AN UPSET IN THE CARDS?
DOES LOUISVILLE HAVE ENOUGH OFFENSE TO HANG WITH CLEMSON?
Keys for Clemson
Attack from opening snap: That was coach Dabo Swinney’s challenge to Clemson in last Saturday’s win against Florida State. The Tigers delivered, opening the game with a 40-yard pass from Trevor Lawrence to Tee Higgins, then using a halfback pass from Travis Etienne to Justyn Ross to set up the game’s first score to create an emotional edge they never lost. A similar approach would be a good approach on the road against the rapidly improving Cardinals. Create takeaways on defense: The Cardinals have been turnover proned at times this season, while Clemson’s defense is coming off a game against Florida State in which it produced four takeaways. Three of those were interceptions, but forcing fumbles may be the key against Louisville, which boasts one of the ACC’s top rushing attacks.
Keys for Louisville
Avoid a letdown: This wouldn’t normally be an issue with the defending national champion and nation’s No. 3-ranked team coming to town. But the Cardinals invested a lot of physical and mental effort into knocking off No. 19 Wake Forest in a thrilling 62-59 affair last week. It was the first win against nationally ranked foe by Louisville since 2016 and biggest yet under first-year coach Scott Satterfield. Keeping that same focus against the Tigers is imperative. Limit big plays on defense: This is a tall order against an explosive Clemson offense. And the Cardinals haven’t been very good on defense of late either. Louisville has allowed 500 or more total yards in the last three games and surrendered 98 points in the last two outings. Forcing three turnovers helped overcome that deficiency against Wake Forest, but the Cardinals can’t count the Tigers turning it over that much.
Prediction
Clemson 47, Louisville 28. The Cardinals may have enough offense to hang with the Tigers for a half. But eventually Clemson will start to exploit their weaknesses on the defensive side and pull away to extend the nation’s longest active winning streak to 22 consecutive games.