Dabo Swinney did not mince words.
Following Saturday night’s game at Death Valley, one in which unranked Louisville dismantled a listless Clemson team 33-21, Swinney shouldered the responsibility for a crushing defeat that removed the Tigers’ ACC destiny from their hands and likely dashed their play-off hopes as well.
“I don’t make no excuses,” conceded Swinney. “There’s no excuses. None. That ain’t got nothing to do with it. Flat out got my butt out-coached tonight.”
And the Clemson Tigers got outplayed. Badly. Louisville averaged nearly 8 yards per carry, an unfathomable number against a usually formidable Clemson defense, and on the other side completely stymied the Tigers’ offense until the final five minutes of the game when the outcome was no longer in doubt.
Clemson took the opening kick-off, a drive that went nowhere, before Louisville marched right down the field on their first crack on offense only to miss a 40-yard field goal to keep the game scoreless. But the Tigers fared no better on their second possession, another three-and-out that resulted in a punt. The Cardinals responded with another solid trip down the field that ended with a made field goal from inside 25 yards for a 3-0 lead.
Clemson did respond, with the offense finally finding some life. Klubnik found freshman wide receiver T.J. Moore three times on the drive, with two of the catches keeping Clemson ahead of the sticks, before Cade finally connected with Antonio Williams down the left sideline for 12-yard touchdown. That 7-3 lead would be Clemson’s only one of the night.
Louisville scored 10 unanswered second quarter points, taking a 17-7 lead into halftime in front of a stunned crowd that was having flashbacks of Clemson’s offensive woes from the past three seasons. But it would only get worse.
The Cardinals scored on their first three possessions of the second half, all on field goals, to stretch their lead to 26-7. At that point, with the Tigers struggling to sustain anything offensively, the game felt out of reach.
The last gasp for Clemson came midway through the fourth quarter. A methodical drive that bled off more time from the clock than the Tigers could really afford to give resulted in a short Phil Mafah touchdown run. Then insanity.
Clemson attempted an onside kick which the Tigers, according to every replay angle, recovered with just under five minutes to play. But of the 83,000 thousand or so inside Memorial Stadium, the only ones not to see Clemson recover the ball were the officials who awarded Louisville possession, and then upheld that decision on replay, prompting the irate contingent of Tiger faithful to rain bottles and trash down onto the field resulting in a short delay.
On the next play, Cardinals running back Isaac Brown delivered the dagger with a 45-yard touchdown run on the first play of the ensuing drive.
Mafah would score once more in the waning moments to set the final score of 33-21, but by that point the game had become academic. With the loss, Clemson falls to 6-2 overall and behind Miami and SMU in the ACC standings. The Tigers would have to win out and hope for some help if they are to play in the ACC championship game. The reality is, it was a damming loss in more ways than one.
“I give all the credit to Louisville, Coach Brohm and his staff,” Dabo Swinney added. “It’s not easy to win here. They walked in here and kicked our frickin’ tails. We’ve gotta go get back to work.”
Statistically speaking, when looking at the numbers without knowing the score, it would be easy to assume that Clemson had won the game. It was an anomaly of numbers in a game that was flipped on its head when you break down the final totals.
Clemson ran a staggering 101 plays. Louisville snapped the ball 59 times. The Tigers outgained the Cardinals 450-366. Klubnik alone attempted 56 passes, completing 33 of them for 222 yards and the score to Williams. Mafah carried the ball 30 times, by far a season high, for 171 yards and his two scores.
Unfortunately, much of the overall production came late in the game with Clemson well out of reach. Simply put, the defense could not get off the field on third down and was gashed by a Louisville run game built on speed over power.
The Cardinals’ veteran quarterback Tyler Shough completed 17 of 32 passes for 156 yards and Brown carried the ball 20 times for 151 yards. Ja’Corey Brooks led Louisville in receiving yards with four receptions for 42.
Klubnik put a lot of the blame on himself in the aftermath, though the final result was hardly his fault.
“We are pissed because we lost,” he said. “I’m pissed because we’ve given so much, it’s just not acceptable. Our execution and effort and my play and everybody’s play just wasn’t like us. Just pissed.”
All Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers can do now is pick up the pieces of a disappointing night that began with much fanfare and soldier on as they travel to Virginia Tech for the first of two straight road games next Saturday. Klubnik’s words were a rally to his teammates as the Tigers will look to rebound.
“I just told the guys, I’m going to show up tomorrow,” Klubnik said. “I’ll be in a facility from 12:00 to 7:00 tomorrow, getting my body right, watching the film, getting treatment, and getting my recovery run.”
But any way you slice it, Louisville’s first ever win over Clemson will sting the Tigers for a long time to come.
