Louisville Defeats Clemson, 33-21
CLEMSON, S.C. - Louisville (6-3, 4-2 ACC) used scores on five consecutive drives to pull ahead of No. 11/8 Clemson (6-2, 5-1 ACC) en route to a 33-21 win at Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Running back Phil Mafah tallied a season-high 199 yards of total offense, including a season-high 171 yards and a pair of scores on 30 carries.
Clemson outgained Louisville 450-366, piled up 31 first downs, and held the ball for 37:52 on 101 offensive plays, including seven drives of 10 or more plays. Quarterback Cade Klubnik completed 33 of his 56 passing attempts for 228 yards and a touchdown and ran for 43 yards on 12 carries. Wade Woodaz led the Tigers defensively with 11 tackles as the Tigers fell to 8-1 in their all-time series against the Cardinals.
After two scoreless drives by the Tigers, Louisville kicker Brock Travelstead opened the scoring with a 21-yard field goal to put the Cardinals up 3-0. Clemson’s offense responded as Klubnik connected with Antonio Williams for a 12-yard passing touchdown to complete an 11-play scoring drive. The score going into the second quarter stood at 7-3.
The Cardinals reclaimed the lead in the second quarter on a rushing touchdown by quarterback Tyler Shough. Clemson attempted to tie the game at 10-10 on a 49-yard field goal attempt by Nolan Hauser, but the kick was blocked. Louisville running back Keyjuan Brown capped the ensuing six-play drive with a touchdown run to give Louisville a 17-7 lead at halftime.
Clemson kept the Cardinals out of the end zone in the third quarter but allowed three Travelstead field goals, which pushed the score to 26-7 at the end of the third quarter.
Clemson cut the lead in the fourth quarter on a 61-yard, 16-play drive ending in Mafah’s first touchdown run. After Louisville recovered an onside kick attempt, Isaac Brown rushed 45 yards for a touchdown to push the Cardinals’ lead to 33-14. Mafah added his second rushing touchdown with 2:07 remaining in the game, completing a 75-yard, 12-play drive for the Tigers to bring the final score to 33-21.
During the game, Clemson honored its nine new Athletic Hall of Fame members, including football’s Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins.
Clemson will next hit the road for consecutive away games to close its regular season conference schedule when it plays at Virginia Tech on Saturday, Nov. 9, and at Pitt on Saturday, Nov. 16. Clemson also has two remaining home games at Memorial Stadium against in-state foes The Citadel (Nov. 23) and South Carolina (Nov. 30)