By Will Vandervort.
Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables said it best when describing what he feels will be Louisville’s attitude when they come into Clemson Memorial Stadium today for a 3:30 p.m. kick against the 25th-ranked Tigers.
“They will not come into Death Valley in awe, I don’t believe,” Venables said. “The mantra of that team is about being tough and having an edge to them, while competing at a very, very high emotional level.
“A lot of their guys wear it on their sleeve and I like that. I have respect for that.”
Louisville linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin will definitely not be intimidated by Clemson or the Tigers’ large stadium, known affectionately as Death Valley.
“We relish in playing the road games. We love crowds like that,” the weakside linebacker said earlier this week. “It’s why we come to college to play football for crowds like Clemson. We got a bit of a taste of it last week when we played against Syracuse so it’s not going to be too much of a challenge. We’ve got to play our role.”
Mauldin is the leader of the Cardinals’ defense and he represents the attitude of a Louisville team that is known for being physical on both sides of the ball.
“Offensively they really do a great job of running the football, excellent on the offensive line and have outstanding skill,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “Sounds like they’re going to get their All-American wide-out back this week, as well. They’ve got two quarterbacks that are very capable, and we’re very impressed with their running backs.
“And then defensively they lead the world in just about every statistic. They are very aggressive, athletic, fast and do a great job pressuring the quarterback. They’ve got excellent speed, very good in coverage, aggressive and confident in coverage.”
Louisville (5-1, 3-1 ACC) leads the nation in total defense, allowing just 230 yards per game. The Cardinals are also first in rushing defense, allowing just 58.3 yards per game, and total interceptions with 12. Safety Gerod Holliman leads the country with seven of those 12 interceptions.
The Cardinals are also second in yards allowed per play with a 3.75 figure and second in yards allowed per rush at 2.01.
“It’s impressive on their part considering we are five games into the season,” Clemson defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said.
The Tigers (3-2, 2-1) are not going to take a backseat to Louisville’s defense, though. They feel they are just as good and they are looking forward to comparing how they play to the Cardinals.
Clemson has held its last four opponents to a total of 223 rushing yards. That’s an average of 55.8 yards per game. In those same four games, the Tigers have given up an average of 248.3 total yards and 16.3 points per game.
“It is motivation for us because we want to be the best defense in the ACC and we will get a chance to challenge that this Saturday,” Jarrett said. “It is definitely something they can hang their hat on, but we are just starting to hit our stride and we will see where we are going to end up at the end of this season.”
It would seem heading into this Atlantic Division clash that Louisville might have the toughest challenge of the two defenses. Clemson leads the ACC in total offense (490.8) and scoring offense (40.4) and are led by a freshman quarterback in Deshaun Watson that has thrown for 702 yards and totaled 10 touchdowns in his first two starts.
But none of that seems to bother Mauldin.
“I just know if we get the first stop in the game, we’re going to win the game because we as a defense know that (by getting) the first three-and-out, we’re in their heads already,” he said. “We know that if we play with a confident defense, pretty much the game is ours.”
The Tigers seem to be showing a little more respect for Louisville’s offense despite being ranked 13th out of the 14 ACC teams in yards per game (388.3).
“They play with a lot of confidence. The O-line is very aggressive and they are talented,” Venables said.
They also have head coach Bobby Petrino as their playcaller. In the past decade, Petrino has become known as one of the game’s best offensive minds.
“His track record speaks for itself. He has had incredible success and very consistent success than most so he does need me to rate him,” Venables said. “He has done well for himself. Wherever he goes, his players play at a high level. He knows what he is doing and he knows how to put them in position to be successful.”
And despite their troubles with moving the ball and their inconsistency at the quarterback position, the Cardinals have found a way to win five games already this year, while averaging 33.3 points per game. And it appears they are doing it with defense.
“I think it is going to be a nice physical game,” Clemson safety Robert Smith said. “I think this is going to be one of those games of the year. It is going to be nice to see two good defenses out there and the offenses having to go out there and respond.”