ESPN college football analyst Desmond Howard weighed in on Clemson this week following its upset 33-21 loss to Louisville last Saturday at Death Valley, and what he thinks that game reveals about the Tigers. 

It marked Louisville’s highest-ranked road win in school history, as well as the Cardinals’ first-ever win against Clemson, which came into the game ranked No. 11 in the AP Poll. 

After the loss to Louisville and the 34-3 loss to Georgia in the season opener, Clemson has now suffered multiple double-digit losses in the regular season for the first time since 2014.

When looking at the Tigers, Howard believes they have lacked “style points” in their pair of defeats this season. 

“Style points have to play a role in this,” Howard said in an episode of ESPN’s College Football Live. “You look at the Louisville game, and they only had one touchdown through three quarters. They scored two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to make it look like it was more competitive than it actually was. 

“You look at the first game of the season — I know it’s Georgia — but people shouldn’t say, ‘Well, it was Georgia,’ I mean, because it was Clemson. So, Clemson’s supposed to be on the same level as a Georgia. They’re not supposed to get blown out of the waters 34-3. So, style points I think have to play their part in these games, too. We talked earlier about Ohio State losing one point on the road against Oregon. That’s style points.”

Howard added that he’s skeptical about Clemson defensively and what the Tigers have around quarterback Cade Klubnik offensively, outside of workhorse running back Phil Mafah.

“I’m not really sold on this defense,” Howard said, “and offensively, Phil Mafah, he’s going to get his. He’s consistent. But they don’t have any playmakers that I’ve seen so far on the perimeter, and I think that’s really hurting their offense.”

No. 23 Clemson (6-2, 5-1 ACC) will try to get back on track this Saturday when it travels to play Virginia Tech (5-4, 3-2), which lost at Syracuse in overtime last Saturday. The game between the Tigers and Hokies at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va., is set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN.

A limited number of signed replica road signs from Cade Klubnik are available!  Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online!