It has been 11 days since Clemson was last on a football field. That night, the Tigers thrashed Pittsburgh in the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte to win their fourth straight ACC Championship while also locking up a spot in the College Football Playoff for a fourth consecutive year.
Since then Clemson has discovered it will play Notre Dame in the CFP Semifinals at the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas. It will mark just the four meeting between the two programs and the first meeting in the postseason.
In between the ACC Title Game and today’s first bowl practice, Christian Wilkins, Clelin Ferrell, Hunter Renfrow and Travis Etienne have experienced the award ceremonies tour and experienced what it is like to be a finalist and winner for such prestigious honors.
In between, they’ve also racked up a ton of All-American honors as Wilkins, Ferrell and offensive tackle Mitch Hyatt have already earned Consensus All-American status, while Travis Etienne became the fourth First-Team All-American this postseason, a first in Clemson history.
However, all of that is now over. Now it is time to get back to football and finish what they started.
The second-ranked Tigers (13-0) are a 12.5 favorite to beat Notre Dame (12-0) on Dec. 29 at AT&T Stadium. It’s hard to imagine Clemson is that big of a favorite in a semifinal game against another team that went undefeated, especially when that team is called Notre Dame.
When I was a kid, I never imagined I would see Clemson be a 12.5 favorite against any of the bluebloods in college football, much less “The Golden Domers” from South Bend.
At first, I thought it was just a typo or something. Then I figured, “that will go down,” but it hasn’t. The line has actually gone up from where it originally started. It started out as an 11.5-point line, but now it has moved up to 12.5.
Everyone seems to agree with Las Vegas. Most of the talking heads at ESPN are predicting a Clemson win. Some say it will be an easy win for the Tigers, some say it will be close, but most agree Clemson will win.
Yes, they have respect for what Brian Kelly has done with the Irish this year in getting them back to this spot and in the CFP for the first time. However, most people don’t think the Irish can hang with Clemson’s overall athleticism and speed.
It seems a lot of people, including the media, are looking ahead to another Clemson vs. Alabama matchup in the national championship game. That might happen. However, if I have learned one thing from my 37-year love affair with college football is that nothing is ever certain.
So, take this as a warning Clemson fans. Have confidence your Tigers are going to win but brace yourself for agony if they don’t. College football loves to take what we think we all know and then brings us back to the harsh reality that really don’t know anything.
I know Dabo Swinney is going to do everything he can to make sure his players respect Notre Dame better than the media and the fans seem to do and all that matters is what Clemson does.
However, just turn the table a little. Think back to just a couple of years ago when nobody gave Clemson a chance to win the national championship game against Alabama. How fired up did you think that made the Clemson players? How much of that did Swinney use to motivate his team? What was the end result?
Being confident is one thing, being over confident is another. Notre Dame did not want to make the CFP just to say it was happy to be a participant. Like Clemson, it too wants to win a national championship, and I can guarantee you it will play that way.