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Written by Sherlenia Mitchell
Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino takes his nationally ranked 5th Cardinals (6-1) to Charlottesville, VA to play the University of Virginia Cavaliers (2-5) on ABC at noon after a high flying win last week.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson and other Louisville Cardinals sailed into the school's record books after dismantling NC State 44-0 by halftime. 54-13 was the final score last week. Once again, Jackson led the charge completing 20 of 34 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns in the win. The stupendous sophomore had 359 of his 431 total yards of offense by halftime, so it was a typical “Lamar being Lamar” kind of day. Additionally, the dazzling sophomore recorded his 33rd touchdown of the season in the first half. The touchdown to tie the single season record was a three yard pass to tight end Cole Hikutini. Moments later, Jackson set a new school record of 34 touchdowns in a season after a 16 yard connection to wide receiver Jamari Staples. Keep in mind, it was only Louisville’s seventh game of the season. As spectacular of a performance Jackson displayed in last Saturday's matchup against NC State, kicker Blanton Creque also added his name to the Louisville record books. The freshman became the first Cardinals kicker to account for 18 points, with four successful field goals and six extra points. No doubt coach Petrino was proud of his kicker who hasn't missed from 39 yards out, or closer remarking, "I thought he did a really nice job. We brought him out last Saturday night and worked extremely hard on our timing of everything and he did a good job all week long, so I was happy to see the snaps, the holds - putting the ball in the right spot - and certainly he did a great job of kicking it." Despite the record breaking offense, the key to scoring 44 pointsin a half against a team that went to overtime against Clemson resides in a sharp, dexterous defense. Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and his troops have been solid against the run, ranking 19th in the country against the run. They have been playing at an extremely high level over the last couple weeks. "We're doing a really nice job of stopping the run,” Petrino said. “I like the way our front guys are playing because besides defeating blocks, we're able to make tackles and get production which a lot of times as a defensive lineman it's hard to get that kind of production.” Just last week, the Cardinals held the Wolfpack to a season-low 14 yards rushing and 250 yards of total offense. In addition, the dynamic defense's performance in the first quarter prevented NC State from gaining any positive yardage. Cardinal linebacker Keith Kelsey and defensive tackle DeAngelo Brown stopped NC State’s star running back Matt Dayes and prohibited any chance for NC State head coach Dave Doeren to create anything positive for his offense. They Had 54 yards of total offense in the entire first half. Furthermore, Defensive end Drew Bailey has 30 tackles, with 5.5 for losses and Brown has 20 tackles, with 4.5 for losses, as the leaders of Louisville's three-man defensive front. So what does Virginia’s first year head coach Bronco Mendenhall have in store for an opponent whose offense averaging 52.6 points a game, and is the only team in the country ranked in the top 10 in total offense and total defense? Obviously, give credit where credit is due and in this case, he gives it to Louisville."When you have a combination of good coaches and good talent, that ends up having a lot of success and that's over the years, Louisville has done that," Mendenhall said. "They have added good football coaches, and they have recruited very good talent to fit their schemes and vice versa." There's no question that Mendenhall's lackluster debut season, which includes a loss to Richmond in the home opener, as well as a disappointing 35-14 loss to the University of North Carolina Tar Heels last week, is not how he intended to begin his head coaching job in the ACC. However, with an underwhelming offense that only converted three of -19 third down attempts last week against UNC and only three points in the second half against the University of Pittsburgh two weeks ago, the Cavaliers can only go up from this point. Quarterback Kurt Benkert, a transfer from East Carolina, struggled in those two outings, passing for 126 yards against the Tar Heels and completing 20 of 44 passes against Pitt for 278 yards. However, in their two wins this season, he threw for 757 yards showing that he has the potential to get out of this rough patch. Luckily, Virginia running back Taquen Mizzell has the potential to get the Cavaliers offense going. The Cavaliers running back caught nine passes for 89 yards and rushed 14 times for 40 yards in last year’s meeting. So far this season, he has 83 carries for 461 yards and four touchdowns, as well as caught 31 passes for 211 yards. Still, this may not be enough to ward off the bowl bound Cardinals. Overall, the Cardinals will look at this matchup as a shot to improve their playoff hopes with a high scoring victory. The last time these teams played, Louisville scored a 38-31 home win behind a career-high 146 rushing yards and two scores from Brandon Radcliff. Although the Cavaliers will have to do everything right in order to pull out the upset, Louisville is prepared for the challenge as coach Petrino proclaimed, “we need to get ready for our game at Virginia. Back on the road, we have to do a good job in practice this week, got to do a good job traveling, and get up and play another noon game. I think our players will be excited about it." Excitement is certainly in the air as the Louisville Cardinals look to continue their remarkable season this Saturday against Virginia.
