Player Rankings: Notre Dame at Clemson

Offense

Deshaun Watson, Sophomore, QB, B-: Passing stats didn't look too impressive for the Tigers' signal caller Saturday, but a lot of that can be accounted to the conservative play calling that the Tigers adopted with a second half lead. While only throwing for 84 yards, Deshaun tossed 2 TDs. He also ran for 99 yards and another touchdown. The biggest thing that stuck out to me was that Deshaun played with a different level of swagger than what we have seen. While I have always liked how Deshaun is cool and collected for a young QB, I liked the fire I saw from him. Even though I about had a heart attack when he showboated into the end zone because I was afraid of a penalty, I liked seeing that confidence in him. This was also seen with him jawing with Notre Dame players after an intense play and rallying the crowd with a towel to the tune of Kevin Gates's "I Don't Get Tired." Hopefully we will see more of this fire against Georgia Tech Saturday.

Wayne Gallman, Sophomore, RB, A: Wayne Train continues it's trip to Arizona for the National Championship, running over some Fighting Irishmen in the process. Gallman was a big part of the Tigers clock killing offense in the second half, putting up a total of 111 yards in the game, and having some very nice runs.

Offensive Line, A: After being criticized for their performance in the Louisville game, this unit really put together a nice game Saturday. Behind the big hawgs, Clemson ran for a total of 212 yards, gave up 0 sacks, and allowed Watson to look very comfortable in the pocket throughout the game.

Defense

Kevin Dodd, RS Junior, DE, A+: Dodd was an absolute beast against Notre Dame. The big man had 2 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. He was all over the field and disrupted Notre Dame's offense greatly. Kudos to our coaches for being able to unlock this kind of performance from the former 3 star recruit.

Ben Boulware, Junior, LB, A+: Boulware was all over the field Saturday causing mayhem, but nothing was bigger than his final stand. After Notre Dame scored a touchdown with 7 seconds left, the Irish faced a 2 point conversion to tie the game up. Boulware led the charge to stuff the Deshone Kizer run and win Clemson the game.

Special Teams

Ammon Lakip, RS Senior, K, A+: In his first game back from suspension, Lakip pinned the Irish deep in their territory on his kickoffs and had a huge momentum play when he forced a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half. This turnover set up Deshaun Watson's 3rd quarter touchdown run to put the Tigers up 21-3 in the 3rd.