Louisville HC Praises Clemson, Prioritizing Finishing For Friday Night's Matchup

The Clemson Tigers are looking for revenge against the Louisville Cardinals from last season’s loss in Death Valley, and Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm knows his team will have its hands full.

A Friday night matchup will be a quick turnaround for the Cardinals, who are looking to bounce back after a home overtime loss to Cal on Saturday night took the team out of the driver’s seat of the ACC Championship. Against the reigning champion in Clemson, Brohm is looking for another win against an elite opponent, calling the Tigers “tough”.

“Great opportunity to play a really good football team,” Brohm said on Monday. “Ton of talent, lot of history, great coaching, you know, it’ll be a tough matchup for us that we got to prepare well for and go out there and try to find a way to execute better for all 60 minutes and find a way to win.”

As for that 33-21 victory at Memorial Stadium last November, Brohm thought that his team had the momentum necessary to win that game, using key plays like blocked kicks to nerve Tigers fans of making it to the ACC Championship that season.

“We changed some things up early that I thought got us in a rhythm,” he said. “You know, our defense played really good, we blocked multiple kicks, you know, the ball bounced our way to be quite honest with you, and we made some plays along there to do that and go out to the lead, which was important. So, I just think it’ll be a challenge again and that’s the key, is going out there and being ready to go from play one to the end and you try to get a lead, but if you don’t, you got to just continue to swing and battle and play hard, and we have played hard, we’ve had our chances. We’ve just got to finish things in the end when the game is close.”

The Clemson defense tightened up in the win over the Florida State Seminoles this past Saturday, showing a defensive prowess that forced two turnovers. After several defensive breakdowns in previous games, like the SMU and Duke losses, the team tightened up and handled the Seminoles effectively.

Brohm saw the performance through film, saying the team “cleared most of that up for now”. He expects an elite defensive unit that was highly touted entering the season.

“They’re big, they’re fast, they’re athletic, talented,” Brohm said. “Early on, I think they just had a couple busts in what they were doing. I’m sure it’s probably just some communication issues. Looks like they cleared most of that up for now.”

Even with Clemson’s 4-5 record, the Louisville coaching staff isn’t looking at that. A bowl game remains on the table for the Tigers, winning at least two of their last three games to qualify for the postseason.

Overall, Brohm sees the talent behind the record and knows what Clemson can do on paper to thwart a Louisville home win in primetime.

“Well, we don’t look at their record,” he said. “We look at the film and their talent and they’re a very talented team and I think sometimes when you’re punched in the gut early on, you refocus and regroup. You can tell they’ve done that, you know, they have very talented players, you know, NFL prospects at a ton of positions, they’ve won at a high level in the past and I know there’s a lot of season left to play, so they could easily finish this thing strong and be back where they want to and I’m sure that’s their plan, and that wouldn’t shock me because they’re a very talented football team and those guys have been there and done that.”

In this upcoming matchup on Friday, the Louisville head coach will look to get back on track following another overtime loss to an ACC opponent. The race for the ACC Championship is nearly wide open, and the Cardinals will need to record back-to-back season wins against the Tigers to achieve that.”

“It’s a very important game. Why? Because it’s the next game, but it’ll be, you know, a tough matchup,” Brohm said. “We’re going to have to play well and do a really good job, so we’re excited to get back to work and to move forward and to try to win this next game.”