Notre Dame vs. Clemson Notes

TEAM

• Clemson becomes just the fifth current FBS school with a winning record over Notre Dame (given a minimum of three games). Clemson now has a 2-1 advantage in the series. The others with a series advantage over the Fighting Irish are Florida State (6-2), Michigan (24-17-1), Ohio State (3-2) and Nebraska (8-7-1).

 • Dabo Swinney is now 7-3 against teams ranked in the top 10 by at least one of the two major polls entering the game.

 • Swinney and the Tigers have now defeated eight of the top-20 winningest programs in the history of college football over the last five years. The Tigers have a 10-4 record against the top-20 programs since 2011. Other top-20 programs Clemson has defeated the last five years are Ohio State (No. 4), Oklahoma (No. 5), Florida State (No. 11), Louisiana State (No. 13), Georgia (No. 14), Auburn (No. 17) and Virginia Tech (No. 20).  Clemson plays at No. 15 Miami (Fla.) on October 24.

 • Swinney has now tied Danny Ford for the most wins by an ACC coach eight years into his career in the league. Ford had 65 by the end of his eighth year and tonight was Swinney’s 65th win.

 • Both Swinney and Ford had one of those 65 wins within the first eight years of their careers against Notre Dame. The Alabama graduates accomplished something former Alabama coach Paul Bryant could not do. Bryant was 0-4 in his career against Notre Dame.

 • Clemson has now won 12 straight games at home dating to a loss to Florida State in 2013. The Tigers have won 29 of their last 31 games at home and are 42-6 at home under Swinney.

 • Clemson is now 8-2 with at least 11 days to prepare for a regular-season game under Swinney.

 • Brian Kelly was the eighth winningest active FBS coach by percentage entering tonight’s game. With this win, Swinney has now defeated seven of the top 10 over the last five years. The other top-10 winningest coaches Swinney has beaten since 2011 are Urban Meyer of Ohio State (No. 1), Jimbo Fisher of Florida State (No. 2), Bob Stoops of Oklahoma (No. 3), Mark Richt of Georgia (No. 7), Les Miles of Louisiana State (No. 9) and Steve Spurrier of South Carolina (No. 10).

 • Clemson is now 3-1 when ESPN College GameDay comes to its campus.

 • Notre Dame was ranked No. 6 in the AP poll entering the game. It ties for the sixth-highest ranked team Clemson has defeated in its history, regardless of site. Clemson has beaten a No. 3 ranked team twice (Florida State in 2003 and Virginia Tech in 2011). Tonight’s win is the highest ranked team Clemson has beaten in the AP poll since the Tigers defeated No. 5 Georgia to open the 2013 season.

 • Tonight was just Clemson’s fifth all-time victory on October 3. Entering tonight, Clemson was 4-11-1 on this date for a 28.1 winning percentage, the worst winning percentage on any date on the calendar given a minimum of four games.

 • Clemson has won seven games in a row over two years. It is Clemson’s longest winning streak since the Tigers won seven in a row during the 2012 season.

 • Clemson has won 13 of its last 14 games over two years. It is the first time Clemson has done that since winning 14 of 15 games over the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

• Clemson was the first team to score against Notre Dame on its opening drive this year.

INDIVIDUALS

• Deshaun Watson was 2-3 passing for 15 yards and had one carry for 38 yards on Clemson’s opening drive.

• Watson’s 38-yard rush was the longest of his career, and his 93overall rushing yards surpassed his previous career high of 54, set against Louisville on Sept. 17, 2015.

• Shaq Lawson has recorded at least 1.5 tackles for loss in every game this season, and his 3.5recorded against Notre Dame was his second game of the season with at least three.

• Clemson’s 14-3 advantage over the Fighting Irish at the end of the first quarter was the first time this season Notre Dame has been outscored in that respective quarter.

• Ammon Lakip’s caused fumble to open the second half was his first tackle of the season and was the first caused fumble by a Clemson kicker since Nov. 12, 2011, when Spencer Benton had one on a kickoff against Wake Forest.

• Clemson had five of eight punts downed inside the Notre Dame 20 yard line, including Greg Huegel’s first career punt in the third quarter.

• Wayne Gallman’s 98rushing yards was his fourth straight game of rushing for 75+ yards.

• The attendance for tonight’s game was 82,415, Clemson’s largest crowd of the season.

• Artavis Scott’s 128 kickoff-return yards were a career high and most by a Tiger this in 2015.

• B.J. Goodson’s interception with 6:36 left in the fourth quarter was the first of his career.