Newsstand: Watch Notre Dame special teams coach predict blocked punt vs. Clemson
Notre Dame special teams coordinator Brian Mason isn’t Babe Ruth by any means, but he still called his shot Saturday vs. Clemson. Mason knew what was coming. The Fighting Irish blocked a fifth punt in the last four games as a result.
The official Notre Dame football Twitter account tweeted a video of Mason coaching up special teams participants in the locker room prior to kickoff. He told them to look out for something specific.
“They’ll probably only do it if they’re backed up to the end zone,” Mason said. “But if they do it, let’s go take it to the house.”
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The Clemson punter stood on his own 6 yard line prior to his first punt of the night. Senior linebacker Jordan Botelho shot through the middle of the line of scrimmage and easily blocked the kick. It seems Mason knew the three players comprising the blocking wall in front of the punter would not close the gap in the middle of them. Sophomore linebacker Prince Kollie secured the ball and indeed took it to the house.
Mason was fired up after the play. Rightfully so.
More Notre Dame tweets of the day
Michael Mayer: Record setter.
The Irish AD is fired up.
The Irish are back in the polls.
Quote of the day
“This is an ass-kicking. Period. That’s what it is. Flat-out got our tails handed to us. In 14 years, it doesn’t happen a lot. But it’s happened a few times along the way. We’ve handed out a bunch of them, too. Tonight, we were the bug. We got the bad end of that deal, and we deserved every second of it.”
— Clemson coach Dabo Swinney on the Irish’s 35-14 win over the Tigers
Headlines of the day
Fighting Irish dominate in impressive 35-14 upset win over No. 4 Clemson (Todd Burlage)
Game balls: These six Fighting Irish players stood out Saturday (Todd Burlage)
Report card: Grading Fighting Irish football in Irish win over Clemson (Tyler Horka)
Five thoughts: Irish stick to plan in dusting Clemson 35-14 (Patrick Engel)
How it happened: A detailed look at Irish football win over Clemson (Tyler Horka)
How commitment to the run game led to another Irish football victory (Tyler Horka)
How Marcus Freeman sees Irish growing in his image after toppling Clemson (Patrick Engel)
What they’re saying about the Irish’s 35-14 win over Clemson (Mike Singer)
Three key quotes from the Irish football win over Clemson (Tyler Horka)
Breaking down PFF grades for Notre Dame football in win over Clemson (Tyler Horka)
Notre Dame opens as three-score favorite vs. Navy (Patrick Engel)
Notre Dame vs. Clemson snap counts, participation chart (Patrick Engel)
By the numbers: 15 stats and figures from Notre Dame’s win over Clemson (Steve Downey)
