Clemson Tigers Upset No. 19 Ranked Louisville Cardinals
Louisville just can’t seem to catch a break. Less than a week after a gut-wrenching overtime loss to California, the Cardinals found themselves on the wrong side of another nail-biter, falling to Clemson 20-19 in a Friday night heartbreaker at L&N Stadium. If you’re a Louisville fan, you’re probably wondering what you did to anger the football gods.
This one stings. The No. 20 Cardinals (7-3, 4-3 ACC) have now dropped back-to-back regular-season games, and any sliver of hope they had of sneaking into the ACC Championship has officially been extinguished. To add a little salt to the wound, this loss drops their all-time record against Clemson to a dismal 1-9. Ouch.
A Game of Inches and Missed Opportunities
Coach Jeff Brohm called for more toughness after last week’s loss, and to their credit, the Cardinals came out swinging. They played with a fire and aggression that was missing against Cal. But football is a cruel game. While Louisville brought the fight, Clemson brought the execution, capitalizing on just enough Cardinal mistakes to escape with a win.
You can point to a few moments that will haunt Louisville’s dreams. A missed extra point in the second quarter. Two missed field goals in the crucial final minutes of the fourth. A holding penalty that negated a massive run by the fearless Keyjuan Brown. It was a classic case of shooting themselves in the foot, one toe at a time. Every time Louisville seemed to seize momentum, a costly error would hand it right back to the Clemson Tigers.
Silver Linings In a Crushing Defeat
If there’s a bright spot in this otherwise bleak outcome, it’s the performance of Brown. With Isaac Brown sidelined, Keyjuan stepped up and ran like a man possessed. He racked up a career-high 135 yards, averaging a ridiculous 9 yards per carry. At one point, he trucked a Clemson safety so hard you could feel it in the cheap seats before limping off, only to return and keep fighting. That’s the kind of heart and toughness Brohm was looking for.
Unfortunately, one man’s Herculean effort wasn’t enough. The offense stalled at critical moments, and the kicking game… well, the less said about that, the better.
So, where does Louisville go from here? The ACC title is off the table, and the season feels like it’s teetering on the edge. They’ll hit the road for their regular-season finale against SMU. It’s a chance to stop the bleeding and end the season on a positive note. But after two straight soul-crushing losses, you have to wonder how much emotional gas is left in the tank for the Cardinals.
