Tim Bourret on No. 1 Clemson at No. 4 Notre Dame: "I've got friends on both sides"
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On returning home to South Bend for a primetime matchup between No. 1 Clemson and No. 4 Notre Dame on Saturday night:
"It's the first time Clemson (has) played at Notre Dame since 1979. I've been to plenty of games at Notre Dame since then, but not involving the Tigers. It is a lot of fun for me because I know both programs so well. I've got friends on both sides of the ledger. If there is one advantage of the COVID situation is that the tickets are limited to Notre Dame students and faculty, staff.”
On not having 80,000 raucous fans on top of the Tigers:
"I did think about that, and especially for D.J. Uiagalelei-- he's making his first road start-- there'll be Notre Dame fans in there. And their students will make some noise, but it's kind of like it is with 19,000 people at Death Valley. It'll be kind of like that in Notre Dame stadium. That said, it's going to be a big stage. It's going to be a very highly rated game on NBC. There will be a lot of national media there."
On what Clemson fans are missing out on by not being able to go to the game:
"Yeah, that is really a shame. There's a lot of great traditions that they have. At four o'clock on Friday before a game, they have the playing of the trumpets in the Golden Dome. The guys who play the trumpets in the band go in and play the Victory March, the alma mater up in the rotunda area in the golden dome. Fans crowd in there and hear that. Then, of course, they always have a pep rally, usually in the convocation center, and so this game, it would have been probably 11,000 people crammed in there. Obviously, they're not having that. Then on Saturday, the day of the game, they have all kinds of things on campus with the band. There's a little concert on the steps of the Golden Dome. And then they march, a lot of the fans and students to the stadium about an hour ahead of time. And you know, there's a lot of other (things). The campus is just buzzing. Every dorm has their own little cookout where they sell food to fans as they walk around the main quad. It's a pretty fun game day, but unfortunately, all we have really is the football game. That's the way it is right now. But hopefully, by 2022, we'll be past all this."
On Notre Dame’s downfield passing game:
"Yeah, they really miss Chase Claypool from last year. He was a terrific player for them in doing exactly what you said. He was a big reason this (team had) an 11-2 record last year. Now they do have some very good receivers. They're outstanding at tight end. Cole Kmet last year is now in the NFL, but they've got three guys at tight end who are very capable. I think on the first drive against Georgia Tech. They had three different tight ends catch passes. Now, McKinley, No. 88. Keep your eye on him. He looks like (Braden) Galloway. He wears the same number. Galloway, of course, is listed as a tight end and McKinley a wide receiver, but he's a big 6'3, 6'4 guy who they really haven't tried to go deep downfield. The running back (Kyren) Williams is kind of a poor man's Travis Etienne. They'll bring him out of the backfield. 180 receiving yards so hard this year doesn't compare to Travis's 443. That's something Brian Kelly was successful with it against Clemson in the game in 2015. C.J. Prosise, who is now in the NFL, he had 100 yards receiving in that game against Clemson. That was only the third 100-yard receiving game for a Notre Dame running back since 1960."