Clemson entered last Saturday’s game against Louisville as a 10-point favorite at home, and many thought the then-11th-ranked Tigers would keep things rolling this season.
But instead of extending its six-game winning streak, Clemson suffered an upset, 33-21 loss to the Cardinals, who earned their first-ever program win over the Tigers while dashing the Tigers’ ACC Championship and College Football Playoff hopes.
After averaging 48.5 points per game during its winning streak, Clemson’s offense got shut down for most of the night by Louisville, which forced a turnover on downs deep in Clemson territory, blocked a couple of field goals and recovered two onside kicks. Louisville kicked four field goals of its own, rushed for 210 yards (7.8 yards per carry) and had three rushing touchdowns, and pulled away with five consecutive scoring drives.
Like a lot of other people, Fox Sports’ lead college football analyst, Joel Klatt, did not expect Clemson to get embarrassed by Louisville at Death Valley – where the Tigers had won 22 straight home night games prior to Saturday.
“I was totally wrong about Clemson,” Klatt said on The Joel Klatt Show. “I was believing that their quality offensive play would continue. I believed that this was a team that could and would go to the ACC Championship Game and threaten Miami and win. I was putting them in the playoff, and they threw out an absolute stinker against Jeff Brohm and Louisville. And this game was at home. At home. I did not see that coming. This was not on my bingo card, and I’m glad that I didn’t actually throw that game in the picks, because I would not have picked that type of margin for Louisville.”
Klatt certainly understands how Clemson fans are feeling in the aftermath of their team’s lackluster showing.
“This goes back to what (Louisville coach) Jeff Brohm just does. He does this once a year. He did this at Purdue, he’s now done this at Louisville,” Klatt said. “But doing it on the road at Clemson, that was impressive, and that’s got to be a disappointing, disappointing, frustrating loss for Clemson fans. Certainly was for me. I did not see that one coming. I thought Clemson was going to be a lot better.”
The Tigers (6-2, 5-1 ACC) will try to bounce back this Saturday when they play at Virginia Tech (3:30 p.m., ESPN).
With Clemson going down to Louisville and Pittsburgh falling to SMU in Week 10, Miami (9-0, 5-0 ACC) and SMU (8-1, 5-0) are now the only remaining ACC teams undefeated in conference play.
You can hear Klatt’s commentary on the ACC in the following video (beginning around the 43:40 mark):
A limited number of signed replica road signs from Cade Klubnik are available! Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online!
