Louisville's Harvey-Clemons finds redemption against Auburn for 'Prayer'
ATLANTA -- This time, he would come down with the ball. It just happened two years too late.
Josh Harvey-Clemons read Jeremy Johnson to perfection, jumping the route in front of Auburn's Marcus Davis for the interception. Minutes later, the Louisville safety did it again, hauling in the pick on a deep ball by the Auburn quarterback.
They were biggest bright spots for the Cardinals in a 31-24 loss to the No. 6 Tigers in the Georgia Dome. But for Harvey-Clemons they met far more.
"That's a bonus," Harvey-Clemons said, laughing.
The moment hangs in time in Auburn lore, right next to Kick Six, sits the Prayer at Jordan-Hare. It made certain Ricardo Louis will never have to buy himself a drink when he returns years from now to College Street.
But on the other end of history was Harvey-Clemons.
Back on Nov. 16, 2013, when he was still in a Georgia uniform, he and teammate Tray Matthews both went for the interception on Nick Marshall's heave on fourth-and-18. It was Harvey-Clemons that tipped it out of Matthews' hands and into those of of Louis. The wide receiver's 73-yard touchdown gave the Tigers a win that would help them reach the BCS Championship Game.
Dismissed from the Bulldogs in February 2014 by coach Mark Richt for a violation of team rules, he wanted to follow defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, who had left to join Bobby Petrino in his return to Louisville. He also wanted another shot at the Tigers, and the mere mention of Saturday's opener in his talks with Grantham sealed the deal.
"When he said that," Harvey-Clemons told the Louisville Courier-Journal, "I knew it was meant for me to be to come here, really. I've been waiting to play them again."
He got his wish as he lined up against the Tigers, Louis again there to join him. So, too, was Matthews, who left Athens for the Plains, and started at safety for the Tigers.
"Josh got in good position a couple times, made some good plays, and, you know, gave us a chance with the turnovers to help us win," said Petrino said.
On 3rd and 12 at Louisville's 26-yard-line, Havey-Clemons would finally get back at Auburn with that first interception. Then, two possessions later, he stepped in front of a badly thrown ball by Johnson for another.
"Just reading the quarterback," Harvey-Clemons said. "The first one I just sat on the route on the curl-out and the second one I seen the play-action trick play and I got back and the ball was there."
Ironically, while Harvey-Clemons had two interceptions, Matthews pulled down one of his own, coming on the first play of the game when the Cardinals' Lamar Jackson floated the ball into traffic.
Louisville's defense has the potential to be among the best in the ACC, if not the nation, with former Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Devonte' Fields adding to a stout and experienced group up front.
Any questions or pressure in meeting that promise largely lies with the secondary. Gone are all four starters from a year ago, including All-American Gerod Holliman and his NCAA record-tying 14 interceptions.
That made Harvey-Clemons and fellow Georgia defector Shaq Wiggins arguably the most important recruits of Petrino's second act at Louisville as they team with cornerbacks Chucky Williams (redshirt sophomore) and Trumaine Washington (sophomore).
While his goal isn't to make a run at Holliman, Harvey-Clemons believes he's well-suited in Grantham's defense to pile up the interceptions.
"It's the way it allows me to read the quarterback and play free," hey said.
Williams appeared in nine games last season, but had just six tackles and two of those came vs. Murray State and two in the Belk Bowl against Georgia, while Washington had 14 tackles while appearing in eight games. But neither have the resumes of Harvey-Clemons (25 games with 11 starts at Georgia) or Wiggins (12 games with eight starts).
Experience came in the form of Harvey-Clemons' game-high 14 tackles and the picks, while Wiggins added two stops. But it was Washington that got badly out of position as Johnson threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Louis in the third quarter, though he got back at the Tiger with a pick of his own late int he third and totaled seven tackles. Williams contributed six.
"It's gonna be the same thing as last year," Washington said of a secondary that led the ACC in interceptions.
"I really wanted to win," he said. "I didn't care about interceptions. I just really wanted to win."
But those two interceptions? If they weren't redemption they at least helped him push the Prayer that much further out of his mind.
Follow Cory McCartney on Twitter @coryjmccartney
