The #1 Clemson Tigers suffered their first regular season loss since October 13, 2017 when #4 Notre Dame knocked them off 47-40 in double overtime in a big college football clash of top five teams at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana Saturday night.
Clemson (7-1) had rallied back from a 10-0 deficit in the first quarter, and 23-10 late in the second to take a 33-26 lead with 3:33 left in the game on a Travis Etienne touchdown run. Notre Dame though went 91 yards in under two minutes to send the game to overtime when Ian Book found Avery Davis on a four yard TD pass with 22 seconds remaining. The teams swapped touchdowns in the first overtime session when Tigers backup freshman quarterback D.J. Uiagalalei scored on a one yard run, and Kyren Williams responded with a three yard score for the Irish. Williams had the game winner on another three yard run in the second overtime, and Notre Dame (7-0) then sacked Uiagalalei twice on the ensuing Clemson possession to put it away.
Uiagalalei went 29-44 passing for 439 yards and two touchdowns in his second career game in the Tigers loss. Book was 22-39 for 310 yards and a score in the Irish win, while Williams rushed 23 times for 140 yards and three touchdowns. Trevor Lawrence, who has missed the last two games because of a positive test for COVID-19, is expected back in the lineup at quarterback for Clemson when they return to play on November 21. The loss snaps a 36 game regular season winning streak. Notre Dame wins their 13th straight game and their 23rd consecutive at home, and is also their first win over an AP #1 team since 1993 when they beat top ranked Florida State.
