Previewing No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl: College Football Playoff Semifinal Time, Spread, How to Watch

Who: No. 2 Clemson (13-0) vs. No. 3 Notre Dame (12-0)

What: Cotton Bowl | College Football Playoff Semifinal

When: 4 p.m. ET, Saturday, December 29

Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas

Spread: Clemson -12.5

How to watch: ESPN

The first of this season’s College Football Playoff Semifinal games features a pair of undefeated teams that each made a quarterback change midseason, have played four common opponents and whose best wins of the season came in early September.

It’s No. 2 Clemson versus No. 3 Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl. The Tigers will make their fourth College Football Playoff appearance – second only to Alabama – and the Fighting Irish will make their playoff debut as the ultimate wildcard in the current format as a college football independent that is almost guaranteed to clinch one of the four spots if it goes undefeated like it did this season.

Clemson, led by true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence, a four-headed rushing attack and the nation’s No. 1 defense (according to Football Outsiders’ S&P+ rankings) hasn’t had a game decided by fewer than 20 points since September, when the Tigers beat Syracuse 27-23.

Lawrence, who made the first start of his career against the Orange after he had taken over from the incumbent, Kelly Bryant. Bryant announced his decision to transfer prior to the Syracuse game then Lawrence was knocked out of the game, meaning newly-promoted backup Chase Brice had to finish the game as the Tigers’ playoff hopes could have been shaken with a loss.

Looking back at Clemson’s regular season, the Tigers’ best win came on the road in Week 2 when they won 28-26 at Texas A&M, which finished the year ranked No. 19 in the final CFP rankings.

Ironically, Clemson may not have won in College Station without Bryant, who was the team’s leading passer (12-of-17 for 205 yards and a touchdown) and rusher (15 carries for 54 yards and a touchdown) in the game.

Similarly, Notre Dame’s best win was in Week 1 over Michigan. The Fighting Irish won 24-17 as quarterback Brandon Wimbush, who later lost his job to Ian Book after just two more games, threw for 170 yards and a touchdown while running for a team-high 59 yards.

Both teams appear to have made the right decision at quarterback, given their undefeated records and spots in the College Football Playoff.

Lawrence has completed 65 percent of his passes for 2,606 yards, 24 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Book has completed 70.4 percent of his attempts for 2,468 yards, 19 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Bryant has committed to Missouri, while Wimbush recently announced his decision to transfer after the season.

It doesn’t hurt that each of the new starters, Lawrence and Book, both have a top-five defense behind them. Football Outsiders ranks the Fighting Irish’s defense as the fourth-best unit in the country, just three spots behind the Tigers.

Clemson and Notre Dame are both clearly deserving of their spots in the playoff, but it’ll be interesting to see how they fare against a fellow national championship contender given how long it has been since each school was truly tested by a strong opponent. To no fault of their own – just a result of their schedule and opponents like Florida State, USC and Virginia Tech being worse than expected – the Tigers and Fighting Irish’s best win, respectively, came in the first eight days of September.

Clemson will likely play without star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, who tested positive for a banned substance earlier this month, making him ineligible for the College Football Playoff. His loss would be significant for the Tigers, who also had backup offensive lineman Zach Giella and tight end Braden Galloway test positive for the substance called ostarine.

The Tigers’ defensive line is still incredibly talented with Clelin Ferrell (10.5 sacks, two forced fumbles), Christian Wilkins (5.0 sacks) and Austin Bryant (6.0 sacks), but losing a player of Lawrence’s caliber – especially this close to the semifinal – is far from ideal.

The Cotton Bowl could be decided on the line of scrimmage. In addition to a defensive line that has draftniks abuzz, Clemson has a top-10 rushing attack, led by running back Travis Etienne. Etienne has rushed for 1,463 yards and 21 touchdowns, while averaging 8.3 yards per carry.

Backups Lyn-J Dixon (536 rushing yards, 9.6 avg., 5 TD), Adam Choice (506 rushing yards, 7.4 avg., 7 TD) and Tavien Feaster (409 rushing yards, 5.8 avg., 6 TD) have all had productive seasons in secondary roles.

Sophomore wide receiver Tee Higgins, a big target at 6-4, leads a talented receiving corps with 52 receptions for 802 yards and 10 touchdowns. Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow, one of the heroes of Clemson’s 2016 national championship, is a reliable option in the slot and 6-4 freshman Justyn Ross is a big-play threat who averages more than 20 yards per catch.

Notre Dame doesn’t pack the same punch as Clemson offensively but the Irish still rank in the top 35 in points (33.8) and passing yards (265) per game. They average 190 yards on the ground per game, led by running back Dexter Williams (941 yards, 6.6 avg., 12 TD).

A win for Clemson would mean the Tigers will play in their third national championship game of the College Football Playoff era with the chance to win their second title in three years. It would further cement Clemson and Coach Dabo Swinney’s respective places among the best college football programs and coaches in the sport today.

A win for Notre Dame would mean the Fighting Irish will play in their second national championship game in the last seven seasons, signifying the most successful run the program has seen since the late 1980’s/early ’90s. After a dismal 4-8 season in 2016 that had some wondering about Coach Brian Kelly’s future at the school, the Irish have bounced back with a 10-3 season, followed by their first CFP berth.

Notre Dame is one of the most historic college football programs but it hasn’t won a national championship since 1988. A win on Saturday would bring the Irish one step closer to changing that.