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You wouldn’t believe the Notre Dame Fighting Irish actually beat the Clemson Tigers once this season after watching the ACC Championship, which ended with an 34-10 win for Clemson on Saturday night in Charlotte.
The 10-point favorites won their sixth-straight ACC Championship, and the fourth-straight senior class at at Clemson has now won 50 games.
The biggest difference between the matchup in October and tonight was the presence of Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who was 25-36 for 322 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He added 90 yards rushing as well with a score, part of the Tigers average of 8.1 yards per play on the ground today, led by Travis Etienne’s 10 carries for 124 yards and a TD.
At no point did Notre Dame look competitive, with quarterback Ian Book just 16-22 for 176 yards. The Irish averaged just 1.5 yards per carry, and didn’t look like they had any hope of stopping Lawrence and a focused and healthy Clemson on a neutral field.
The Tigers are off to the College Football Playoff, and whether they’ll be the No. 1 or No. 2 team will depend on how well Alabama does against Florida in the SEC Championship. Notre Dame will now have to wait and wonder until tomorrow to see if they’ll be in the semifinals, or if the selection committee will have them dropped from the Final Four.