ARLINGTON, Texas – The No. 2 Clemson football team advanced to its third College Football Playoff National Championship in four years by defeating the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 30-3, on Saturday afternoon in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium. With the win, Clemson remained undefeated at 13-0 overall, while Notre Dame concluded its season at 12-1. 

Trevor Lawrence completed 27 of 39 pass attempts for 327 yards and three touchdowns, including 19 of 26 for 264 yards and a pair of touchdown passes to Justyn Ross in the first half alone. Travis Etienne ran for 109 yards on 14 carries, including a 62-yard touchdown run that pushed him past Wayne Gallman’s 2015 mark for the most rushing yards in a single season. Austin Bryant’s two sacks and six total tackles were one of the main sparks of a defensive effort that only allowed three points to a Notre Dame team averaging over 33 per game this season. 

Both defenses proved stout in the first quarter, as Notre Dame held Clemson to a Greg Huegel 40-yard field goal set up by a Clelin Ferrell-forced fumble with eight and a half minutes remaining in the quarter, and the Tigers, in turn, only gave up an Irish 28-yard field goal four minutes later to leave the score knotted at 3-3 after the first 15 minutes. That Justin Yoon field goal proved to be the only scoring that the Clemson defense allowed to the Irish all game.

The Tigers first found the endzone on a 52-yard scoring connection from Lawrence to Ross that put Clemson at a 9-3 advantage with just over two minutes gone in the second quarter. Ross went on to bookend the quarter with scores, as he hauled in a 42-yard pass from Lawrence for his second touchdown of the day 11 minutes later. Tee Higgins then sealed the quarter with an acrobatic 19-yard touchdown reception that gave Clemson a 23-3 lead at the half.

The first score of the third quarter, and what would ultimately be the final score of the game, came with two minutes remaining in the quarter, when Etienne broke away for the 62-yard touchdown rush that was set up by a Nolan Turner interception three plays earlier. A scoreless fourth quarter left the final score at 30-3.

Clemson will play next in the College Football Playoff National Championship at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Monday, Jan. 7 against the winner of tonight’s Capital One Orange Bowl between No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Oklahoma. Fans wishing to secure official Clemson travel packages are encouraged to act now by visiting ClemsonSportsTravel.com to book their trips while availability lasts. Fans are also encouraged to visit the Clemson Tigers Store to get official College Football Playoff merchandise.

Elaine DayClemson Athletic CommunicationsGraduate Assistant || Men’s Soccer, RowingP: (919) 389-1147@elaine_day
CU181229.HTM

ND vs CU (Dec 29, 2018)

Scoring Summary Team Statistics Individual Statistics Drive Chart Defensive Statistics Game Participation Box Score Play-by-Play Play breakdown

  Scoring Summary  

Scoring Summary (Final)
83rd Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
#3 ND vs #2 CU (Dec 29, 2018 at Arlington, Texas)

ND (13-1) vs. CU (13-0)

Date: Dec 29, 2018 • Site: Arlington, Texas  • Stadium: AT&T Stadium  •  Attendance: 72183

Score by Quarters Score 
ND  3 
CU  20 30 
SCORING SUMMARY  ND -CU  
1st 08:35 CU  Greg Huegel 40 yd field goal 
      9 plays, 31 yards, TOP 3:15 0 – 3 
 04:31 ND  YOON, Justin 28 yd field goal 
      10 plays, 66 yards, TOP 4:04 3 – 3 
2nd 12:50 CU  Justyn Ross 52 yd pass from Trevor Lawrence (Greg Huegel kick blockd) 
      3 plays, 65 yards, TOP 1:04 3 – 9 
 01:44 CU  Justyn Ross 42 yd pass from Trevor Lawrence (Greg Huegel kick) 
      8 plays, 85 yards, TOP 3:12 3 – 16 
 00:02 CU  Tee Higgins 19 yd pass from Trevor Lawrence (Greg Huegel kick) 
      4 plays, 80 yards, TOP 0:46 3 – 23 
3rd 02:04 CU  Travis Etienne 62 yd run (Greg Huegel kick) 
      3 plays, 71 yards, TOP 1:01 3 – 30 
Kickoff time: 3:11 pm  • End of Game: 6:42 pm  • Total elapsed time: 3:31
Referee: Matt Austin  •  Umpire: Russ Pulley  •  Linesman: Johnny Crawford •  Line judge: Michael Taylor  •  Back judge: Grantis Bell  •  Field judge: J. Taylor  •  Side judge: Rob Skelton  •  Center judge: Lee Hedrick  • 
Temperature: 72  • Wind:  • Weather: indoors

  Team Statistics  

Team Statistics (Final)
83rd Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
#3 ND vs #2 CU (Dec 29, 2018 at Arlington, Texas)

 Team Totals ND CU 
FIRST DOWNS 17 26 
   Rushing 
   Passing 15 
   Penalty 
NET YARDS RUSHING 88 211 
   Rushing Attempts 35 37 
   Average Per Rush 2.5 5.7 
   Rushing Touchdowns 
   Yards Gained Rushing 127 236 
   Yards Lost Rushing 39 25 
NET YARDS PASSING 160 327 
   Completions-Attempts-Int 17-34-1 27-41-0 
   Average Per Attempt 4.7 8.0 
   Average Per Completion 9.4 12.1 
   Passing Touchdowns 
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS 248 538 
   Total offense plays 69 78 
   Average Gain Per Play 3.6 6.9 
Fumbles: Number-Lost 2-1 2-1 
Penalties: Number-Yards 7-50 6-65 
PUNTS-YARDS 8-367 5-199 
   Average Yards Per Punt 45.9 39.8 
   Net Yards Per Punt 39.6 39.6 
   Inside 20 
   50+ Yards 
   Touchbacks 
   Fair catch 
KICKOFFS-YARDS 2-130 6-356 
   Average Yards Per Kickoff 65.0 59.3 
   Net Yards Per Kickoff 46.0 38.5 
   Touchbacks 
   Fair Catch Yards 
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD 1-1-0 2-10-0 
   Average Per Return 1.0 5.0 
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 0-0-0 1-13-0 
   Average Per Return 0.0 13.0 
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD 0-0-0 1-24-0 
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD 1-4-0 0-0-0 
Miscellaneous Yards 
Possession Time 27:06 32:54 
   1st Quarter  8:22  6:38 
   2nd Quarter  5:25  9:35 
   3rd Quarter  9:29  5:31 
   4th Quarter  3:50 11:10 
Third-Down Conversions 5 of 17 9 of 18 
Fourth-Down Conversions 1 of 2 1 of 1 
Red-Zone Scores-Chances 1-1 1-3 
   Touchdowns 0-1 1-3 
   Field goals 1-1 0-3 
Sacks By: Number-Yards 3-19 6-26 
PAT Kicks 0-0 3-4 
Field Goals 1-1 1-2 
Points off turnovers 10