The ACC regular season championship might very well be on the line Saturday night at Notre Dame Stadium when top ranked Clemson and #4 Notre Dame clash for the third time in five years and the fifth time overall. Clemson is 7-0 and the Fighting Irish are 6-0. With no divisions in the ACC this season, the top two teams based on league winning percentage will advance to the championship game, so the winner will stand alone atop the standings as the only undefeated team left in the league. However, the loser will still be very much in contention for second place. This game Saturday night could very well be a preview of the ACC title game in December. Clemson is a 5.5 point favorite for this Saturday’s game which will be televised on NBC. Tuesday, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney held a Zoom media conference to talk about Notre Dame and also update his team.
Some of Swinney’s key comments Tuesday:
- Notre Dame offensive line is big and experienced, offense is well coached and coordinated, Book is an excellent quarterback, offense is built to run the ball.
- Impressed with the defense, as good as you’ll see, outstanding safety, just a complete team, what you would expect from the #4 ranked team.
- Been a good week for his guys to this point. Today the players are off and will be a good prep day for the staff. Resume prep with the players Wednesday.
- Boston College made Saturday a “throw game” and Uiagalelei was tremendous and the receivers stepped up. Uiagalelei will continue to get better but this game will be a little different since it’s on the road against a quality opponent.
- Won’t know until Wednesday on a couple of his injured defensive players avail for this week, Lawrence is doing well, been Zooming in for meetings. Be with them Thursday or Friday. He will travel with them. Can’t play due to the cardiac part of the protocol.
- Skalski will travel with team as well, so they will have Coach Lawrence and Coach Skalski on the sideline.
- Book has improved quite a bit since they played him in the Cotton Bowl in 2018. He has complete ownership of the offense and is very confident in his arm.
- Not surprised news on Lawrence having Covid last week leaked out, too many people knew about it, and he would not have held that information until game day as has been the case with injured or sick players this season.