Written by Sherlenia Mitchell
Louisville, KY- At Papa John’s Stadium in Louisville on Saturday, the University of Louisville Cardinals defeated the State Wolfpack 54-13. Louisville students, fans and alumni gathered in the stands on a beautiful fall day to celebrate homecoming, they were treated to a show by quarterback Lamar Jackson and the 7th nationally ranked Cardinals.
Louisville Head Coach Bobby Petrino stressed the importance of being prepared against an NC State team that fought extremely hard before loosing to Clemson in overtime last week. “I’m really proud of our assistant coaches and our players on how hard they worked during the week,” Coach Petrino stated after the win. “I thought they had a really good game plan. Our players came out and executed it.” The Cardinals would start their first possession with an eight-yard pass to tight end Chad Hikutini, followed by another 12 yard pass to wide receiver James Quick. After Jackson completed a 16-yard pass to wide receiver Jaylen Smith, the Heisman hopeful ran up the middle for a 36-yard touchdown. The Wolfpack offense then took the field coming off a 17-yard return, only for red shirt freshman quarterback Ryan Finley to throw an interception to Cardinal cornerback Trumaine Washington. The rest of the first quarter wouldn’t get much better for NC State head coach Dave Doeren and his team, who statistically had the 16th best defense in the country coming into today’s matchup. Louisville kicker Blanton Creque found the uprights after the Washington interception, putting the Cardinals up 10-0, within the first four minutes of the game. Things started to look up for the Wolfpack defense as safety Josh Jones forced and recovered a fumble by Quick after going 3-in-out in their prior possession. However, another 3-in-out thwarted all momentum created by NC State’s defense. On the next Louisville offensive series, Jackson only needed 60 seconds to connect to Jaylen Smith on a deep pass for 74-yard touchdown leading 17-0. By the end of the first quarter, the Cardinals had244 total yards of offense against a Wolfpack defense that held Clemson to only 126 yards last week, during the first quarter. As the Cardinal offense took the field to start the second quarter, Jackson turned up the heat and got everyone involved. Running back Jeremy Smith ran one yard in for the score, Hikutini caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Jackson and wide receiver Jamari Staples caught a 16-yard touchdown pass to go up 41-0 with three minutes left in the half. Say what you want about Jackson’s Heisman’s chances, but the sophomore QB would acquire 359 yards of total offense and four touchdowns all in the first half to lead the Wolfpack 44-0 at halftime. But all cannot be blamed on NC State’s defense. “They are pretty good,” Jackson later commented on the Wolfpack defense. “Their D-line and linebackers are active and they move around a lot. They were getting after us a little, but we did pretty good.” Finley and the Wolfpack offense totaled (-1) yards in the first quarter and failed to convert a first down. Cardinals linebacker Keith Kelsey and defensive tackle DeAngelo Brown stopped NC State’s star running back Matt Dayes and prohibited any chance for Coach Doeren to create anything positive for his offense, as they only totaled 54 yards in the whole first half. Coach Doeren could not help but take notice of the defensive effort made by the Cardinals in the first half saying, “They did a really good job defensively, they dropped eight and had some different coverage packages early on so good job by them.” On the other hand, the lack of offense by NC State begs the question of whether this was a case of an offense still reeling last week’s loss, or were the Cardinal defenders just in the right spot at the right time. In the case of the first half, the latter is true as the Cardinals held their ground and only allowed one conversion for a first down, which occurred well in the second quarter, on seven attempts. Luckily, NC State came out after halftime looking more like the team that had Clemson on the run. With less than six minutes left in the third quarter, Finley connected to 6’3 freshman wide receiver Kelvin Harmon on a 14-yard sideline touchdown pass to prevent the Louisville shutout. Additionally, the Wolfpack defense came out off the momentum of the Harmon touchdown, made a stop and forced the Louisville to punt. On the next