The key for Clemson football winning the Cotton Bowl is rather simple in many respects…You’ve got to slow down the Notre Dame passing game.
There will be plenty of posts here in the next few weeks talking about “keys to the game” and how Clemson football comes away with a victory against Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl.
Articles will mention things like not turning the ball over, protecting Trevor Lawrence, establishing the run game, refraining from penalties, converting on 3rd downs and so on.
But, really, the key to the game for Clemson’s defense is rather simple: Find a way to slow down Notre Dame’s passing game.
You don’t have to necessarily stop it, but you’ve got to find a way to get the Irish out of rhythm. It can’t be a South Carolina or Texas A&M-type game. You’ve got to find a way to slow down Ian Book and make him feel uncomfortable.
In all actuality, you do that in a few ways.
- Put more athleticism in the defensive backfield
- Create pressure with your down linemen
- Send extravagant blitzes
- Disguise your coverages
Really, it all comes down to finding a way to make Ian Book uncomfortable back there. You do that by getting in the backfield and drawing up blitzes to pressure him and make him get the ball out quick.
The problem for Clemson is the depth of wide receiver that Notre Dame possesses. The Irish have several talented wide receivers, including Miles Boykin, Chase Claypool, Chris Finke, Alize Mack and others that will get targets in this one.
Those are all guys that Clemson has to find a way to defend. At times this season, it’s clear that opponents were able to recognize formations and get an early jump on coverage against Clemson. I think Brent Venables will change that up we’ll see some different looks from the Tigers in the defensive backfield to confuse Book and make him read the defense.
One way to also help with coverage is to put more athleticism in the defensive backfield. Perhaps adding a guy like Mark Fields to play a nickle position instead of your typical Isaiah Simmons. You’ve got to find a way to defend these talented wide receivers and athleticism can certainly negate some of that.
I don’t think the Irish will have much success running the ball against Clemson. Because of that, Notre Dame is going to try and get the passing game going.
The key for Clemson on defense is going to be slowing the passing game down and attempting to make Ian Book as uncomfortable as possible. If the Tigers can do that, they’ll have a great chance at stopping that Irish offense.