No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 4 Clemson expect to be rested and at full strength when they meet in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship Saturday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
That wasn't the case when the teams first played a month ago, and adds even more intrigue to the much-anticipated rematch.
The Irish (10-0, 9-0 ACC) rallied to defeat the Tigers 47-40 in a drama-filled, double-overtime showdown last month.
This time, though, Clemson (9-1, 8-1) will have several players back, including Heisman Trophy contender Trevor Lawrence. The quarterback missed the first matchup, forced to watch from the sidelines after testing positive for COVID-19.
Notre Dame has had to shuffle its talented and massive offensive line the past few weeks because of injuries.
Right guard Tommy Kraemer was the ACC offensive lineman of the week after Notre Dame beat Boston College on Nov. 14 but missed the following week against North Carolina and saw limited action against Syracuse in the regular-season finale. Defensive lineman Jayson Adamilola wasn't on the field for the Irish against Boston College or North Carolina but practiced all last week.
The extra week off before the championship game has helped the Irish recover, coach Brian Kelly said. After talking with medical personnel, the coach said “we're in a green light situation” with those players.
Clemson is also giving the green light to linebacker James Skalski, considered the heart and soul of the defense who had groin surgery in October.
“We feel like he's gonna be close to, if not, 100%,” Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables said.
Along with Skalski, Clemson's defense will have starting linebacker Mike Jones Jr. and defensive tackle Tyler Davis in the lineup, two contributors who weren't on the field against Notre Dame.
Coach Dabo Swinney said the presence of his starters should bring more consistency to the defense that gave up 518 yards to the Irish.
“Hopefully, we can do a better job of not giving up some of the big plays,” Swinney said.
That'll be a challenge if Irish quarterback Ian Book plays as well as he did the first time. He threw for 310 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 67 yards.
Book's not worried about who's behind center for the Tigers since Lawrence or DJ Uiagalelei, who threw for 439 yards in the last meeting, don't play defense.
“My job is to win as the quarterback,” Book said in a radio interview. “Whoever the 11 guys were that they were going to put out there on defense is what we were going to go against.”
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December 15, 2020 at 01:00PM
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Irish, Tigers enter rematch healthy | Colleges | Journal Gazette - Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
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