series for NC State,redshirt sophomore wide reciever Maurice Trowell caught a 70-yard touchdown pass on their fifth play of their possession. That was their last score of the game. To the surprise of many, Jackson came out in the fourth quarter, even after the Cardinals went scoreless in the third quarter and leading significantly 44-13. Jackson’s last series of the game included 13 plays that took over five minutes off the clock and resulted in a one yard touchdown run by Jeremy Smith to put it away 51-13. Creque’s 27-yard field goal gave the Cardinals their final points of the day to go up, 54-13. This field goal broke the school’s record of most points in a game by a kicker with 18 points. Overall, the high scoring Cardinal victory paved the way for Jackson’s statement game as he finished with 355 yards through the air, and another 76 yards on the ground. He accounted for 431 yards of the team’s 553 total offensive yards. In addition, his 74-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter was the longest touchdown pass of his career. With 34 touchdowns under his belt this year so far, the victory also included his tenth consecutive game with both a rushing and passing touchdown in a game. His 204 points scored this season are the most in program history. If that did not sell you on his abilities, he now holds the record at Louisville for most touchdowns in a single season by a quaterback and we’re only seven games through the season. Jackson and the Cardinals now look ahead to next Saturday’s matchup against their conference rival, the Virginia Cavaliers (2-5) at noon in Charlottesville, VA. The Cardinals will undoubtedly look to build upon their two game winning streak and improve their chances to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship game with a win.
Written by Sherlenia Mitchell
This Saturday, 12:00 p.m. ET, the 7th nationally ranked University of Louisville Cardinals (5-1), coming off a 24-14 win over the Duke University Blue Devils at home, stay in Louisville to take on the North Carolina State University Wolfpack (4-2) at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
Louisville’s sophomore sensation quarterback, Lamar Jackson, scored two touchdowns on 325 total yards, while the Cardinal defense limited the Blue Devils last week to 239 yards of total offense. The Derby Birds improved to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cardinals hope to get their offense going again this week after being held to 24 points last week against Duke. "I just think we have to do a better job,” Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino said of his team’s performance. “You know, we have to go out this week and have a great week of practice and be more intense, more into our focus, more in the preparation that we’ve had for the other games that we’ve played early in the fall.” He also added, “we weren’t at the top of our game and we need to get back to that, get back to our players you know, working to have the best game they’ve had all year.” These two teams met last year in Raleigh, and Lamar Jackson found plenty of open running lanes in a 20-13 victory. Jackson ran for 121 yards, including a 68-yard scoring run in the first quarter of a game played during bouts of heavy rain. Despite the high scoring abilities of the Cardinal offense, sophomore cornerback Jaire Alexander also wants to see a fast start out of the defense, which faces a huge challenge in NC State’s offense. "We are feeling good. We only held Duke to 14 points, and that was really good for us” Alexander said. “You just have to start out fast. At the beginning of the game, we have to start out really fast, and we have to keep it on them, just like we do in the third and fourth quarter, we have to do that the whole game." If the Wolfpack comes out looking anything like they did against Clemson, the Cardinals defense will indeed have to play fast the entire game. During the first quarter last week in Death Valley, NC State had 154 yards of total offense (111 pass, 43 rush) - compared to 96 for Clemson. However, the NC State offense was penalized six times for 45 yards in the first quarter. The Wolfpack reached the Clemson 22 and 19 yard lines on their first two drives, but was held to no points both times. Overall in the first quarter, NC State unfortunately, and uncharacteristically, had a total of eight penalties for 76 yards, whereas Clemson had none. For the second