Fighting Irish looking to knock off another ranked opponent

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind -- The Irish have had a rollercoaster season but outside of Ohio State, Clemson will be their biggest matchup of the season.

“We have a lot of respect for Clemson. They’re a tremendous group on defense. They’re extremely talented up front. They got good players at all three levels,” said Offensive Coordinator Tommy Rees.

With Clemson ranking as a top four team in contention for a playoff position, knocking off the undefeated tigers will be a big milestone for the Irish.

“We’re going to need it all. We’re going to need every facet of defense. Every skill that we teach is going to have to show up Saturday night,” said Defensive Coordinator Al Golden.

The two teams last met in 2020, when the Irish pulled off a 47-40 win in double overtime.

This week the Irish will rely on what they’ve done consistently on the offensive side of the ball to put pressure on the tigers.

“We know we’ve established that trust with Coach Rees and coach freeman to run the ball when we need to run the ball,” Offensive Lineman Jarrett Patterson added.

As for the defense, they couldn’t have chosen a better time of the season to get turnovers with two interceptions and one defensive score against Syracuse.

Something that was a major concern at the start of the season.

“Us just playing as a whole unit all came together against Syracuse. We got a couple more turnovers that we wanted. Like B-Jo (Brandon Joseph) pick six and Marist (Liufau) pick. Everything just started clicking for us,” Defensive Lineman Isaiah Foskey mentioned.

“We want to play a physical brand of football. We’ve played Clemson before. We know that they play a physical brand of football, so it’ll be a great opportunity for us and a big game,” Rees added.