Notre Dame vs. Clemson game balls
Coming off of two dominating blowout wins over USC and Pitt, No. 15 Notre Dame took a step back Saturday when it lost 31-23 at Clemson, dropping the Irish to 7-3 on the season and presumably out of any consideration for an elite New Year’s Six bowl game.
The tough upset loss made it difficult to pass along game balls, but here are the three Irish we found most deserving of one.
Tailback Audric Estimè
The Irish junior was the obvious bright spot, at least in the first half, on a Notre Dame offense that struggled against Clemson most of the day.
The bruising tailback finished with 17 carries for 87 yards with 1 touchdown.
Unfortunately for Estimè, most of his work came in the first when he recorded 14 carries for 82 yards.
For whatever reason, the Irish coaches got away from Estimè in a second half when he carried the ball just 3 times for 5 yards. Estimè also tied for a team-high with 4 receptions for 33 yards.
Safety Xavier Watts
A regular on this list, the Irish senior finished with 3 tackles and his seventh interception of the season — his fifth in the last three games.
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Watts recorded his interception early in the third quarter and returned it 33 yards to the Clemson 2-yard line that set up a Notre Dame touchdown and kept the Irish within striking distance.
Watts’ 7 interceptions led the nation at press time and was the most in a season by an Irish player since Manti Te’o recorded 7 in 2012.
The single-season interception record at Notre Dame is 10 set by Mike Townsend in 1972.
Punter Bryce McFerson
It’s usually not a good sign when a punter receives a game ball. But the terrific work the Irish sophomore displayed can’t be ignored.
Plagued by poor field position — Notre Dame started four of its drives in the second half from inside its own 25-yard line and three inside its 11 — McFerson still flipped the field on multiple occasions, averaging 50.2 yards on his 6 punts, with a long of 56 yards.
In all, McFerson recorded three kicks of at least 50 yards.
McFerson entered the game ranked 23rd in the country with a 44.41 punting average.