time this year, NC State committed 13 penalties - the fourth-most in a single game. On his first pass attempt of the second quarter, NC State quarterback Ryan Finley threw his first interception of the season – off of a tipped pass. Finley had gone 139 straight attempts to begin his Wolfpack career without an interception - the longest streak by a starting QB without an interception in school history (Philip Rivers held previous record at 99 attempts). In the fourth quarter and with the score tied 17-17, NC State marched down the field in roughly six minutes for a game winning 33-yard field goal attempt with just two seconds left. Unfortunately, NC State kicker Kyle Bombard's attempt pushed wide right, sending the game into overtime. Clemson started overtime on offense and capped their possession off with a Jackson touchdown pass. On NC State's first play of overtime, Finley looked for wide receiver Bra'Lon Cherry in the end zone, but Clemson boxed him out and intercepted Finley to end the game. Consequently, it will be of no surprise to see heavy pressure on Finley from the Louisville defense. In particular, ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week, Drew Bailey. Starting his fifth game of the season, Bailey had his best game, totaling a career-best 11 tackles and three tackles for loss in the win over Duke. It was the most tackles in a game by a Louisville defensive lineman since Elvis Dumervil recorded the same total against Kentucky in 2005. The Cardinals defense will need a big effort this weekend. They are facing off against one of the better rushing teams in the league, with running back Matt Dayes pacing the Wolfpack attack. Dayes was the leading rusher for the Wolfpack last week with 106 yards on the ground with one touchdown. Dating back to last season, Dayes has rushed for over 100 yards in ten of his last 14 games played. Louisville's defensive front will have their hands full with Dayes, but they also have to limit his production in order to prevent Finley's open looks downfield to tight end Jaylen Samuels. The junior tight end finished with a career-high of eight catches for 100 yards last week. This makes him one of the many Wolfpack players that have recorded at least 100 yards receiving in three games this season. Naturally, after watching NC State take one of the nation's top team in the nation to overtime, linebacker James Hearns knows that the Cardinals must be on top of their game. "I think NC State has done a good job over the last couple of years at getting better," Hearns said. "When you really look at the guys they have this year, it's pretty much the same guys we've played against the last two years, so I think it's just that they've come together, and have a really good team." Hearns added, "As you see last week with what they did, they are not a team to be messed with. They have talent and they have good coaching, so this week we just focused on really being physical, setting edges, and really just playing to our techniques." Coach Petrino is well aware of NC State's style of play and what the Cardinals are up against. He also knows that the Cardinals must be very effective and efficient during this game in order to win.. “They're a very, very good football team,” Petrino said. We know them well because the majority of the players are the same guys we've been playing against for the last two years. They're very well coached. They're a physical team. We've always had really good battles with them and found a way to win in the fourth quarter, so I imagine this is going be a very good football game.” As it stands, there's little question of how Louisville will win in the fourth quarter but more importantly, if the Cards can make a statement win against a team that's came extremely close to upsetting ACC leader Clemson. This will be a tough game for Louisville and it will be interesting to see if they can flex their muscles and put on a show, or if NC State will give them their second loss of the season.
Written by Sherlenia Mitchell
Louisville , KY - No. 7 Louisville looked to bounce back from an intensely emotional loss from Week 5 as the Duke Blue Devils rode into Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium Friday night in search of their first conference win of the season. Even though Duke kept it close through clock management, Lamar Jackson and the Derby Birds prevailed 24-14 in their 500th victory in school history.
