Clemson vs. Louisville Prediction: Can the Tigers survive against hot Cardinals?

Clemson takes on Louisville at 3:30 pm Saturday.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Nov 11 13:00:07 GMT-04:00 2022

All of the goals are still on the table. It’s all right there, within the grasp of the Tigers. But it has to start Saturday against Louisville. The Tigers have to put four quarters together and give us a glimpse of the team they aspire to be. To be the team the fans want to see.

Can they put last week aside and look at the rest of the season as an opportunity? We will find out Saturday.

After playing five of its first nine games on the road, Clemson will begin its regular-season-ending, three-game homestand on Saturday. Clemson is attempting to play a 150th consecutive game since losing back-to-back games in a single season. Clemson's 149-game streak dating to 2011 is the nation's longest active streak.

The Tigers will also celebrate Military Appreciation Day, always a highlight of the season.

NO. 12/12 CLEMSON (8-1, 6-0 ACC) vs. RV/RV LOUISVILLE (6-3, 3-3 ACC)

WHEN: SATURDAY, NOV. 12, 3:30 P.M. ET
WHERE: MEMORIAL STADIUM (81,500), CLEMSON, S.C.
TELEVISION: ESPN (Wes Durham, Rod Gilmore, Tiffany Blackmon)
RADIO: Clemson Athletic Network (Don Munson, Tim Bourret, Reggie Merriweather)
SATELLITE RADIO: SiriusXM 135 or 193, Internet/App 955
CLEMSON/LOUISVILLE SERIES HISTORY: - OVERALL: Clemson leads series, 7-0

ATLANTIC CHAMPS

By virtue of Clemson's 6-0 ACC record and a Syracuse loss last week, the Tigers won their ninth Atlantic Division title, including shared titles (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019). Clemson also earned an ACC Championship Berth in a divisionless season in 2020. Clemson has previously represented the Atlantic Division in a conference-best seven ACC Championship Games (plus an eighth in the divisionless 2020 season) and will do so again in the ACC's final year of its divisional format.

Though Clemson's ACC Championship Game berth has been clinched by virtue of tiebreakers, Head Coach Dabo Swinney asserted in the immediate aftermath of a loss to Notre Dame that Clemson still views Saturday's game as an opportunity to truly seize the division crown. "We want to win the division, we don't want to tie for the division," Swinney said emphatically at Notre Dame. Clemson will get that opportunity Saturday against a Louisville program against which the Tigers are historically unblemished. Clemson is 7-0 all-time against the Cardinals and will attempt to open a series against an opponent with eight consecutive victories for the second time in program history, joining Clemson's 29-game winning streak to open its all-time series with Virginia.

But while the Tigers have a perfect all-time record against Louisville, the series has produced a number of dramatic moments. Since meeting for the first time in 2014, four of the teams' seven meetings have been decided by six or fewer points. That includes Clemson's 30-24 win at Louisville last year in which the Tigers overcame a 10-point deficit for the win.

THE MATCHUP

WHEN LOUISVILLE HAS THE BALL

It all starts with quarterback Malik Cunningham and a rejuvenated running game. Cunningham is seventh in the ACC (regardless of position) in rushing but sits 12th in passing. Tennessee transfer Tiyon Evans has gone over 100 yards in each of the past two contests, and Jawhar Jordan has been productive during the Cardinals’ winning streak.

Normally, a team whose strength is running the ball would seem to be an advantage for Clemson. But Clemson’s defensive line and linebackers were smacked around by Notre Dame last week. The 263 rushing yards by the Irish were the most by a Clemson opponent since Louisville and Lamar Jackson had 273 in 2016.

Louisville is fourth in the conference in total offense. Clemson is fifth in total defense. Louisville wants to run, and Clemson can stop the run but didn’t last week. Clemson’s “want to” has to be better than Louisville’s “want to” this week. Will it? I just don’t know. Clemson is the more talented group and has shown glimpses of excellence this season.

ADVANTAGE: EVEN

WHEN CLEMSON HAS THE BALL

Clemson’s defense wasn’t great last week, but the offense was an absolute mess. Clemson’s offense is sixth in the ACC, as is Louisville’s defense. The Cardinals are almost equal against the run and the pass. But what was puzzling about last week’s disaster was the continued reluctance to attack the seams and down the field. What I don’t understand is this – were the coaches unwilling to attack down the field, or just unable? Do they not trust the quarterback? The receivers? The offensive line? Or all three?

