By Will Vandervort.
Once again DeShawn won the game for Clemson, except it was not the Deshaun everyone that it was going to be.
With Deshaun Watson knocked out of the game with a broken finger in the first quarter, DeShawn Williams knocked down Will Gardner’s fourth-and-goal pass from the two-yard line with 21 seconds to play to preserve the Tigers’ 23-17 victory over Louisville.
Williams knocked down the pass after James Quick took a slant pass 73 yards to the Clemson 8-yard line. Safety Jayron Kearse chased him down from behind to prevent the touchdown. After a first-down pass gained seven yards to the two, the Tigers stoned the running back on the next play which forced the Cardinals to have to clock the ball and loose a down.
On fourth down, Gardner rolled right, stopped a fired across his body, which Williams knocked down for an incomplete pass. That started a massive celebration on the Clemson bench as the Tigers held on to improve to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the ACC.
The Clemson defense was the story of the day as they held Louisville to 266 yards and scored a touchdown in the process. The Cardinals were 1 for 17 on third downs and ran the ball for only 54 yards on 38 carries.
Clemson got a 21-yard field goal from Ammon Lakip with 1:24 to play after the offense had its best drive of the game. Throwing short passes to Artavis Scott and with the running of Adam Choice, the Tigers moved the ball 68 yards on 12 plays before the drive stalled at the Louisville 4-yard line. They took 5:34 off the clock.
It was a game of defense. The Cardinals knocked Watson out of the game in the first quarter after the freshman went 2 for 6 for -5 yards. He appeared he severally damaged his right index finger when his hand hit a helmet as he made a pass.
It took backup quarterback Cole Stoudt nearly the whole game to get in a rhythm but he got in one at the right time. He finished the game 20 of 33 for 162 yards. But Louisville also sacked him three times and intercepted him twice.
The Cardinals held the ACC’s No. 1 offense to 229 yards.
But Adam Humphries returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown and Tavaris Barnes returned a fumble two yards for another score to help lead to the win.
After the defense forced a three-and-out to open the game, Humphries hauled in a Ryan Johnson punt, broke it to the far sideline and then found an open seam where he got past the punter. After Louisville tried to run him down, the senior kept his footing and went into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
Louisville kicked a 41-yard field goal to make the score, 7-3 and then grabbed the lead on a Dominique Brown 2-yard run. That capped a 50-yard drive that took 2:24 off the clock. It was set up with a 39-yard pass to Brown from Reggie Bonnafon.
After Louisville fumbled a punt at their own 37 and Clemson was unable to get anything out of it, the Tigers got a second fumble after pinning the Cardinals deep. This time they took advantage of it.
Cornerback Garry Peters came off the edge, stripped Bonnafon of the ball and Barnes picked it up and rumbled into the end zone for the touchdown. It marked the fourth straight home and third straight game overall the Clemson defense scored.
It was a good thing they did. With 3:13 to play in the first half the Tigers had just 8 total yards and one first down. They finished the second half strong and had the ball at the Louisville one-yard line after a 23-yard pass to Mike Williams.
But with 17 seconds left to play in the half and no timeouts, backup quarterback Cole Stoudt rolled right and decided to try and run the football into the end zone. Instead he was tackled for no gain and time ran out on the Tigers before they could bring the field goal unit in.