Dabo Swinney previews the challenge of facing Michael Mayer, Notre Dame offense

When Clemson traveled to South Bend and lost to Notre Dame during the 2020 season, tight end Michael Mayer was just a freshman. In that game, Mayer had five catches. Later, the two met in the ACC Championship game and Mayer snagged another five passes. That was just as a freshman and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney knows that he’s a much bigger challenge to stop now.

While speaking to the media, Dabo Swinney was asked about Michael Mayer and how Notre Dame is getting him the ball, despite the emphasis defenses put on stopping him.

“I mean, it’s all built through the run game,” Dabo Swinney said.

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“I mean, they move him around, first of all. They put him outside and they’ll line him up and throw one-on-one red zone shots to him. They’ll put him in the slot, run inside fade. They run double moves with him–they’ll use him like a receiver, but most of this–they screen it to him. I mean, they’ll literally screen it to him like he’s a receiver. They’ve handed it to him, in the backfield. But most of it comes through all their run action. Swap, boots, you know, where’s Waldo? I mean, he’s all over the place. He’s one, he’s two, he’s three.”

Dabo Swinney emphasized that stopping Michael Mayer isn’t the first order of business for the Clemson defense. It’s about stopping the run game because everything the offense does comes from the running game.

“Because you’ve got to stop the run. You have to stop the run, or they’re gonna kill you. Their three backs are sledgehammers, and then all them guys up front, the offensive linemen, they create extra gaps formationally. It’s a real challenge just to line up against these guys because it’s a different type of football than maybe you see on a weekly basis. So, it challenges you from a discipline standpoint, a leverage standpoint, and alignment because you have to stop the run, and then they create off of that.”

Notre Dame doesn’t look like your standard team offensively. The Irish don’t have the ability to spread you out and throw it 50 times. So, they’re not going to try to do so. Instead, they’ll use the running game to set up Michael Mayer in a number of different situations.

“So, they’re just creative with where they put him, how they involve him in not just the normal pass game but all the play-action stuff. Everybody knows he’s gonna get the ball, but again, you still have to respect him as a blocker and you have to stop the run to have a chance on these guys,” Dabo Swinney said.

“If you don’t, you’re not gonna win.”

Dabo Swinney on how DJ Uiagalelei played against Notre Dame in 2020

Because Trevor Lawrence was dealing with COVID-19 in 2020, then freshman DJ Uiagalelei had to start Clemson’s regular season game against Notre Dame. He played well in a loss, adding to the hype train that he since hasn’t been able to live up to.

“Man, he was just amazing. I just remember the big plays, how he kept his poise, how he led. I mean he was awesome, I mean, it was a great night. He had a couple big plays to Cornell [Powell], in particular, that I remember,” Dabo Swinney said of that game.

“It just wasn’t too big for him. Obviously, he’d gotten a chance to play against Boston College the week before, so it wasn’t the first time for him to run out there. But he just executed the plan well and made a bunch of big plays.”