Clemson Football: Studs and Duds in victory vs. Louisville

More Duds

Garbage Time Defense

The second and third string defense allowed a garbage time touchdown against Louisville Saturday afternoon, and that was frustrating for many Clemson football fans.

The Tigers allowed the Cardinals to go on a 9-play, 75-yard drive that took 5:04 off the clock. While it was a disappointing aspect of the game, it will certainly bode well for Clemson in the long-run.

Brent Venables now has more film on some of his young defenders and he can use that to point out mistakes and help them continue to get better. It’s all about building depth and, though it was disappointing in the short-term, the Tigers are building for the long-term.

Derion Kendrick’s near mishaps

Derion Kendrick was extremely fortunate Saturday that he didn’t allow Louisville a special teams touchdown. Kendrick muffed a punt into the end zone and was able to recover it at the bottom of a pile, but it was very close to being a score for the Cardinals.

Kendrick also got a little heated defensively and could’ve easily been flagged.

Those were two near mishaps that could’ve hurt Clemson in terms of the game. Luckily, they didn’t happen, but he has to focus on catching the ball in the punt return game and remain focused and not allow his emotions to get the better of him while playing defense.

Media Narratives

Of course, the biggest ‘dud’ of them all is the media narratives that came out of this game. People still pretend that Clemson football is somehow the only team that struggles or doesn’t just come out and blow teams away right off the bat.

Though Alabama struggled all night with Tennessee at home, no one mentions that and the Crimson Tide remain ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll.

Media and fans alike enjoy taking shots at the Tigers and look for opportunities to discredit Clemson, even though the Tigers are on pace to be at the same point they were last season.