Clemson Football: Experience is a key for the Tigers in CFB Playoff

You can do all the talent analysis you want, but there’s one area where Clemson football has a major advantage over Notre Dame in the CFB Playoff.

We can talk day-in and day-out about how Clemson matches up with Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl Classic. And, in fact, we will.

While there are a ton of advantages that each team can exploit, there’s one area where Clemson football has the clear advantage: Experience.

The Tigers know what it’s like to play in a College Football Playoff game.

According to the illustrious Tim Bourret, Clemson football has 48 players that have played in a CFB Playoff game. That includes Mitch Hyatt and Hunter Renfrow, who have five starts in playoff matchups.

Experience means something…

I know most Notre Dame fans will just that “football is football,” but experience means something.

When you have a team where basically every single player has played in a playoff game versus a team that never has been to the playoff, that makes a difference.

Obviously, we’ll have Trevor Lawrence playing in his first playoff game. But, you have to think that the experience around him and on the defensive side of the ball is going to make a difference.

Notre Dame has all month to think about this game and, almost in a lot of ways, overthink it. Clemson, on the other hand, has been here time-and-time again. The coaching staff knows what the procedures are.

The players know how to react and what to expect.

It may not decide the outcome of the game, but it’s certainly an advantage. You can’t doubt the fact that experience will be yet another factor that Notre Dame will have to overcome to beat Clemson in a couple of weeks in Dallas.

It should be a fun one and I’m intrigued to see just what happens when the two teams square off in the Cotton Bowl here later in December.