With a 62-27 romp over an undermanned UMass team last week, Notre Dame should feel pretty good. But with the performance of the erratic defense in the first half, there is real reason for major concern tonight.

ND finally woke up enough near the end of the first half to take command of the game but what happened before then should have head coach Brian Kelly worried. The 28-point underdog Minutemen were within a point, 21-20, near the end of the second quarter. The team, whose rush offense was ranked 122th in the nation prior to the game, had a 81-yard touchdown run in the half and running back Marquis Young had 103 yards on just five carries. And, of course, the Irish secondary gave up the big play again.Facing one of the top passers in college football today (Clemson's Deshaun Watson is ranked 18th in the nation in pass efficiency), the Irish defense can't afford to play the way they did against Virginia and UMass. If they do, they will find themselves so far behind they will never catch up.The Irish did finish the UMass game with some firsts in the Kelly-era. The 681 total offensive yards, including 457 on the ground, passed the previous high of 587 that was set in the Miami game in the Shamrock series in Chicago in 2012. The rushing total was the best since the Irish gained 458 against Purdue in 1992, ant the total yardage the most since a school-record 720 against Navy in 1969.The 62 points was the most since 1996 against Rutgers and the last time an ND team produced more was 69 in the 1977 Georgia Tech game. Other notable marks are the first punt return for a TD in six seasons by C.J. Sanders, a 50 yarder. ND also had two running backs over the 100 yard mark, C.J. Prosise and Josh Adams. True freshman QB back-up Brandon Wimbush almost joined the club with 92 yards on four carries including a 58-yard scoring run. QB DeShone Kizer had a decent day but far from impressive. It appears he has a problem throwing to the left. That is something that can be corrected as the season goes on.All in all there were a lot of positives for the Irish offense.Kelly credited UMass for the offense it ran and the trick plays put in. He also felt the Irish defense took awhile to adjust after preparing for and playing an option type attack the week before against Georgia Tech.More on the game later.Today, the Irish face 12th ranked Clemson in their home stadium, nicknamed "Death Valley." As I mention, the Tigers have one of the best QBs in the country and a fine receiver to go along with him in Germine Hoppes. Wayne Gallman leads the rush attack, but he is also a fine receiver.Clemson enters at 3-0 with wins over Wofford, 49-10, Appalachian State, 41-10, and Louisville, 20-17.The series is tied between the two schools at 1-1. Clemson won the last meeting in 1979 but the Irish won the year before.The game will be televised nationally on ABC-TV with a 8:10 p.m. start.IRISH NOTES ... Prosise finished with 149 yards on 15 carries and two TDs, Adams 133 on 13 and a score, Wimbush, 92 on four and a score, and Dexter Williams, another true freshman, 48 on seven. Kizer finished with 207 yards on 15 completions in 22 attempts with one interception, which was a tipped ball. Amir Carlisle had five catches for 52 yards, Will Fuller 57 on four, Alize Jones, 56 on three, and Chris Brown, 34 on two. Defensively, Greer Martini had eight tackles with KeVarae Russell and Nyles Morgan, seven each …. Starting left tackle Ronnie Stanley left the game early as a precautionary measure, but will play today. WR Corey Robinson injured his knee in pre-game warm-ups and was kept out of the game even though he could have played, Kelly said. He will be available tonight. Sophomore Tyler Luatua, the best blocking tight end for the Irish, missed the game due to a concussion and will also miss tonight's game …. Punter Tyler Newsome managed to jump into the ND records book with five punts for a single-game record average of 52.4 yards per punt …. ND's defense gave up 276 yards in the first half, 113 more than they gave up in the entire Texas game …. Defense shows a real lack of consistency. After holding top run offense Georgia Tech in check for 59 of 60 minutes, the Irish defense gave up way too many yards to the "pass happy" Minutemen who actually established a running game …. Kelly is 79-2 when his teams score 40 or more points …. Kizer's rushing TD was his career first …. Cole Luke's interception off a tipped ball by Matthias Farley, was ND's first of the season …. The last ND punt return for a score was by Golden Tate in 2009 against Pittsburgh that went for 87 yards …. Irish are 19th in the nation in pass-efficiency. Kizer is ranked 27th nationally …. Clemson is the nation's No. 3 team in pass-efficiency …. Fuller is 11th in the nation in receiving yards per game, 113.5, third in TD receptions with six, and 25th in yards per reception …. Overall ND is ranked 12th nationally in rushing offense. Much of that credit goes to Prosise. He is 5th nationally in rushing yards per game with 150; 7th in yards per carry with 8.11 and 11th in rushing TDs with six …. ESPN will have its game day program from Clemson today. ND is 7-9 when playing at the game day site …. As I write this column, Hurricane Joaqin may play a role in tonight's game. The latest report is that the hurricane won't make landfall along the coast, however, there will be heavy rain in the area. South Carolina's governor has already declared a state of emergency .... Kelly is 129-12 in his career (.915) when his teams win the turnover battle, 26-1 (.963) during his six seasons at ND. Clemson's coach Dabo Swinney is 37-4 (.902) when his teams have fewer turnovers than their opponents .... The rain picture might help ND because it has a better running game that Clemson .... In my preseason picks I have Clemson ending ND win streak at four. There is no reason to change that prediction. Consider that ND, despite its 62 points last week, still has a "young" QB in Kizer facing the pressure of playing in "Death Valley." Also, facing one of the best passing QBs in the country, ND is in trouble. The Irish defense is not consistent, and the pass defense is very questionable, especially the secondary. Hope I'm wrong.