Clemson is 90th in long passing plays this season, with just one over 50 yards. There are just six of 40-plus yards. During interviews earlier this week, tight end Davis Allen was asked about the identity of the offense, and he said that they love each other.

After two years of this, however, we know the identity. To be successful it has to be a run-first team that at times can make plays through the air. The tight ends need to be more involved. There needs to be more shots down the field and less to the perimeter.

Louisville will attack. And attack. And that would seem to be the kind of defense that you can exploit with the quick game, with hot reads in the direction of the blitz, but...

This one will have to be won with Will Shipley and Phil Mafah.

ADVANTAGE: LOUISVILLE

SPECIAL TEAMS

Louisville is second in the ACC in punting, and Cards kicker James Turner is 14-of-16 on field goals while Clemson’s BT Potter is 15-of-17. Louisville isn’t exceptional in either punt return or kickoff return, while Clemson has shown flashes with both Shipley and Antonio Williams in the return game.

ADVANTAGE: SLIGHT TO CLEMSON

WHAT WILL HAPPEN

Is Clemson the more talented team? Without a doubt. But one team is playing well and one team had an open date and then struggled in what was the program’s worst showing in over a decade. And the honest truth is we don’t know what to expect offensively. But this is a program that thrives on adversity, has won eight games without a great offense and has won eight games with a hit-or-miss defense, and I’ve been told that they watched the Notre Dame film and then moved on. It’s rough when you spend five of the first nine weeks on the road, taking everybody’s best shot, and you’re not as talented as you once were.

But they’ve survived. And that’s what will happen Saturday. They will survive. It will be ugly at times. It will be close. But they’ll survive on the strength of three BT Potter field goals.

FINAL SCORE: CLEMSON 23, LOUISVILLE 17

More TigerNet picks

Mickey Plyler - The Roar 105.5 morning show host - 27-20 Clemson
Nikki Hood - Staff writer - 17-10 Clemson
Brandon Rink - Associate editor - 27-21 Clemson
Tony Crumpton - Associate editor - 28-24 Clemson
Pigskin Prophet - 27-24 Clemson
Ryan Kantor - Contributing Writer - 27-24 Clemson
Ariana Pensy - TigerNet Intern - 30-17 Clemson

PREDICTION TRACKER

Game	Actual	David Hood	Plyler	Nikki Hood	Rink	Crumpton	Prophet	Kantor	Pensy
GT	41-10 CU	38-13 CU	33-9 CU	41-7 CU	33-10 CU	35-13 CU	34-7 CU	39-6 CU	-
Furman	35-12 CU	50-10 CU	51-10 CU	59-7 CU	45-3 CU	45-3 CU	49-6 CU	48-7 CU	-
La Tech	48-20 CU	37-14 CU	51-10 CU	59-10 CU	44-13 CU	45-13 CU	45-10 CU	45-10 CU	38-10 CU
Wake	51-45 CU 2OT	37-27 CU	38-27 CU	34-20 CU	38-24 CU	31-24 CU	37-23 CU	31-24 CU	56-28 CU
NC State	30-20 CU	30-21 CU	31-21 CU	30-17 CU	27-20 CU	28-20 CU	34-17 CU	31-24 CU	37-34 CU
BC	31-3 CU	37-13 CU	37-17 CU	31-14 CU	41-17 CU	35-13 CU	41-16 CU	42-14 CU	42-10 CU
FSU	34-28 CU	27-17 CU	31-17 CU	30-14 CU	31-21 CU	31-20 CU	35-20 CU	31-21 CU	34-13 CU
Syracuse	27-21 CU	35-21 CU	37-16 CU	38-14 CU	37-23 CU	34-17 CU	34-20 CU	31-21 CU	37-20 CU
Notre Dame	35-14 ND	34-20 CU	28-13 CU	24-10 CU	28-20 CU	27-17 CU	27-16 CU	30-17 CU	37-20 CU
Louisville	31-16 CU	23-17 CU	27-20 CU	17-10 CU	27-21 CU	28-24 CU	27-24 CU	27-24 CU	30-17 CU
Points	-	13	9	13	9	11	11	11	11

* Points: 3 pts for best correct prediction of the week (tiebreaker is Clemson score), 2 pts for picking score exactly, 1 pt for picking the correct winner