By Will Vandervort.

With Deshaun Watson sitting on the sideline with an injured right index finger, Clemson found other ways to score in the first half against Louisville.

Adam Humphries returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown and Tavaris Barnes returned a fumble two yards for another score. Without those two scores, the Tigers would be in serious trouble against the Cardinals, instead they went into the locker room with a 14-10 lead.

After forcing 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.

Louisville’s defense really gave Clemson some fits and knocked Watson out of the game at the same time. After picking off the true freshman on the previous possession, which set up Wallace’s field goal, Watson left the game after his hand hit a helmet damaging what appeared to be his index finger on his throwing hand.

Watson’s day ended 2 of 6 for minus-5 yards to go along with that interception.

Clemson finished the first half with 70 total yards, while the Cardinals had 95. Both teams were a combined 0-for-16 on third down conversions in the first half. Louisville had six first downs, Clemson had four.