part. I know head coach Brian Kelly said he would like to see the corners get a little more aggressive this week and the safeties stick to their keys so they don’t bite on the play action and that stuff so they don’t get beat deep, but the speed of Clemson wide receivers is a concern. The secondary has the speed and athleticism to hang with them, but it comes down to sticking with their keys and being disciplined this week.”
Q: What did North Carolina do so well to give Notre Dame’s defense such an issue last year?
Freeman: “To be honest with you, it was tempo. Vangorder did not have his substitutions in right. He could not get the plays in quick enough. I don’t think the communication area where they got beat so badly last year is going to be anywhere close to being as bad as it was against UNC’s, but Notre Dame has not faced an offense like Clemson’s this year so being able to get the plays in and getting everyone lined up is going to be a key for Notre Dame just based on the UNC game last year because Clemson is going to run tempo. Williams is a heck of a quarterback, but the main thing is they were going so fast Notre Dame could not get the plays in and get aligned.”
Q: How about special teams? What can we expect from Notre Dame’s special teams on Saturday night?
Freeman: “The punter, Tyler Newsome, averaged over 60 yards a punt last week and has tremendous hang time. He actually has been a big reason why Notre Dame was able to beat Virginia. He turned the momentum in the UMass game. Against both teams he was able to pin the ball down at the one yard line and then the defense got the stop. He can be the X-factor on Saturday night if it is a close game. The kicker, Justin Yoon, is a true freshman and he is experiencing freshman moments right now. He is kind of feeling his way through the whole college football experience. He has missed a couple of extra points, but the holder, DeShone Kiser had suspect holds which led to that. He missed a 32-yard field goal against Virginia and you could tell he was just a little bit nervous. It is not a huge concern but it is a concern with him going down to Death Valley to kick. The kickoff return has been bad this year. They are still trying to figure out a valid blocking scheme and I don’t think they have the best returner back there in Amir Carlisle. On punt returns they have true freshman named C.J. Sanders, who will probably end up as one of the more explosive players to have ever come out of Notre Dame. He returned one for a touchdown last week from about 50 yards. I would think out of all of them, Newsome will probably have the biggest impact on the game with his ability to flip field position.”