Four reasons Clemson football simply can’t afford a loss to Notre Dame
The Clemson football team is set to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a game that will draw the eyes of the entire nation.
The No. 3-ranked Tigers and No. 2-ranked Fighting Irish will battle inside of Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte for the ACC Championship.
The winner will lock up a spot in the CFB Playoff and will put themselves in prime position to compete for a National Championship.
As we continue to prepare for this one, the truth of the matter is that the Clemson football program simply can’t afford a loss to Notre Dame. Here’s a look a four reasons why.
4. Notre Dame fans will be insufferable
Notre Dame fans have always been some of the worst to deal with, at least on social media. They believe they’re a gift to the College Football world and the sense of entitlement coming out of that fan base is second only to Ohio State.
Now take that amount of “insufferability” and crank it up about 10 notches if Notre Dame wins this game.
The Fighting Irish would have beaten the Tigers twice, taken the ACC Championship and would be competing for a chance at a National Title.
3. It would end a five-year winning streak to a team that’s not even in the conference
Let’s also be quick to point out that Clemson football currently holds a five-year winning streak for the ACC Championship.
A loss Saturday would end that impressive streak and, to make matters worse, it would be to a team that’s not even in the conference.
The ACC allowed Notre Dame to compete for the ACC Championship just this year when it had the most leverage possible to get the Fighting Irish to join the conference as a full-time member.
Now, if Notre Dame wins on Saturday, the Fighting Irish would have a nice shiny ACC Championship Trophy to put in their trophy case as they walked out of the ACC and basically said ‘thank you, good bye.’ Talk about embarrassment for both Clemson and the conference as a whole if that happens.
2. CFB Playoff hopes are out the window
Outside of the historical elements and things having to do with Notre Dame itself, let’s not forget that Clemson is likely one loss away from being eliminated from the CFB Playoff.
Sure, there’s a chance that if things fell perfectly that the Tigers could still end up in the playoff with a loss Saturday evening, but it’s not likely.
A two-loss Clemson football team (with both losses coming to Notre Dame) would likely not get in over an undefeated Ohio State- no matter how you feel- or even a one-loss Texas A&M.
If Clemson wants to continue that streak of making the CFB Playoff, the Tigers must go through Notre Dame to get there.
1. It gives the perception that there’s a ‘crack in the armor’
You and I both know that this program is set up to be successful for the long-term.
We all know that D.J. Uiagalelei, Bryan Bresee, Myles Murphy, E.J. Williams and plenty of others will be back next year. We all know that Clemson is still recruiting at an elite level. We all know that the coaching staff is building continuity and that Dabo Swinney has made this into a program that can legitimately compete year-in and year-out.
That being said, the perception- if Clemson loses this game and is left out of the CFB Playoff- is that there is a ‘crack in the armor.’
All of a sudden, we will have to face an offseason full of ‘hot takes’ talking about how the ‘Clemson dynasty is coming to a close before it ever really got started’ and how ‘the Tigers are returning to what they once were.’
We all know none of that is true, but it will be the message and narrative pushed by hundreds of national media. That hurts recruiting and that hurts the perception of this program.
A lot rests on this Clemson football team Saturday evening when it makes the trip to Charlotte and the truth of the matter is simple: The Tigers can’t afford to lose.