Gameday 101: Clemson defense vs. Louisville
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What’s left to say about the job of this defensive coaching staff at this point? The Tigers put up another masterful effort, absolutely smothering the Cardinals from the jump. Here’s how they did it.
-Before you say “it was just Louisville”, I would like to point out that this a team that came into the game averaging 37 points per game, and was just coming off an offensive explosion against Wake Forest where they scored 62 and had 520 yards of offense. Against Clemson? 10 points and 263 yards. While Scott Satterfield has done a great job turning that team around, they had no shot vs. Brent Venables and this Clemson defense.
-Time for your weekly Isaiah Simmons update. Simmons led the Tigers with eight tackles, seven solo, and added two more sacks to his season total. If the Heisman cared about defense, Simmons would absolutely be in the conversation. His impact cannot be stated enough.
-Clemson had six sacks and 11 tackles for loss against Louisville, and it could have been even more. The pressure was relentless from the jump, as Clemson got a tackle for loss on a run on the very first play of the game. On Louisville’s seventh play of their first drive, Clemson brought a five-man blitz with a spy sitting behind it. Louisville quarterback Micale Cunningham stepped up to avoid the rush and stepped right into a spy, taking a big hit as he launched the ball deep into double coverage, where it was intercepted by K’Von Wallace in the endzone.
-A strange play took place in the first quarter. Louisville punted the ball away, and Kendrick signaled for a fair catch, but the ball bounced off his hands and rolled backwards into the endzone. There was a scrum, and Clemson came up with the football. While many were clamoring for a safety, the ball was awarded to Clemson on a touchback. The reasoning for the call is that because Kendrick never actually possessed the football, it wasn’t a change of possession, but a muffed punt. Had Louisville recovered, it would have been a touchdown, but a safety was never in play.
-Justin Foster had a huge game, coming up with two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. His biggest play came in the first quarter, where he got Cunningham from behind and forced a fumble, which was caught in the air by Nyles Pinckney. Pinckney looked like he might have some room to run, but was grabbed by a Louisville lineman and we were robbed of a big man touchdown.
-Clemson’s streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher came to an end, as Javian Hawkins carried 26 times for 129 yards and one score. 65 yards and his lone score came on Louisville’s final drive of the game against the Clemson backups, and I’m sure the second and third-string won’t hear the end of it from the first string.
-Finally, the kicking situation took another turn, has Potter nailed the aforementioned 51-yard field goal while Sawicki missed a 44-yarder in the second half. This seems like a battle that will go all season long, but hopefully one can clearly emerge over the other soon.
That’s all for this week.