You have seen this time and time again in sports where an impressive team has to dig down deep after suffering a devastating loss. The fictional West Cannon high school football team from Varsity Blues experienced an embarrassing loss before winning the state championship, and Rocky fell to Apollo Creed in the first installment before overtaking “The Prince of Punch” in Rocky II. Additionally, in real life, the 1980 U.S. men’s hockey team underwent a demoralizing exhibition loss to Russia days before slaying them and ultimately winning gold. Bobby Petrino and his 4-1 Louisville Cardinals were at the pivotal point, almost midway through the football season and returning from a bye week, where they had to forgive themselves for coming up short nearly two weeks ago in Death Valley but never forget the lessons learned from the distressing loss. "I think you always learn a lot,” Petrino said Monday about the 42-36 loss to Clemson. “You always learn about how we're going to handle it. How we're going to bounce back. That's one of our themes is to bounce back and come back and prepare the way we prepared for the other games and if we do that - if we go about our business in the meeting room, if we practice with the intensity and the focus that we have been - then I think we will continue to play well and execute and win games." The Cardinal offense took the field first as Petrino, and the Derby Birds won the toss and elected to receive where Malik Williams returned the ball 19 yards after a Duke 64 yard kick. Lamar Jackson, responsible for 28 touchdowns through five games, rushed right for 10 yards to the Louisville 30. James Quick then received a 6-yard pass from Jackson before rushing for another nine yards to the Duke 47. Jackson continued the series by rushing to the Duke 14 where he then completed another 9-yard pass to Quick to make it first and goal within the first three minutes of the game. Jackson finished the 79-yard play with a pass complete to Jalen Smith from 5 yards out to put the Derby Birds up by seven at 11:11 of the first quarter. Although the win last week against Army and Hurricane Matthew improved the Blue Devils to 3-3, head coach David Cutcliffe still had some underlying concerns with redshirt freshman Daniel Jones. The Charlotte, NC., native has seen his share of missed opportunities throwing eight interceptions while only producing seven touchdowns and a sheer 2.8 average yards per attempt on 65 carries. Nevertheless, the Blue Devils took the field on offense for the first time after Shaun Wilson return the Louisville 62-yard kickoff for 18 yards to begin on their own 21. Redshirt freshmen QB Daniel Jones lined up under center and ultimately lost a yard on their first possession and then gained the yard back on second down. With the hometown sellout crowd behind them, the Louisville defense prepared to go three-in-out on their first series until Jones went to the air for a 51-yards to T.J. Rahming. Luckily, linebacker Stacy Thomas was there to stop the sophomore receiver. Duke tested the Cardinal defense with multiple rushes before ending on the LOU 9 yard line where Jones connected to redshirt senior Erich Schneider for the touchdown. A.J. Reed’s point after tied the game 7-7 with six minutes to go in the first quarter. As the final minutes of the first half ticked by, Mason King punted for 36 yards to the Duke 22 where the Blue Devils would eventually go 3-in-out to kick it away for 36 yards for the fair catch by Jamari Alexander on the Duke 24. As the final seconds of the quarter came to an end, Louisville found offense on the Duke 5-yardline. The Cardinals then began the second quarter with a 22-yard field goal from Evan O’Hara to put Louisville up by 10-7 with 14:51 to go in the half. Duke started their 2nd quarter performance on Louisville’s 27-yard line after a 63-yard kickoff. After getting a first down from Jela Duncan’s 2 yard gain, Louisville’s safety Stacy Thomas from Miami, Fla., stopped Duke’s Chris Taylor to prevent the first down and forced Duke to a 49-yard punt to put Louisville on the Duke 33 yard-line. Unfortunately, the Duke defense returned the favor forcing Lamar Jackson and the Cardinal offense to punt after only achieving one first down in the series before going 3-in-out. However, the Blue Devil offense was not able to capitalize on the efforts of their defense even after possessing the ball for seven minutes. Junior Louisville linebacker James Hearns quite possibly made the play of the quarter as he blocked any and all paths Duke’s Shaun Wilson might have gone. Consequently, the Cardinal offense held the opposing offense to a 40-yard field goal attempt that was missed by AJ Reed. The final two minutes of the half dwindled down as both teams repeated most of their performance of the first half. Even though Jackson has been very successful within the last two minutes of the first half in previous games, the Cardinals would end their offensive first half with a 34-yard punt with 0:53 seconds in the second