Notre Dame Football: 3 Takeaways from road loss to Clemson

Notre Dame Football dug itself an early hole that it could not dig itself out of, falling to the Clemson Tigers 31-23 on the road.

“We all had a chip on our shoulder,” tailback Phil Mafah said. Clemson had heard all week — and most of the season — about how this season was below standard and had not lived up to expectations. The Tigers wanted to prove they had something left in the tank and not just playing out the string against Notre Dame Football.

Clemson also found motivation from an unusual place. At the end of the game, there were faint chants of “Take that, Tyler.” The chant referred to a young man who called into Dabo Swinney’s weekly radio show, criticizing the two-time National Championship-winning coach.

“Listen, man, you can have your opinion all you want, and you can apply for the job. And good luck to you, Swinney replied.”

For Notre Dame football, Saturday was another chapter of what has become quite the rivalry against Clemson. Last season, the Irish hosted the Tigers, ranked fifth at the time, and defeated them handily. Clemson returned the favor at home this year.

Clemson is the dragon that Sam Hartman could not slay. He never defeated Clemson, and Saturday was one of his worst performances against the Tigers. Notre Dame got down early, and the offense could not dig themselves out of the hole.

Here are takeaways from Saturday’s road loss to the Tigers.