The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With victory over No. 1 Tigers, Irish add to streak- breaker list
When Clemson’s desperate attempt to convert a fourth- andforever ended in a scrum, Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book tossed his helmet as he sprinted onto the field to celebrate with teammates.
Within seconds, thousands of fans joined in, rushing their home field amid a pandemic for a postgame party that most definitely did not meet the CDC’s social- distancing guidelines.
“When fans stormed the field, it was fun,” Book said.
Kyren Williams put the Irish ahead with a 3- yard run in the second overtime, and No. 4 Notre Dame shut down top- ranked Clemson with a couple of sacks to seal a 47- 40 win Saturday night.
The first victory over a No. 1 team in 27 years for the Fighting Irish can be added to the list of famous streak- breakers in Notre Dame history: Catholics vs. Convicts in 1988 snapped Miami’s 36- game regular- season winning streak and the shutout of Oklahoma in 1957 broke the Sooners’ record 47- game roll.
Clemson ( 7- 1, 6- 1) had won 36 consecutive regular- season games and had not lost to an Atlantic Coast Conference team since 2017. The Fighting Irish ( 7- 0, 6- 0), playing in the ACC only because of the coronavirus pandemic, brought them all to a halt. “No matter how old I am, I’ll remember this one forever,” Book said.
Who knows where this victory should rank in Notre Dame lore, but considering the setting and this weird pandemic- altered season, the win is probably its most bizarre.
“I had told our team in our walkthrough today: ‘ Just want you to know when we win this game the fans are going to storm the field. With COVID being what it is, we need to get off the field,’” Irish coach Brian Kelly said. “I beat them off the field.”
Williams ran for 140 yards and three touchdowns and Book, the fifth- year senior quarterback, led a 91- yard drive in the final two minutes of regulation to tie it at 33 on a 4- yard touchdown pass to Avery Davis with 22 seconds left.
Other late Saturday games ( with last week’s rankings):
( At) No. 3 Ohio State 49, Rutgers 27: Justin Fields threw five touchdown passes and Ohio State ( 3- 0 Big Ten) charged out to a 35- 3 halftime lead before beating the Scarlet Knights ( 1- 2).
No. 7 Texas A& M 48, ( at) South Carolina 3: Kellen Mond threw four touchdown passes to become Texas A& M’s career leader as the Aggies ( 5- 1 Southeastern Conference) rolled past South Carolina ( 2- 4).
( At) No. 12 Oregon 35, Stanford 14: Tyler Shough threw for 227 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score in the opening win.
( At) No. 17 Iowa State 38, Baylor 31: Brock Purdy passed for three TDs in the second half after throwing three interceptions in the first, rallying the Cyclones ( 5- 2 Big 12) past Baylor ( 1- 4).
( At) Arkansas 24, Tennessee 13: Feleipe Franks threw three touchdown passes in the second half to rally Arkansas ( 3- 3 SEC) past Tennessee ( 2- 4).