quarter. Likewise, Duke only gained nine yards on two plays to end the half down 10-7 to the hometown team. The second half of the “blackout” game seemed to feature the same energy the Cards used to dismantle the likes of Syracuse and Florida St. Although Duke tried to continue their strategy by winning through time of possession (37:12 mins. to LOU’s 22:48), the Louisville defense produced another 3-in-out after only allowing 8 yards of Duke offense in their first second-half series. “It’s a little frustrating,” Petrino said after the game regarding Duke’s clock management style. “There’s no question about it and they got themselves into third and shorts and then converted and that’s one area I think they were 50% conversion on third down and we’re not used to that. We’re used to getting off the field on defense and getting our offense the ball back, but like I said, we held in there and found a way to win.” Naturally, Lamar Jackson used the momentum of his defense and only needed five plays to get downfield from their 15-yardline. The series started with a yard gain from Jeremy Smith that set up the six-yard pass to TE Cole Hikutini. After the incomplete pass to WR Seth Dawkins, Jackson handed the ball to Smith again as he dodged Duke defenders over 80-yards for the touchdown that put the Cards up 17-7 midway through the third quarter. The rest of the third quarter gave Cardinal fans something they have not seen too much of this season. After linebacker Keith Kelsey prevented any gains for Duke with crucial back-to-back tackles to force a 48-yard punt, Lamar Jackson corralled his troops all the way to the Blue Devil 15 yard line before safety Deandre Singleton forced a fumble on Brandon Ratcliff’s three yard gain that would have put the Cards on first and goal. While Duke was unable to capitalize on the turnover, the next Louisville offensive series resulted in a missed field goal on a 42-yard attempt to close the third quarter with no change in score. Duke began the fourth quarter with determination as they fought to bring their two-possession deficit to a close. Their most positive series of the second half displayed the highly elusive run game of the Blue Devils that featured runs from three different players including redshirt freshman Daniel Jones who would complete the game with 24 yards rushing and 105 yards through the air. The fourth-down conversion and two 3rd and one rushing conversions of the series set up WR Jonathon Lloyd for a 20-yard completion and touchdown to put the Blue Devils within a field goal amid less than seven minutes left in regulation. Calmly, Jackson returned under center for their last offensive effort, understandably with flashbacks of two weeks ago fresh in his mind. “Score,” Jackson recounted as he took to the field and took over the game. “I wasn’t going to let my team down. I was going out there ready.” Even Duke head coach David Cutcliffe took notice of the sensational sophomore stating, “You know, when I think you see him in person, you probably realize just how-he’s big. You see his size and he’s just explosively fast. He is a great football player.” In the final offensive series alone, Jackson would end up with 40 yards on the ground before settling for a 46-yard field goal attempt. Although it was not the outcome the Derby Birds hoped for, Breon Borders was called for roughing the kicker late after the kick went wide. With less than two minutes left in the game, Jackson stepped onto the field one last time where he rushed for a 1st and goal after gaining 12 yards on the ground. Moreover, just like in the movies, the Heisman hopeful who has more votes midway through the season than the four previous winners, walked into the end zone to safely secure the 24-14 win and the 500th Louisville football victory in their school history. Jackson would finish the game with 144 rushing yards, 37 yards through the air and two touchdowns to give him his ninth game this season featuring a rushing and passing touchdown to take him to 30 touchdowns this season. To put it into perspective, there are 101 FBS teams that have yet to amass 30 touchdowns this season. Averaging 6.9 rushing yards per play, Jackson led the Cardinal offense in rushing yards with 144-yards while Jeremy Smith ran for 97-yards and star running back Brandon Radcliff added 38 yards to his incredible season. Louisville prepares for NC State next Saturday at noon in front of their home crowd in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. NC State plays Clemson Saturday, October 15, also at noon, in a contest that could have many implications for Louisville’s post season.
Written by Adrian Beecher
Clemson, SC - It was a matchup about as big as they get, with No. 3 Louisville facing off against No. 5 Clemson. In the end, it was a a shootout that the Cardinals were on the loosing end of, coming up just inches short of a victory. However, in a matchup of two of this year’s best teams in the country to this point, things got off to a very slow start.
