LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Clemson safety Jadar Johnson intercepted Louisville’s Hail Mary pass to the end zone to end the Cardinals upset bid as the Tigers survive for a 20-17 victory at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

Defensive end Kevin Dodd sacked Kyle Bolin on the next to final play with no timeouts left for Louisville, forcing them to throw the ball into the end zone.

Ninth-ranked Clemson survived an off-night by Deshaun Watson, a couple of injuries on the offensive line and a 100-yard kickoff return to down Louisville Thursday night.

Cardinals’ kicker John Wallace missed 38-yard field attempt with 2:28 to play that could have tied the game up.

It appeared the Tigers finished the game off when Watson stretched for a first down with 1:19 to play. But replay officials overturned the mark on the field and instead he was six inches short of the first down.

The Cardinals then drove the ball down the field and appeared to be in position for the game-tying field goal when Dodd recorded the sack, killing the drive and putting Cardinals in desperation mode.

Clemson improves to 3-0 and 1-0 in the ACC, while Louisville falls to 0-3 and 0-1 in the ACC. Running back Wayne Gallman led Clemson with 139 yards on 24 carries, while Watson threw touchdown passes of 32 and 25 yards to Hunter Renfrow and Jordan Leggett.

Watson finished the game 21-for-30 for 199 yards.

Traveon Samuel returned a kickoff 100-yards for a touchdown following a Greg Huegel field goal to cut the Clemson lead, 20-17, with 9:41 to play.

Clemson took a 20-10 lead with a nine-play 54-yard drive with a 27-yard Greg Huegel field goal with 9:57 to play.

Clemson had a great opportunity to extend its lead on the Cardinals’ next pass when Kyle Bolin was intercepted by Cordrea Tankersley at midfield.

But on third-and-five from the Louisville 45, Watson threw a deep ball to Germone Hopper, who was running down the middle of the field, but the ball was knocked out of his hands and Clemson was forced to punt. Watson could have perhaps run for the first down on the play as the right side of the field was wide open.

Clemson used an off-balance line on first-and-10 from the Louisville 25-yard line which left the Louisville secondary confused. They left tight end Jordan Leggett running wide open down the seam for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 2:37 to play in the third quarter.

That gave the Tigers a 17-10 lead. The drive was six plays, 62 yards and was highlighted by a 17-yard pass to Stanton Seckinger on a second-and-five play from the Louisville 42.

Clemson answered a Louisville touchdown with a 36-yard Huegel field goal with 6:57 to play in the third quarter. Huegel’s field goal tied the game at 10 and capped a nine-play, 56-yard drive by the Tigers.

The big play of the drive was a 25-yard run by Gallman to the Louisville 42-yard line.

Louisville took advantage of Watson’s second interception of the day and turned into a 1-yard Jeremy Smith touchdown for a 10-7 lead with 10:35 to play in the third quarter. The drive was aided by a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty by Shaq Lawson, his second of the game.

Bolin led the offense on a nine-play, 58-yard drive drive that took 3:48 off the clock.

Clemson took a 7-3 lead into the locker room at halftime thanks to Watson’s 32-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow.

It was not the smoothest first half for the Clemson offense. The Tigers had three illegal procedure penalties. Watson was off for a good portion of the half, and Gallman dropped a sure first down on a third-down pass just prior to the Cardinals going on their 76-yard drive which led to a Wallace 26-yard field goal.

Watson finished the first half 9 of 14 for 91 yards. His touchdown came with 13:12 to play in the second quarter when he spotted Renfrow running wide open down the middle of the field. That gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead at the time and capped a 5-play, 61-yard scoring drive that took 2:28 off the clock.

But for the third straight game, Clemson’s defense did not allow a first-half touchdown as they held the Cardinals to 15 yards rushing and to 117 total yards. Louisville was 0-for-8 on third down conversions in the first two quarters.

The only bad play for the Tigers from a defensive standpoint came late in the second quarter when safety T.J. Green apparently missed a called corner blitz, allowing Louisville’s Jaylen Smith to catch a 55-yard pass down the sideline, which set up Wallace’s 26-yard field goal.