The coin toss for the 2018 Cotton Bowl Classic is just two days away and the preparation by both Notre Dame and Clemson is nearly complete. We’ve wrapped up our Cotton Bowl Comparisons series and talked about everything from coaches to ostarine. With all of that in mind, today we take one final look and preview Saturday’s game.

Notre Dame

The Fighting Irish are being written off by nearly every national media outlet ahead of this matchup and are largely talked about as if they do not belong in the playoff. Don’t believe that hype. Notre Dame has made a season out of beating quality opponents like Stanford, Michigan, and Syracuse.

After starting the season with a three game winning streak, head coach Brian Kelly made the tough decision that something needed to change. He promptly inserted last’s Citrus Bowl hero Ian Book into the starting quarterback position. The move and its dividends were immediately apparent as the Fighting Irish steamrolled Wake Forest, 56-27. Then after serving a university-imposed four-game suspension, Notre Dame saw the return of their home run hitter, Dexter Williams. Since his return against the Stanford Cardinals, Williams has been electric and his stats say it all. In just eight games he ran for 941 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Keys to the Game For Notre Dame

Limit the Big Plays

Clemson is one of the best offenses in the nation when it comes to executing big plays as evidenced by their 7.37 yards per snap in 2018. That’s a far cry from the 4.53 allowed by the Irish this season. If Notre Dame is continues to contain the big play threats on defense, they stand a lot better chance in this matchup.

Quick Start

The Tigers have beaten most of their opponents pretty handily in 2018, meaning they are often able to jump out to leads before letting their lethal running game take over. The Tigers boast an impressive rate of 33.6 percent of runs that go for either a first down or touchdown. Getting out to an early lead should limit Clemson’s ability to run the ball at will and force their freshman quarterback to make plays.

Protect the Quarterback

The Clemson secondary is undoubtedly the biggest weakness the Tigers have. The unit allowed 430, 250, and 510 passing yards against Texas A&M, Syracuse, and South Carolina respectively. The Fighting Irish must protect Book and give him an opportunity to go after the Tigers for big gains on offense.



Clemson

The Clemson Tigers enter this weekend with everything to lose. The program has been anointed since Week 1 as one of the sole programs capable of challenging Alabama and many expect the Tigers to easily beat Notre Dame.

Much like Notre Dame, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney also made a quarterback change during the season. In Week 5, Swinney made the move official as the Tigers moved on from Kelly Bryant to true freshman Trevor Lawrence. Unlike Book for Notre Dame, Lawrence’s first week was not a breeze. The freshman was knocked out of the game early by injury and the Tigers struggled to come out on top against Syracuse. The injury forced Clemson to rely on their running game while the Orange went to work against the secondary.

Things have looked immensely better since that close matchup as Lawrence has tallied 2,606 yards, 24 touchdowns, and four interceptions.

Keys to the Game for Clemson

Keep Lawrence Healthy

Notre Dame has been able to rush the quarterback this season with a high degree of success. Clemson will need to stop them from doing just that and keep Lawrence upright and healthy. If Lawrence is forced from the game it drastically alters the probability of a Clemson win due to their lack of depth behind the freshman.

Make Notre Dame One-Dimensional

It’s a tactic that LSU pulled off pretty effectively last season during the Citrus Bowl until Book took over for then-starter Brandon Wimbush. Clemson needs to force Notre Dame away from the run where they can send their defenders towards Book with their ears pinned back.

Run the Ball Early and Often

As we have already mentioned, the Tigers have an outstanding running game that they will need to lean on in order to advance. The Notre Dame secondary is the best that Lawrence and the Tigers have seen all season and should be able to get some good looks on Lawrence. That means it will be imperative for Clemson to control the game early on the ground.