The game seemed to be in the bag when kicker Ammon Lakip made a 21-yard field goal with 1:24 remaining to give Clemson a six-point lead in last year’s contest against Louisville.

Up to that point, the Cardinals had driven no more than 50 yards on the Tigers vaunted defense, which ended the year as the nation’s best. Fifteen of their 18 possessions to that point netted no more than 19 yards and nine times the Louisville offense left the field on three plays.

But things happen, and a busted coverage allowed Louisville wide receiver James Quick to catch a pass on the near sideline around his 30-yard line and then race another 63 yards before finally being caught from behind by safety Jayron Kearse.

“As soon as he caught the ball, I thought he was going to score,” Kearse said on Monday. “As I started chasing him, I started to see the gap close. Then I was thinking to myself, ‘I can actually catch him.’ When I caught him, we just had four downs to play and make a stop.”

With a first down-and-goal from the Clemson 8-yard line, it seemed certain Louisville was going to punch the ball into the end zone and win the game. On first down quarterback Will Gardner completed a quick slant to Kai De La Cruz, which moved the ball to the one. On the next play, DeAngelo Brown was tackled behind the line of scrimmage for a one-yard loss by defensive end Vic Beasley. Then on third down, for some unknown reason, Gardner spiked the ball to stop the clock despite having one timeout in his pocket.

That set the stage for one final play at the Clemson two-yard line. Gardner rolled to his right on a run-option pass, which Clemson played perfectly. Korrin Wiggins and Kearse sniffed out Gardner’s intended target, forcing the play to stretch out longer. When Gardner finally tried to throw the ball into the end zone, defensive tackle DeShawn Williams smacked it to the turf, sealing the Tigers’ 23-17 victory.

“All I remember is the crowd going crazy after we made that stop,” Kearse said. “Coach (Dabo) Swinney hugging me … that’s all I really can remember.”

Kearse hopes the ninth-ranked Tigers will not need any heroics this Thursday when they head to Louisville for a primetime showdown at Papa John’s Stadium.

“Going into this year, let’s try not to even keep it that close, just blow the doors off them from the first quarter to fourth quarter,” he said.

The Cardinals come into the ACC opener for both teams struggling. After losing the season opener to Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Classic, they dropped Saturday’s game against Houston at home thanks to four turnovers and nine penalties. The Cougars also had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Louisville enters Thursday’s game with a 0-2 record for the first time since 1998, and with a dilemma at quarterback. On Saturday, Lamar Jackson opened as Louisville’s starter against Houston, but when he struggled in the 34-31 loss, head coach Bobby Petrino pulled him in the fourth quarter in favor of Kyle Bolin, whose accurate passing nearly rallied the Cardinals to a victory.

The week before Jackson replaced a struggling Reggie Bonnafon against Auburn, and led Louisville to 24-second half points in the 31-24 loss.

Jackson has thrown three interceptions to only one touchdown and has completed just 55.3 percent of his 47 passes. Bolin was 10 of 18 off the bench last weekend for one touchdown and no interceptions. Bonnafon did not play against Houston and was 8 of 13 for 67 yards before being pulled in favor of Jackson in the loss to Auburn.

Kearse offered up his view on why the quarterbacks at Louisville are struggling.

“The quarterback is just not making good decisions,” he said. “That’s all I can really say. I don’t know too much about the position. They are playing bad … I like it. Whatever they are doing wrong, keeping doing it wrong.”

And if that continues, then maybe Kearse will get his wish and they will not need any last second heroics to defeat the Cardinals this time around. But in case they do, he says this year’s defense is just as capable of making a critical stop in the closing seconds as last year’s did.

In two games, the Tigers have allowed just 20 points and limited Wofford’s strong running game to 123 yards on the ground, and then shutdown App State’s passing attack to 95 yards.

“I think we are definitely in a good place to go do it again,” Kearse said. “I said earlier, though, we are going to try not to let it get down to that point. Our offense is working hard to make some corrections from last week, and the defense is working hard to make corrections from last week.

“We are going to try not to let it get down to that point, but if it happens I think we will be ready for the task.”