DEATH VALLEY: Heading into Saturday’s matchup with Louisville, it looked like the fates were aligning in favor of Clemson. The Tigers had won seven straight. Their offense had averaged more than 41 points per game since the season-opening loss to Georgia. Clemson was well-rested, thanks to a bye, while the Cardinals would be playing in their sixth straight contest. The home crowd would be a factor in a prime-time setting at Death Valley, where the Tigers had lost just one ACC game since 2017. That all collapsed like a house of cards, however, as Louisville took control early and never let Clemson come up for air in a 33-21 victory.
Despite running 101 plays, holding the ball for nearly 38 minutes, piling up 450 yds and not committing a turnover, Clemson never threatened in the second half.
A lot of elements contributed to the loss, but the Tigers’ inability to prevent explosive rushes is certainly near the top. Louisville posted six run plays of 10+ yards, including a back-breaking 45-yarder from Isaac Brown (151 yards) in the fourth quarter, and averaged 7.8 yards/carry as a team.
Clemson also ran the ball effectively, with Phil Mafah gaining 171 yards and scoring twice, but couldn’t get the passing game cranked up in time to mount a comeback. Cade Klubnik registered just 228 yards on 56 pass attempts. If the Tigers made halftime adjustments, they didn’t pan out, and the Cardinals extended the lead with a dominant third quarter.
In his postgame comments, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said Louisville “flat-out got it done.” Swinney continued, “They came in here and kicked our tails and you’ve got to own that …. They were just better than us across the board tonight.”
Louisville also blocked a pair of field attempts, the first of which came just before halftime and swung the momentum firmly in the Cardinals’ favor. The second block came on a chip-shot 24-yarder in the fourth quarter and led to an exodus from the stands. Further evidence that although the Tigers may have won on the stat sheet, it was Louisville that made all the critical plays.
Swinney pointed out that Clemson no longer controls its own destiny in the ACC as both SMU and Miami (FL) remain undefeated and aren’t a part of the Tigers’ conference schedule. Swinney and the Tigers will instead have to focus on winning their final two ACC games and hope to get some help down the stretch.
The first of those two games comes next week at Virginia Tech. Kickoff from Blacksburg, Va. is set for 3:30 p.m., Saturday.
Final Stats
Here’s my view from Death Valley
Clemson postgame
Dabo Swinney
Cade Klubnik
Phil Mafah
