LOUISVILLE — Clemson returns to Louisville for the first time since 2021 as the Tigers look to atone for last year’s home loss to the Cardinals.

Louisville (7-2, 4-2 ACC) comes in ranked No. 20, and a win would give Clemson (4-5, 3-4) its first over a ranked opponent this season. The Tigers, who are 8-1 all-time in the series, are also looking to avenge last season’s 33-21 loss that was not nearly as close as the final score would indicate.

The Cardinals come in boasting the second-best defense in the ACC, surrendering just 296.8 yards per game. The pass defense ranks tops in the league (188 YPG), but those numbers are a little skewed, due to Louisville playing some teams that just don’t pass it very well.

Cal threw for 350 yards on the Cards’ defense just last week, while Boston College, Pitt and Miami all had pretty good success in the air. The Hurricanes’ only issue was Carson Beck throwing four picks.

All that to say, with the style of defense Louisville likes to play, there should be some plays there to be made by Cade Klubnik and the Clemson passing attack. At the same time, Klubnik will have to be smart with the football, seeing as the Cardinals have picked off 12 passes this season. Antonio Watts leads the team with three.

Klubnik just needs to get the ball to his playmakers, particularly Antonio Williams, who is quietly having another solid season, despite missing the first two games of the season. The senior signal caller has really gotten into a rhythm over his past four games, and that trend needs to continue on Friday.

The biggest question for the Clemson offense is whether the Tigers can get their running game going. Louisville has been fairly stingy against the run, allowing just 3.32 yards per attempt. The Cards have allowed an opponent to go over 100 rushing yards just four times this season.

At the very least, Adam Randall and Gideon Davidson will have to make the Louisville defense respect the running game. Getting the screen game going could also help in that regard.

However, if Clemson is going to win this game, the Tigers are going to have to be more disciplined on the defensive side of the ball, something the unit has struggled with at times this season, especially of late. The Cardinals picked up chunk play after chunk play on the ground last season, and that can not happen on Friday.

Louisville starting running back Isaac Brown is out, but Keyjuan Brown filled in admirably last week in the Cards’ overtime loss to Cal. But let’s be frank, no one wants to see a backup run all over the Tigers. Either way, slowing that rushing attack has to be priority number one. And that starts with the defensive front, and with Stepiylan Green unlikely to be back for this one, DeMonte Capehart and Peter Woods will have to step up and fill that void.

The goal has to be making Louisville quarterback Miller Moss beat you with his arm. With some of the success they’ve had on the ground, the Cards haven’t had to rely as heavily on the passing game and rank just 11th in the conference in passing offense. Moss has just 11 touchdown passes on the season and seven interceptions.

Can this Clemson defense limit the number of explosives in the passing game? That is the question, as the Tigers’ back seven has routinely had busts in coverage over the past three games.

Fortunately, the light seems to have come on for Corian Gipson. That nickel spot has often been a weak link on the backend, and Gipson’s emergence gives Clemson another viable option there. The defense needs another solid showing from Avieon Terrell, who was on point in last week’s win over the Seminoles.

Coming into the season, I thought this was a game the Tigers were likely to lose. A Friday night contest, away from home, just one week after the Florida State game. However, this season hasn’t come close to playing out like I thought it would for either of these teams.

I thought Clemson’s floor was winning the ACC and earning a berth in the College Football Playoff. I believed the Cardinals were going to be good enough to also clinch a spot in the ACC Championship Game. They still might do that, but they’ve not been quite as good as I envisioned them being.

I feel like Clemson can score enough to come away victorious, and the Tigers definitely took a step forward on defense last week. But how big of one?

This is one of those games that feels like it could go either way, but I feel like Clemson somehow finds a way and gets one step closer to getting bowl eligible.

Clemson 24, Louisville 23