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Louisville vs Clemson Recap: 3 Things we Learned

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Clemson Tigers and Louisville Cardinals met in a tough ACC matchup on Saturday night. The Tigers defense frustrated quarterback Lamar Jackson and Louisville early and often.

The Clemson Tigers defense used two interceptions to capitalize on Louisville’s mistakes and jump out to an early 28-10 at halftime. The defense had five sacks, nine tackles for loss, and six QB hurries on arguably the best quarterback in the country in Lamar Jackson.

Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson threw three touchdown passes and 190 passing yards in the first half.

The Tigers also used running back Wayne Gallman to create some distance between themselves and the visiting Cardinals. Gallman carried that ball nine times for 79 yards and a touchdown.

Wide receiver Deon Cain had two catches for 71 yards and two scores in the game. It was a day to remember as it is also Cain’s 22nd birthday.

The second half told a different story for the Louisville Cardinals. They would come storming back, forcing four turnovers in the second half and scoring on their first five possessions of the half. They scored 26 straight points to take a 36-28 lead in the fourth quarter.

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But the Clemson Tigers would have a comeback of their own up their sleeve. They scored 14 straight points to go up 42-36 with 3:14 left in the game.

The ACC Will Have 2 Playoff Teams

It will be very hard to deny these two teams a College Football Playoff bid in January. The Atlantic Coast Conference showcased two of its best teams on Saturday night and it lived up to the hype.

With so much parity across the College Football landscape, it is going to be very hard to say these two teams aren’t playoff teams by season’s end. The Tigers have won 19 games in a row at home.

The loss shouldn’t hurt Louisville’s AP ranking too much either. They face No. 6 Houston later on this season as well. So there’s also a chance for them to redeem themselves in the rankings going forward.

The Clemson Tigers Are A Resilient Bunch

Clemson’s first half scoring drives took a total time of 1:58. Their longest scoring drive of the first half lasted 57 seconds.

An 8-play, 85-yard drive which took 2:57, longer than all other scoring drives combined, proved to be enough to win the game for the Tigers.

Deshaun Watson shook off three interceptions and threw for five passing touchdowns in the game to lead the Clemson offense.

They showed that regardless of their mistakes, they are able to bounce back from adversity and return to the College Football Playoff. Their loss in last season’s National Championship game certainly is still on their minds.

Lamar Jackson will be a Heisman Finalist

Quarterback Lamar Jackson, despite a slow start, showed the masses he has the ability to a special player for the Louisville Cardinals.

Jackson will be a Heisman finalist at the end of the season. This performance solidified that.

Jackson accounted for three touchdowns in the game. He was 27 for 44 with 295 passing yards and a touchdown. On the ground, he ran 32 times for 162 yards and two touchdowns.

The Clemson defense sacked him five times and forced an interception but it did not deter Jackson from almost leading the Cardinals to a huge road victory. They are now 0-3 against Clemson all time.

Highlights

Louisville has a bye week until they face Duke on October 14. They’ll rest up before then and see what needs to be adjusted on both sides of the ball.

Clemson has a short week and travels to Boston College in a Friday night game. This game hopefully won’t have them too gassed this weekend.

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