Both team’s 1st three drives ended in punts as both offenses struggled to get anything going. At the end of the 1st quarter, the game was still scoreless, but Louisville had put a drive together and had possession of the ball 1st and goal at the 1-yard line as the quarter came to an end. The Cardinals would finish off their drive as the second quarter got underway on a 1 yard TD rush from Jeremy Smith on 3rd and goal. After the 1st quarter, the Cardinals had 70 rushing yards and 41 passing yards, while the Tigers had just 1 passing yard and 53 rushing yards. As the Tigers took back to the field, they looked to answer right back as DeShawn Watson went 3 for 3, passing for 43 yards on the next drive to get the Cards a 1st and 10 at the Louisville 28 yard line. However, after a 13 yard Wayne Gallman rush, Watson was looking to the end zone and was picked off by Cardinals cornerback Jaire Alexander, sucking the air out of Memorial Stadium. This gave the Cards a 1st and 10 at their own 20-yard line. As the Cards drove down the field, they looked to have a promising drive coming together as they pick up their 4th straight 3rd down conversion on as many attempts. However, on the next play, Louisville had a miscommunication on the snap resulting in a fumble, which was then recovered by Clemson. This made it 1st and 10 from the Cardinals 33-yard line, and they wasted no time taking advantage of the turnover. On the 2nd play of the drive, Watson found Deon Cain for the 33 yard TD completion to tie the game up with 7:48 left to play in the 1st half. Momentum stayed on the Tigers side as Louisville faced a 3rd and 15 from their own 20-yard line. As Lamar Jackson aired it out down the right sideline, Clemson’s Jadar Johnson intercepted the pass to give the Tigers the ball. Then things got a bit wacky, to say the least. On the Tigers second play of the drive, Watson fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Louisville. Then on the next play, Louisville’s Brandon Radcliff fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by Clemson. Then 11 seconds later, Wayne Gallman broke off a 24 yard rushing TD to give the Tigers a 14-7 lead with 6:09 left in the 1st half. Then emotions started to take the forefront for Louisville. On a 3rd down play, Jackson threw deep for Jamari Stamples, who was clearly being held by his jersey by the Clemson defender on his way down the field, but the flags were not thrown, and Stamples then took off his helmet in frustration, thus resulting in a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty. This made it 4th and 17 for the Cards and gave the Tigers great field position on their next drive at their own 44-yard line. It then took the Tigers just 3 plays to find the end zone as Watson connected once again with Deon Cain, this time for a 37-yard TD reception to give the Tigers a 21-7 lead with just 3:47 left to play in the 1st half. Louisville was able to drive down the field on their next drive, but unable to get into the end zone and had to settle for a field goal to cut the Tigers lead to 21-10. On Clemson’s final possession of the half, they put together a prolific drive in just 26 seconds. Watson finished off the drive with a 5 yard TD pass to Artavis Scott to make it 28-10 with just 5 seconds left in half. At the half, DeShawn Watson had 190 passing yards and 3 TD’s through the air leading the Clemson Tigers to a halftime lead. Louisville's Lamar Jackson had just 27 yards on the ground and 111 yards through the air. There was no slow start for the Cardinals in the 2nd half. In fact, they picked off DeShawn Watson on the 2nd play from scrimmage and took just 7 plays to go 36 yards to the end zone to cut the Tigers lead to two scores at 28-16 after having their extra point blocked. This momentum carried throughout the 3rd quarter for Louisville. Their defense stood tall against the Tigers offense on their next two drives, forcing a 3 and out and a fumble. While on the flip side, the Card's offense continued to claw their way back into the game and by the end of the 3rd quarter, the Clemson lead was just 2 points at 28-26. As the fourth quarter got underway, the Louisville defense once again forced a fumble and capitalized, with the offense taking a 29-28 lead as Blanton Creque drilled a 28-yard field goal. The Tigers next possession ended as quick as it started, as Watson threw his third interception of the night. This gave the Cards a 1st and ten at their own 44-yard line. Lamar Jackson took the first play from scrimmage 38 yards down field to make it 1st and 10 at the Clemson 18 yard line. Three plays later Louisville was in the end zone taking a 36-28 lead with 7:39 left in the 4th. Things looked like they were getting out of hand for the Tigers after allowing 26 points unanswered. Yes, Clemson was down, but not out. On the ensuing kickoff, Artavis Scott split the defense and found himself in open space running down the left sideline with just one man to beat, which was the kicker. By the time he got to Scott, the damage was done, and the Tigers were setup with a 1st and 10 at the Louisville 23 yard line. It took the Tigers just 2 plays to find the end zone with Watson connecting with Mike Williams for the 20 yard TD to make it 36-34, with Louisville still in front after a failed 2 point conversion. Th Cardinals were unable to move the ball on their next possession as they were forced to punt. Then the Tigers went on a prolific eight play, 85-yard drive that took 2:57 off the clock as they took a 42-36 lead on Louisville with just 3:14 left in the game. The Cards would have one final chance to take the lead and capture the win. With 40 seconds left, Louisville found themselves facing a 4th down and 12 at the Clemson 14 yard line. Jackson was able to find James quick in the flat to the right side and he was able to pick up what the team thought was enough, but after further review, it was determined that the Cardinal came up just inches short o fthe first down markers, sealing Clemson's victory. Lamar Jackson finished the game with 162 yards rushing and 295 yard passing along with 3 total TD's for the Cardinals. On the flip side, Clemson's DeShawn Watson had 35 yards passing, along with 91 yards on the ground totally 5 TD's through the air. For Louisville it is their first loss of the season, but not a loss they can't overcome. They will look to regroup as they have their bye next week. Clemson on the other hand has a quick turnaround, having to travel to Chestnuthill Massachusetts to face the BC Eagles in a Friday night ACC matchup.
