Notre Dame has no chance against Tigers' depth, talent
Yes, Notre Dame is 12-0 on the season, and I know the Fighting Irish played perhaps the "toughest" schedule ever put together in the history of college football.
Hear this, however. There is no chance, no way, no how Notre Dame is going to take down Clemson in the Cotton Bowl in one of College Football Playoff semifinal games on Saturday.
Zip, zero, nada.
Say what you want about Clemson waltzing through the weak Atlantic Coast Conference, but with the exception of Syracuse, that's exactly what it did. It was a scorched earth season for the Tigers against ACC foes.
The only other real challenges for Clemson came against Southeastern Conference teams. The Tigers slipped past Texas A&M 28-26 and only led South Carolina 28-21 at halftime before going on to a 56-35 victory.
While Syracuse gave away the game to Clemson in a 27-23 loss, the other 10 games were beatdowns of epic proportions.
That can't be said about the Irish. While Notre Dame pounded Syracuse 36-3, it held on to beat Pittsburgh 19-14, a team Clemson walloped 42-10 in the ACC championship game.
Notre Dame beat Mid-American Conference school Ball State 24-16 and struggled to beat Vanderbilt 22-17 in South Bend, Indiana. The following week South Carolina went on the road and handled Vandy 37-14.
Every game truly is a season unto itself, but you get the picture. Notre Dame just doesn't have enough athleticism to hang with Clemson.
The Irish defense may be able to slow down the Clemson offense to a degree in the early going, but the Tigers will begin to wear Notre Dame down as the game progresses.
Offensively, Notre Dame doesn't have enough firepower to consistently move the ball against Clemson, even without defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence on the sidelines because of performance-enhancing drugs.
The Irish may be able to break off a few big plays against the Clemson secondary, but it won't be nearly enough to keep up with the Tiger offense.
Also, you have to take into account the experience Clemson has in being in these types of games. Most of the Tigers have played in a CFP contest, while none of the Notre Dame players have.
That being said, one Tiger who will be making his CFP debut is true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence. If he comes out and struggles, Clemson could face some issues. Lawrence hasn't really given any indication of having that happen to him though.
Clemson should win this going away, somewhere in the 35-17 range. Then that will set up Clemson-Alabama IV.