Clemson Tigers at Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 3 Biggest Surprises

Notre Dame knocked off No.1 Clemson on Saturday night, as they moved to 7-0 on the season. Here are the biggest surprises from the win.

Hey, Notre Dame football fans. Saturday was not a dream. That really happened. The Irish upset the No. 1 team in the country in a game that will go down as one of college football’s instant classics.

Notre Dame improved to 7-0 on the season with the victory and is now in the driver’s seat with regards to the ACC Championship Game this December.

Save for a few style points left on the table in previous games, Irish fans could not have asked for a better start to the 2020 season.

The hype heading into the Clemson game was astronomic. No. 1 against No. 4 in a primetime matchup in one of college football’s historic venues. Somehow, the game managed to exceed that hype, as the Irish won by a final score of 47-40 in double overtime.

Saturday night’s game was truly a roller coaster. Notre Dame carried a 10-point lead into halftime. Then, Clemson stormed back in the second half to take a 33-26 lead with just over three minutes left in the game.

ESPN’s win probability tracker gave Clemson a 98.5 percent chance to win the game with two minutes left in the fourth quarter, but as we have seen this season, that means nothing. Quarterback Ian Book led the Irish on a drive to tie the game and send it into overtime, where Notre Dame eventually prevailed.

Most college football fans were anticipating a close game, but there were still plenty of surprises. Here are three things that surprised me in this marquee matchup.