Yahoo polls anonymous coaches' scouting report, predicts Clemson-Notre Dame

DJ Uiagalelei and Travis Etienne will need to work together to get some yards and points Saturday night (ACC photo)

by TigerNet Staff - Fri Nov 06 13:57:47 GMT-04:00 2020

The No. 1 Clemson Tigers and No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish will vie for top spot in the ACC in a 7:30 p.m. broadcast start on NBC Saturday in Notre Dame Stadium.

Yahoo Sports previewed the matchup by going to the coaches who have faced and studied the two top programs lately.

Those coaches offered some frank criticisms of both teams along with praise. For Notre Dame, one of the more noteworthy points came at quarterback, where the coach said that the Irish would've been better off if last week's opponent QB, Phil Jurkovec of BC, didn't transfer.

"My critique of Ian Book is that he won’t consistently make the throws,” Yahoo quoted an opposing assistant. “If they had an elite, elite quarterback, they’d be special this season. He has a way of being uneasy in the pocket and taking off. That fits into Clemson’s hands and defensive speed, which gives them opportunity to create negative plays and get them off schedule.”

“I always pick games off quarterback. If Jurkovec was still the quarterback at Notre Dame, they’d be a legit contender.”

For Clemson, there was a hit on the offensive line play.

“The interior of the offensive line is more ACC-ish than one of the top-five rosters in the country," a coach said.

Mixing things up to defend two-time ACC player of the year Travis Etienne will be key for the Irish, said another.

“You gotta keep mixing up mans and zones,” Yahoo quoted a coach who has studied Clemson. “When you have a player like that, it’s all about matchups. If they know you are in man, they know there’s no one who can win that matchup without extra help. You can’t give him one coverage the whole time. It’s just a bat signal, ‘We’re in man. This is who is covering him.’”

Yahoo's Pete Thamel, the author of the article, cited having to come back against BC last week in a pick for Notre Dame.

"Look for Notre Dame to out-slug Clemson, 24-20, and leave us giddy for the (ACC Championship) rematch," he said.