Clemson Football: 3 reasons Notre Dame doesn’t stand a chance in rematch

2. Those defensive starters are back

We’ve heard over and over again about how Trevor Lawrence wasn’t available to play in the game against Notre Dame, but the truth of the matter is that the Tigers didn’t miss a beat with D.J. Uiagalelei at quarterback.

As a matter of fact, Uiagalelei’s performance at quarterback was statistically the best of the season from the position (439 yards passing, accounted for 3 TDs).

The biggest loss, in my opinion, was the ones we saw on the defensive side of the ball.

The Tigers were without three of their best defenders- James Skalski, Mike Jones Jr. and Tyler Davis– all due to injury and they were down seven starters by the second half. In the end, the defense wore down and they were unable to get stops towards the end of the night and in overtime.

Don’t look for that to be the case this time.

The Tigers will be at full-strength when they take on the Fighting Irish and there’s nothing that will stop that defense from creating pressure and using depth to their advantage, while it wasn’t available last time.