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Clemson football continued its dominance of conference opponents, defeating Louisville 45-10 at Cardinal Stadium Oct. 19. The Cardinals couldn’t capitalize on two early turnovers as the Tigers controlled throughout for their 22 straight win and 16 consecutive conference victory.

Trevor Lawrence completed 20 of 29 throws for 233 yards and three touchdowns while Travis Etienne rushed for 192 yards for Clemson. The Tigers finished with over 500 yards of offense.

Javian Hawkins rushed for 129 yards and a touchdown for a Louisville offense that finished with 263 yards of offense. 

Louisville trailed 10-3 near the end of the first half, but a touchdown with five seconds left in the second quarter helped Clemson take command of the game. Louisville coach Scott Satterfield thought his team missed opportunities in the first half. 

“We didn’t make enough plays, they outexecuted us,” Satterfield said. “We weren’t able to get any momentum.”

The first quarter was sloppy.

A Malik Cunningham pass was intercepted K’Von Wallace in the endzone on the game’s opening possession.

Travis Etienne had a 48-yard carry on Clemson’s first play from scrimmage, but a sack by Jared Goldwire on third-down forced the Tigers to settle for a 51-yard field from B.T. Potter.

Louisville’s ensuing drive could only muster one first down, but the Cardinals had an opportunity for points on a fumbled punt by Tiger returner Derion Kendrick. Several Louisville players were around the ball, but Joseph Ngata recovered the fumble for Clemson in the endzone for a touchback.

The Tigers moved the ball to the Louisville 20-yard-line, but Jack Fagot intercepted Lawrence’s pass in the endzone to stop the drive.

After a Louisville drive stalled near midfield following the turnover, the Cardinals were forced to punt, but got the ball right back.

Russ Yeast intercepted a throw in the endzone for Louisville’s second turnover.

Clemson scored on its first drive of the second quarter set up by a 61-yard reception by Amari Rodgers. Ngata caught a 6-yard touchdown from Lawrence to cap a six-play, 81-yard drive with 10:41 left in the second quarter for a 10-0 lead.

Conley led a scoring drive on his possession. Dez Fitzpatrick had an 11-yard reception while Javian Hawkins took a carry 15 yards. A defensive holding penalty brought the ball to the 11-yard-line, but Louisville had to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Blanton Creque with 4:57 left in the second quarter.

Clemson’s final drive of the first half started on the 23-yard-line with 1:05 left, but it didn’t take long for the Tigers to extend their advantage to 17-3.

Rodgers and Etienne each had receptions for first downs while Justyn Ross had a 22-yard catch. Lawrence capped the five-play, 77-yard drive when he rolled to his left avoiding pressure, lofting a throw into the back of the end zone to Ross for a 25-yard touchdown.

“Right before half was huge,” Satterfield said. “That was a huge momentum swing for them.”

Louisville’s defense forced a three-and-out on Clemson’s opening possession of the third quarter, but the offense continued to struggle. Hawkins picked up a first down with carries of six and eight yards, but Louisville faced a fourth-and-1 from their own 46-yard-line.

Hawkins was tackled for a loss on the fourth-down play to return the ball to Clemson.

The Tigers couldn’t capitalize on the good field position as a 44-yard field goal was missed wide right.

Etienne took a carry 49 yards for a touchdown to give Clemson a 24-3 lead with 1:35 left in the third quarter.

Clemson had a seven-play, 63-yard drive in the fourth quarter capped by 10-yard touchdown reception by Frank Ladson Jr. for a 31-3 lead with 12:43 left.

After a Conley interception, Darien Rencher scored from eight yards to extend Clemson’s advantage to 38-3 with 10:14 left.

The Cardinals had their best drive of the game led by the legs of Hawkins. The redshirt freshman, who surpassed 100 yards for the fourth time this season, had carries of 12, 19 and 25 yards on the drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown by Hawkins.