Final Thoughts and Observations on Louisville vs. Clemson

The Cardinals' longest win streak since 2016 was snapped at the hands of the Tigers.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Marching into Death Valley having won their last four games, the Louisville football program saw their longest win streak since 2016 snapped in unceremonious fashion, falling to Clemson 31-16 this past Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Before we close the book on the game and transition to the matchup vs. NC State, I wanted to provide some closing thoughts and observations from the game:

• First of all, some credit has to go to the team as a whole for their willingness to keep fighting in the second half, even though they spent most of that half fighting an uphill battle. Clemson played with a two-score lead at various points of the first half and the entire second, but Louisville's visible effort didn't seem to wane at all, especially towards the end when it was apparent the Tigers were indeed going to come out with a win. At least from the live broadcast and a second watching, they didn't seem to hang their heads and fought until the bitter end. This doesn't seem like it's the type of performance that is going to linger around and beat them twice.
• Before I dive into either side of the ball, I want to make an in-general observation that applies for both sides of the line of scrimmage: Louisville got smoked at the point of attack. Part of the reason that Louisville did go on a four-game win streak, other than an absolute domination of teams in the second half, was the fact that they were the ones setting the tone in the trenches. Their offensive line was doing a good job at protecting Malik Cunningham and opening holes for the running backs, while their defensive line was consistently causing disruption and winning their one-on-one battles. From the jump, it was Clemson who set the tone on both sides, and Louisville just couldn't overcome it until it was too late. Yes, Clemson does have five-star talent littered all over the place, but the right side of their offensive line has been a weakness all season, and their defensive line had been gashed by the run in three straight weeks leading up to that point. Then the game happened, and Louisville struggled to find consistent rushing lanes while Will Shipley and Phil Mafah went absolutely hog wild. Considering Louisville found very little success against either front is a little puzzling, and is one of the more underrated factors as to why they couldn't get the job done.
• Like I have for the past few weeks now, I'm going to talk about the defense first, because it was their effort that prevented this from being a complete and total ass-kicking. While they did struggle to get consistant stops in the first half, that changed in the second half. After Clemson scored a touchdown on their opening drive of the third quarter to make it a two-score game, they forced three punts and two fumbles on their next five drives. They very much gave the offense numerous opportunities to capitalize on the momentum, and the offense simply couldn't do it.
• Not many defenders stood out in this game from a statistical standpoint, as It was more so of a collective defensive effort for the game - with one exception. Linebacker MoMo Sanogo has been playing out of his mind in recent weeks, and he had another great game. One of two players with a sack (linebacker Yasir Abdullah), one of two players with two tackles for loss (defensive end Mason Reiger), with a season-high 14 tackles to boot - not to mention he logged 13 tackles the week before. He very well might be playing himself into an NFL Draft pick at this rate.
• A couple other notes on individual defensive players: Abdullah played another really good game, especially in the pass rush, it just didn't show up much on the stat sheet. Cornerback Jarvis Brownlee was up and down. There was times where he would be way out of position or give up a catch in coverage, then he would bounce back and go on to produce a TFL or PBU.
• Alright, now for the offense. Before I get into the actual play on the field, I want to address the elephant in the room. It was clear almost immediately that Cunningham's injury to his hand was a lot more severe than we were initially led on to believe. While he did complete 10 of his 13 passes, they only went for 75 yards, and he looked far from his dynamic self. He looked hesitant to scramble, and on the five times he did, it was clear he looked incredibly uncomfortable doing so. For the sake of his own health, and maybe even for the team's chances of winning their final two regular season games, it might be best to keep him sidelined until the bowl game.
• As you can imagine, the level of play on the field was... not great. The defense kept giving the offense opportunity after opportunity, and more often than not, the offense squandered them. Again, Clemson's talent is clearly the best in the ACC, but like I said earlier, they had shown real vulnerability as of late against the run, and Louisville simply couldn't deliver what they needed when they needed it, at least outside of running back Tiyon Evans' one touchdown run and Jawhar Jordan's 44-yard run, both of which came in the first quarter. Going 3-of-14 on third downs, and scoring zero points off three turnovers, isn't going to cut it.
• Given Cunningham's health status, and the fact that he has been inconsistent as a passer this season anyways, giving the reigns to Brock Domann for the rest of the regular season might not be the worst idea. Don't get me wrong, he was far from perfect, but out of the six passing plays that went longer than 15 yards, Domann had five of them - including that beautiful deep ball to wide receiver Tyler Hudson in the third quarter, which quite frankly, I didn't think he had in him. Sure, he doesn't do nearly as good of a job as Cunningham does when it comes to escaping pressure, but right now, Domann is probably Louisville's best option considering how banged up Cunningham is.
• Speaking of Hudson, it is past due to give him his flowers. He continues to show that he can make contested catches in traffic and fight for extra yardage once he actually gets the ball in his hands. Early in the year I criticized the offensive attack for targeting him too much, but now he has found his stride and is on the doorstep of a 1,000-yard season. Get him as involved as possible. My only request is that tight end Marshon Ford get at least five targets a game, especially on third down. Ahmari Huggins-Bruce, too, although Satterfield insinuated after the Clemson game that he's playing through an injury.
• I really didn't want to even bring this up, but given what I saw, I almost have to. I knew that Clemson would get a friendly whistle because that is what Death Valley is notorious for, but my goodness it was BAD. The weak pass interference call on Josh Minkins that led to Clemson's touchdown before halftime, Chris Bell having a defender hop on his back with no pass interference call, no targeting call after Domann got speared scrambling out of bounds, no facemask call after Jordan got brought down by it, as well as several missed holds. I still think Clemson eeks out a close win regardless, but as long as the Death Valley home cooking continues, I have no faith that Louisville will ever win on the road against the Tigers. I also have no faith that the ACC will ever get better officials, but that's a different argument for another day.
• I'll close with this thought: I had a ton of confidence that Louisville could win this game given the trajectory of both teams heading into the matchup. But even though Clemson dominated that game for a majority of the afternoon, based on their body language and overall effort, I don't think they'll let this affect their performance against NC State. However, something has to be figured out on the offensive side of the ball, regardless of which signal caller is in the game, because the Wolfpack have a great defense.

(Photo of Malik Cunningham: Ken Ruinard - USA TODAY Sports)

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