Written by Adrian Beecher
Clemson, SC- DeShawn Watson's 190 passing yards and 3 TD’s through the air have the Clemson Tigers on top 28-10 at the half here in Death Valley. However, in a matchup of two of this year’s best teams in the country to this point, things got off to a very slow start.
Both team’s 1st three drives ended in punts as both offenses struggled to get anything going. At the end of the 1st quarter, the game was still scoreless, but Louisville had put a drive together and had possession of the ball 1st and goal at the 1-yard line as the quarter came to an end. The Cardinals would finish off their drive as the second quarter got underway on a 1 yard TD rush from Jeremy Smith on 3rd and goal. After the 1st quarter, the Cardinals had 70 rushing yards and 41 passing yards, while the Tigers had just 1 passing yard and 53 rushing yards. As the Tigers took back to the field, they looked to answer right back as DeShawn Watson went 3 for 3, passing for 43 yards on the next drive to get the Cards a 1st and 10 at the Louisville 28 yard line. However, after a 13 yard Wayne Gallman rush, Watson was looking to the end zone and was picked off by Cardinals cornerback Jaire Alexander, sucking the air out of Memorial Stadium. This gave the Cards a 1st and 10 at their own 20-yard line. As the Cards drove down the field, they looked to have a promising drive coming together as they pick up their 4th straight 3rd down conversion on as many attempts. However, on the next play, Louisville had a miscommunication on the snap resulting in a fumble, which was then recovered by Clemson. This made it 1st and 10 from the Cardinals 33-yard line, and they wasted no time taking advantage of the turnover. On the 2nd play of the drive, Watson found Deon Cain for the 33 yard TD completion to tie the game up with 7:48 left to play in the 1st half. Momentum stayed on the Tigers side as Louisville faced a 3rd and 15 from their own 20-yard line. As Lamar Jackson aired it out down the right sideline, Clemson’s Jadar Johnson intercepted the pass to give the Tigers the ball. Then things got a bit wacky, to say the least. On the Tigers second play of the drive, Watson fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Louisville. Then on the next play, Louisville’s Brandon Radcliff fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Clemson. Then 11 seconds later, Wayne Gallman broke off a 24 yard rushing TD to give the Tigers a 14-7 lead with 6:09 left in the 1st half. Then emotions started to take the forefront for Louisville. On a 3rd down play, Jackson threw deep for Jamari Stamples, who was clearly being held by his jersey by the Clemson defender on his way down the field, but the flags were not thrown, and Stamples then took off his helmet in frustration, thus resulting in a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty. This made it 4th and 17 for the Cards and gave the Tigers great field position on their next drive at their own 44-yard line. It then took the Tigers just 3 plays to find the end zone as Watson connected once again with Deon Cain, this time for a 37-yard TD reception to give the Tigers a 21-7 lead with just 3:47 left to play in the 1st half. Louisville was able to drive down the field on their next drive, but unable to get into the end zone and had to settle for a field goal to cut the Tigers lead to 21-10. On Clemson’s final possession of the half, they put together a prolific drive in just 26 seconds. Watson finished off the drive with a 5 yard TD pass to Artavis Scott to make it 28-10 with just 5 seconds left in half. |
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