Notre Dame football: Biggest underdog matchups in the Brian Kelly era

2020 ACC Championship Game: Clemson (-10) 34 vs. Notre Dame football 10

There’s not a ton left to say about the ACC Championship Game. It was a disaster that was exacerbated by early missed opportunities for Notre Dame. The defense, meanwhile, tried and failed to hold back the floodgates of the Clemson as the Tigers ended up putting a methodical 34 points on the board. It could have been more.

Many people will point to the return of Trevor Lawrence as the difference between the ACC Championship Game and their meeting in November. Some will say those missing players on the defense for Clemson in November was the bigger issue.

In reality, the difference is that the Notre Dame offensive line couldn’t dominate Clemson the way they did in November. Part of that is the missing players coming back to Clemson’s defense, and part of it is Notre Dame missing starting center Jarrett Patterson missing the game with an injury.

The biggest reason that Notre Dame won in the trenches in November, but lost in the ACC Championship Game was that Clemson adjusted their blitz schemes, and Notre Dame wasn’t ready for them. The Irish were confused and late to pick up the blitz, which put Ian Book under constant threat.

Notre Dame wasn’t expected to win, but to lose by 24 points was a disaster that almost kept them out of the College Football Playoff. This Irish team has been better than that performance all season long, but it felt like their big game and post-season woes were haunting Notre Dame and Brian Kelly in particular.