LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Clemson safety Jadar Johnson intercepted Louisville’s Hail Mary pass to the end zone to end the Cardinals upset bid as the No. 9 Tigers survived for a 20-17 victory at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium on Thursday.

Johnson got the rebound from Mackensie Alexander who batted the ball back into the field of play where Johnson caught it and then ran seven yards up the field before finally falling to the ground.

“I was about to run out there and tackle Jadar Johnson,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.

Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables did not want the ball intercepted in the first place.

“Knock it down it down, right? Knock it down,” Venables said he was yelling to Alexander from the sideline. “We tipped it to ourselves. There was one (Louisville) guy over there. Come on guys, please! We have plenty of things to learn from, but fortunately we won the game.”

Johnson’s interception on Louisville’s desperate heave to the end zone was set up by defensive end Kevin Dodd’s first sack of the season. After watching fellow defensive end Shaq Lawson harass and get after Kyle Bolin all night, Dodd fought through a block and sacked the Cardinals’ quarterback for a four-yard loss with 26 seconds to play.

Louisville (0-3, 0-1 ACC) had no timeouts remaining when Dodd got the sack.

“The coverage forced the quarterback to keep it, but he had to whip somebody, probably two guys, and the quarterback holds the ball,” Venables said. “If you are a player, don’t let any single man block you and it was huge.

“With no timeouts, that’s the game right there.”

It was a game Clemson (3-0, 1-0 ACC) seemed like it wanted to give away for much of the night despite holding Louisville to 19 rushing yards on 28 carries, while they ran for 202 yards, including 139 yards from running back Wayne Gallman.

But quarterback Deshaun Watson did not have his best performance, the offensive line suffered a couple of injuries, penalties plagued the Tigers all night and a 100-yard kickoff return gave Louisville a chance to win or tie the game at the end.

“We are very fortunate to get out of here with a win,” Swinney said.

Louisville had an opportunity to tie the game with 2:28 to play after moving the ball to the Clemson 21-yard line thanks to a 9-play, 65-yard drive that took 4:06 from the clock. But John Wallace’s kick was wide left from 38 yards.

But, again, Clemson could not finish the Cardinals off, though it looked like it did. It appeared Watson had a first down with 1:19 to play on a five-yard run. Louisville had only one timeout left and would not have been able to stop the clock. But replay officials overruled the mark on the field, and instead Watson was ruled six inches short of the first down.

“We had enough adversity for the whole year,” Swinney said. “We had about everything you can think of, thrown at us. We really made it a lot harder than it needed to be. We had a chance to put the game away and we missed a big, big, play. We had the perfect call and we came up just a little short of making the play.

“We could not do it. We could not put the game away.”

It looked the Tigers were going to put the game away in the fourth quarter, when Watson led the Tigers on a nine-play march to the Louisville 10-yard line. But the drive stalled and Greg Huegel was called on for a 27-yard kick, which he nailed to give the Tigers’ a 20-10 lead with 9:57 to play.

Game over, right? Wrong.

On the ensuing kickoff, Louisville’s Traveon Samuel took the ball from his goal line, cut it up field, kicked it outside and down the sideline for a 100-yard kickoff return, putting the Cardinals right back in the game again.

“That is how teams get back in the game,” Swinney said. “One play can turn it. So to give up two turnovers, to give up a touchdown on kickoff coverage, a couple of missed scoring opportunities… We just weren’t able to put them away.”

The Tigers looked as if it gained control of the game in the third quarter when after tying the game on a 36-yard field goal, Watson led them on a 6-play, 62-yard scoring march which he capped with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Leggett.

That gave the Tigers a 17-10 lead with 2:37 to play in the third quarter. But as we know, Clemson did not finish the game, but it did find away in the end to win it.

“We made mistakes in all phases of the game … offense, defense and special teams,” Swinney said. “I was proud of them. I love them, and I appreciate them for competing. It was about heart and mental toughness they displayed.

“That’s what Clemson football is all about, however long it takes to finish.”