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Payback in progress: Clemson is destroying Notre Dame at halftime of ACC Championship

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Notre Dame entered Saturday’s game at No. 2 on the College Football Playoff Rankings and was considered a lock to make the final four. After one half against an angry Clemson team, that position may be changing.

Dabo Swinney’s Tigers lost to the Fighting Irish back in November, but that game had a number of significant absences. Among them was starting QB Trevor Lawrence and a handful of defensive players that are key contributors.

On Saturday, a much closer to full strength Clemson squad is taking it to the Irish, pouring on 24 first-half points while shutting down Ian Book and Notre Dame’s offense. The final blow of the half came as Travis Etienne ripped off a 44-yard touchdown with under a minute to go:

At the break, Trevor Lawrence has 241 total yards and two touchdowns while Etienne has 98 yards rushing. On the other side of the ball, Notre Dame has just 38 yards rushing and is averaging 2.0 YPC.

If Clemson continues the blowout in dominant fashion, will Notre Dame still be a lock to make the CFP? Or could the Committee drop the Irish out of the top four entirely?

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.