UofL Football Recap: Louisville Downs Clemson

Pregame Notes:

Hello Card Nation. The 5-3 Louisville Cardinals look to become Bowl eligible for the 2nd consecutive year under Coach Brohm. It won’t be easy for Louisville as they not only take on 6-1 Clemson, but a Clemson program they haven’t beat in 8 tries since the Cards entered the ACC. Louisville is coming off of a dramatic, hard earned, and gritty win vs Boston College in Chestnut Hill, MA. Louisville is going to need to take care of the football, limit the Clemson passing game, and find a way to limit the effect of the crowd noise in Death Valley.

1st Quarter:

Clemson returned the kick, but the Louisville special teams didn’t let them get to the 20-yard line. The Louisville defense forced a 3-and-out on Clemson’s first possession. The Cards were able to move the ball, but had to settle for a 40-yard field goal try from Brock Travelstead, which he missed. The Louisville defense forced a second consecutive 3-and-out by the Clemson offense. On Louisville’s 2nd possession, the Cards used a gadget play to gain 47 yards, but eventually settled for a 21-yard field goal by Travelstead. Clemson needed a 4th-and-1 conversion to continue their scoring drive, as the Tigers led 7-3 after the first quarter.

2nd Quarter:

Early in the quarter, as the Cards move the ball, they continued to hurt themselves with the pre-snap penalties that put them behind the chains. Louisville used a 7-play, 92-yard scoring drive that took almost 3 minutes off the clock to take a 10-3 lead midway through the quarter. On Clemson’s ensuing drive, Louisville blocked Clemson’s field goal attempt. The block was Louisville’s 4th (2 field goals & 2 punts) of the season. 

Halftime Stats:

T.O.P:  12:11

Passing Yards: 95

Rushing Yards: 133

Sacks: 

T.Os: 

3rd Quarter:

On Louisville’s initial drive of the quarter, the Cards were able to have a lot of success on the ground. A huge dropped passed on 3rd down stalled the drive. Brock Travelstead connected on a 42-yard field goal to give the Cards a 20-7 lead. The Louisville defense forced Clemson into another 3-and-out. Ja’Corey Brooks then returned the punt for a TD, but a block in the back took the touchdown off the board. Louisville had to settle for another Brock Travelstead field goal to go up 23-7. Louisville stopped Clemson on a 4th-and-1 to get the ball on the positive side of the 50 yard line. After scoring 2 touchdowns in the second quarter, Louisville struggled to find the end zone in this quarter and had to settle for yet another field goal, this time from 49 yards out. Louisville led #11 Clemson 26-7 heading into the final quarter. 

4th Quarter:

As Clemson attempted to cut into the Louisville lead, the Cards block their 2nd field goal of the game (5th on the season). Clemson was finally able to find the endzone, but the Louisville defense really made them work for it and burn a lot of time off the clock. There was some controversy on the onside kick, but Louisville was able to retain the ball. On the Cards first play, Isaac Brown went for 45 yards and a score to give the Cards a 33-14 lead with just under 6 minutes remaining. Clemson was able to score another touchdown to make it respectable, but Louisville beats Clemson 33-21 in Death Valley.

Final Stats:

Passing Yards: 156

Rushing Yards: 210 (3 Touchdowns)

Post Game Notes:

Louisville is now bowl eligible and they are now 4-2 in conference play. Louisville got their 1st win over Clemson, after losing the previous 8 games. Isaac Brown led Louisville with 151 yards on 20 carries and 1 touchdown. The Louisville defense and special teams play gave Louisville the extra boost they needed to beat a ranked Clemson team and to beat them pretty handily, despite what the final score says. Once Louisville cleaned up their pre-snap procedures they were able to put some points on the board more consistently. Louisville was able to limit the Clemson passing game and force Clemson to go on long sustained drives. Louisville will head into their bye week on a 2-game win streak. They will head to the West Coast to take on the Stanford Cardinal on November 16th.

Recap & highlights from the Cards win over #11 Clemson!

Recap: https://t.co/H2fap0PLL0#GoCards pic.twitter.com/aEG4l0qg3E

— Louisville Football (@LouisvilleFB) November 3, 2024