The Clemson football team came away with a 45-10 victory over Louisville Saturday afternoon. Here are some studs and duds from the conference win.
The Clemson football team improved to 7-0 on the season with a win over the Louisville Cardinals Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers defeated Louisville 45-10 and covered the spread for second-straight week.
Here are some studs and duds from the ACC Atlantic Division win Saturday afternoon.
Studs
That Lockdown Defense
The Clemson football defense played lights out for the majority of the game. The Tigers gave up one field goal in the first half and, other than that and a garbage time touchdown, they completely dominated an explosive Louisville offense.
Clemson was in the backfield creating pressure and the Tigers forced three turnovers– including two interceptions.
The unit continues to prove how dominant they can be and are gelling well together as we get past the midseason point.
Isaiah Simmons
We can’t say enough nice things about Isaiah Simmons. For yet another week, Simmons makes our ‘stud list,’ and for good reason. He had eight tackles, including two sacks, and was all over the field for the Clemson football defense.
Simmons isn’t just doing an excellent job at coming up and stopping the run. He is getting in the backfield and pressuring the quarterback, as well as dropping back into coverage and taking away a wide receiver.
The versatility he has played with and the absolutely dominance is unprecedented. Simmons is a clear-cut first-team All-American at this point and there’s a chance he could work his way up to becoming a top-five pick in the NFL Draft this coming spring.
More Studs
James Skalski
What about James Skalski’s performance Saturday afternoon? We talk a lot about Isaiah Simmons and that vaunted pass-rush up-front, but James Skalski was all over the field Saturday, as well.
He led the Tigers in tackles with nine and had one sack. The linebacker has really come into his own over the last couple of weeks and Skalski is playing at a high level.
He did an excellent job pressuring the quarterback and coming up in run-support this past week and it should be expected that he will build off of that success through the rest of the season.
Travis Etienne
Travis Etienne carried the Clemson offense for much of the first half. The junior RB finished the day with 14 carries for 192 yards and one touchdown.
While the game wasn’t in doubt, it was still uncomfortably close for Clemson football fans late in the third quarter. That’s when Etienne reeled off a 49-yard run for a touchdown and opened the Tigers lead to 24-3, putting the Cardinals away for good.
Etienne’s reemergence these past two weeks is a good sign for Tiger fans moving forward.
Justyn Ross’s TD grab
Clemson led just 10-3 with less than a minute remaining in the first half. Trevor Lawrence had completed a couple of nice passes and had the Tigers on the right side of the 50-yard line. He was rushed out of the pocket and raced toward the sideline. As Lawrence progressed to the sideline, he threw the ball up for grabs, trusting his receiver, and it paid off for Clemson football.
Justyn Ross came down with a huge grab in the back of the end zone and helped give the Tigers a little breathing room heading into halftime.
That reception couldn’t have come at a greater time and it helped give Clemson football control of the ballgame at a time where things were certainly in doubt.
BT Potter’s redemption
No one was more excited than Dabo Swinney to congratulate BT Potter on a 51-yard field goal in the first quarter.
Potter drew the wrath of Swinney and was supplanted on the depth chart for extra points and short-yardage field goal kicks by Steve Sawicki for the Louisville game after he missed a chip-shot field goal the previous week against Florida State.
Early in the matchup against Louisville, Potter drilled that 51-yard field goal and showed Tiger nation he is more than capable of being an elite place-kicker.
Duds
Trevor Lawrence’s first quarter
Trevor Lawrence had a much better showing late in the second quarter and into the second half, but the first quarter was painful to watch.
Lawrence had trouble throwing accurate passes and he finished the first quarter completing just 3-of-7 passes for nine yards and two interceptions. Both interceptions were in the end zone and cost the Tigers chances to get early points and potentially put the game away early.
Interestingly enough, Lawrence actually went 9-for-9 for 156 yards and two touchdowns in the second quarter and looked much better as the game progressed.
Early offensive play-calling
The offensive play-calling was certainly questionable, especially early in the game.
The Tigers were running roughshod all over Louisville’s defense, but got away from what was working all too often. Obviously, you have to stay balanced, but there was one time where Clemson got inside the 20-yard line and didn’t run the ball one time.
Travis Etienne and even Lyn-J Dixon, who didn’t have as impressive stats, were getting the job done. Sometimes you just have to stick with what’s working and let Lawrence settle into the game, perhaps with some short throws and easy completions.
Andrew Booth’s poor decision
The most disappointing aspect of the afternoon was probably the punch thrown by Andrew Booth. Booth was visibly frustrated and threw the Louisville wide receiver to the ground and punched him. Dabo Swinney sent Booth to the locker room before the officials could and he was assessed a suspension by the ACC for his conduct.
Swinney revealed that Booth rode the bus home with the managers, instead of flying with the team, and that they will handle the rest of his punishment in-house.
There was good news, though. He was reportedly extremely remorseful for that poor decision and was apologetic to his team and to Louisville for his actions. Booth will learn from this mistake and will become a better player and person as a result.
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.