by: Clifton Canady
Death Valley. Clemson, South Carolina. It is one of the most daunting venues in all of college football – and Clemson made sure Notre Dame felt that Saturday night. A never-say-die defense, an orange-clad crowd that rallied behind the defense time and time again in a driving rainstorm, and a gutsy stop on a two-point conversion with seven seconds to play all helped lead No. 11 Clemson to a 24-22 victory over No. 6 Notre Dame in front of 82,415 soaked fans. This victory thrusts Clemson firmly into the picture for the College Football Playoff in the 2015 football season.
If you were at the ballgame, you understand what I’m talking about when I say that there’s a monsoon going on. But that didnt stop the Clemson fans from showing up and being LOUD. Clemson’s fed off of that energy, coming up with big play after big play.
Clemson came out strong, especially on offense, and scored 2 quick touchdowns on its first 2 drives in the first quarter. Notre Dame answered back with a field goal of their own to make the score 14-3 Clemson at the end of the first quarter. After the second touchdown it was so loud and the tiger fan were in a frenzy, you could hardly hear the Tiger Rag fight song.
The second quarter was a defensive battle with neither team giving an inch. Clemson held on to their lead and went into halftime up by a score of 14-3.
The third quarter started with Clemson’s Ammon Lakip kicking off and Irish returner C.J. Sanders fumbled it around the Irish 29-yard line where C.J. Fuller recovered the fumble. Three plays later, Watson sprinted untouched up the middle for a touchdown which gave Clemson an 18-point lead at 21-3. Clemson had a chance to increase the lead, but Notre Dame’s defense stiffened as it held Clemson.
Notre Dame’s offense also started to click as it put together a scoring drive at the beginning fourth quarter. Kaiser through a 56-yard pass to C.J. Prosise with 14:13 left in the game. They missed the extra point which pulled Notre Dame within 10 points at 21-9.
Clemson put together a short drive and Greg Huegel kicked a 35-yard field goal to put Clemson up by 13 at 24-9 with 10:56 remaining. Notre Dame answered back on the ensuing drive as DeShone Kizer runs for 3 Yd Run and a touchdown. The extra point was good and Notre Dame closed the gap to 24-16 with 9:03 left and Clemson leading.
As the rainstorm continued throughout the game fans from both teams showed their support.
After a punt by Clemson. For the next 3 consecutive drives, Norte Dame(2 TO) and Clemson(1 TO) both turned the ball over.
After a missed field goal by Huegel to ice the game Notre Dame gets the ball with 4:29 left in the game. DeShone Kizer took the Irish down the field and with :07 seconds Notre Dame scored a touchdown.
If you were at the game, imagine the rain coming down and just pouring down the stadium seats and stairs. Fans are still standing and cheering as Clemson’s defense stays strong. On the two-point conversion attempt, Irish QB DeShone Kizer was stopped just short of the goal line by Ben Boulware and a gang of tigers stopped DeShone Kizer to end the game.
After the stop Ben Boulware did a full rolling flip and ran to meet his teammates on the tiger paw in the middle of the field. This game is remembered as the BYOG game. This is where Dabo gave the famous speech and said “Bring Your Own Guts”!
Clemson over Notre Dame 24-22 final score. Stay tuned to CSN for more in this series from now all the way up to Game 1 on Sept. 5th.
