Notre Dame is FWAA/Reveal Suits National Team of the Week

November 9, 2020 by FWAA

DALLAS (FWAA) – The fourth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish scored a touchdown with 22 seconds left in regulation to take the game to overtime, then slammed Clemson back on its second overtime possession to claim a 47-40 win over the No. 1 Tigers. For ending Clemson's ACC-record 36-game regular-season win streak and overtaking the country's longest current win streak (13), Notre Dame (7-0) has earned the Reveal Suits National Team of the Week honor for games of the weekend of Nov. 7, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

This is the sixth time for Notre Dame (7-0) to earn the Team of the Week honor and first since 2017. All Division I FBS and FCS schools are eligible to be selected. This is the 19th season for the FWAA to award a Team of the Week.

Notre Dame, which has started the season 7-0 for the third time under head coach Brian Kelly, scored on its first official play when Kyren Williams ran 65 yards for a touchdown and led for most of the game. The Irish also scored on their final play of regulation when, starting with 1:48 left on the clock, Ian Book took Notre Dame on an eight-play, 91-yard scoring drive, the key play being a 53-yard pass to Avery Davis that put the Irish in the red zone. Three plays later Book hit Davis again for a four-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 33-33.

Williams scored touchdowns on both Irish overtime periods and the clincher was provided by Notre Dame's defense. Back-to-back sacks by Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Daelin Hayes pushed Clemson back to a fourth-and-24, and the ensuing pass didn't gain the needed yards. Notre Dame's defense held the Tigers to 34 rushing yards – its lowest total since 2009 – and kept Travis Etienne, the ACC's all-time leading rusher, to 28 yards on 18 carries.

Also of note was Irish placekicker Jonathan Doerer, who set a program record with 18 kicking points with four field goals.

The win was Notre Dame's 23rd in a row at home – the nation's second-longest streak – and the ninth in program history over an AP-No. 1 team. As a one-year football member in 2020, the Irish also ended Clemson's 28-game win streak against conference opponents, which was the second-longest streak in ACC history.

Notre Dame travels to Boston College for an 3:30 p.m. ET game Saturday on ABC.

The other National Team of the Week nominees for the weekend of Nov. 7 are:

• Indiana (3-0): The Hoosiers ended a 24-game losing streak to Michigan with a 38-21 home win, dominating almost every statistic including total yards (460-357), rushing yards (118-13) and time of possession (39 minutes to 21), among others. Indiana is off to a 3-0 start in Big Ten play for the first time since 1998 – and only the fourth time in its history – thanks in part to two interceptions against a Michigan team that had not committed a turnover in its first two games. Indiana, which last beat Michigan in 1987, has now won eight of its last 10 Big Ten games.

• Liberty (7-0): The No. 25 Flames parlayed last week's first national ranking as an FBS program into a second upset of an ACC foe this season, stealing a 38-35 win at Virginia Tech when senior kicker Alex Barbir nailed a 51-yarder with one second remaining. Barbir's career-long make punctuated a wild final two minutes that had 17 points and a might-have-been Hokies' game-winning touchdown return of a blocked field goal. Liberty quarterback Malik Willis passed for 217 yards on a 20-for-30 day with three touchdowns and added a team-high 108 rushing yards with another touchdown. Liberty, which also won at Syracuse on Oct. 17, has won nine in a row.

• Maryland (2-1): The Terrapins beat Penn State for just the third time in their 44-game series and the first time since 2015 in a 35-19 road win. Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa completed 18 of 26 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Rakim Jarrett, who had five catches for 144 yards. Linebacker Chance Campbell returned a fumble recovery 44 yards in the third quarter to give Maryland a 35-7 lead and help push Penn State to 0-3 for the first time since 2001.

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Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,200 men and women who cover college football. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team.

2020 Reveal Suits National Teams of the Week
• Weekend of Sept. 5: South Alabama Jaguars
• Weekend of Sept. 12: Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
• Weekend of Sept. 19: Navy Midshipmen
• Weekend of Sept. 26: Mississippi State Bulldogs
• Weekend of Oct. 3: Tulsa Golden Hurricane
• Weekend of Oct. 10: Texas A&M Aggies
• Weekend of Oct. 17: Florida State Seminoles
• Weekend of Oct. 24: Indiana Hoosiers
• Weekend of Oct. 31: Michigan State Spartans
• Weekend of Nov. 7: Notre Dame Fighting Irish