Clemson Bounces Back with Home Win over Louisville

No. 10 Clemson remained undefeated in ACC play behind a solid defensive effort and 248 rushing yards as the Tigers rolled past Louisville for their 39th consecutive home victory.

Jason Priester/All Clemson

CLEMSON, S.C. — No. 10 Clemson bounced back from last week's blowout loss at Notre Dame and secured first place by themselves in the ACC Atlantic Division with a 31-16 victory over Louisville on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. 

The Tigers (9-1, 7-0 ACC) ended the Cardinals' four-game winning streak behind 439 total yards offensively. Clemson held Louisville to 150 rushing yards after giving up 263 a week ago. 

Louisville (6-4, 3-4) played the second half without starting quarterback Malik Cunningham (hand). Clemson lost the turnover battle for the third consecutive game, but the defense made plenty of stops for a comfortable win and the special teams didn't make any critical mistakes to win at home for the 39th consecutive game. 

Will Shipley scored his 12th rushing touchdown of the season and rushed for 97 yards while Phil Mafah added a career-high 106 yards on the ground. Tigers quarterback DJ Uiagalelei went 19-of-27 passing for 185 yards and a touchdown. He also recorded a rushing score. 

Antonio Williams caught 10 passes for 83 yards and a score. 

Clemson got on the board quickly with a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ended with that 11-yard TD run by Uiagalelei to put the Tigers up 7-0 on the first possession. 

Louisville went three-and-out on its first two drives, but the Cardinals got within three after Tiyon Evans scampered for a 16-yard TD run to make it 10-7 Clemson with 14:17 left in the second quarter. 

Clemson saw a promising second-quarter drive in Louisville territory end when Uiagalelei was sacked and fumbled on third down. But the Tiger defense got it back, and Uiagalelei threw a 4-yard TD pass to Antonio Williams to cap a 10-play, 80-yard drive, which was aided by a pass interference penalty, that put Clemson up 17-7 with 32 seconds left in the first half. 

With Cunningham out of the game to start the second half, Clemson forced a punt on Louisville's first drive and then scored on an impressive 25-yard touchdown run by Shipley to put the Tigers up 24-7. 

Louisville immediately answered with a field goal to get within two touchdowns, and while Clemson sputtered away on a few drives, the Cardinals went fumble, punt, turnover on downs and interception on their next four possessions. 

Clemson tacked on a late TD on a 39-yard scoring run by Mafah. 

Cunningham was 10-of-13 passing for 75 yards, but it was evident that he wasn't his running self because of the hand. He only ran to his right on his five carries for 20 yards before leaving the game. Brock Domann replaced him and went 13-of-23 for 175 yards passing in the second half and threw a 31-yard TD pass at the end of the game.

Player of the Game: With starting linebacker Trenton Simpson out of the game, Barrett Carter moved from SAM linebacker to WILL and gave Clemson a huge effort. Carter finished with eight tackles, two sacks, 3.5 tackles for a loss, one pass breakup and an interception. It was a big lift for a unit that really struggled last week. 

Key Play: Down 14 points in the fourth quarter, Louisville still had hope of getting back in the game...until Carter stepped in front of a Domann pass and picked it off. It came after he nearly had a pick on a deflected pass earlier in the drive.

Freshman Impact: Wade Woodaz was part of the group that helped filled in for the absent Simpson, and the freshman linebacker forced a fumble, and one tackle for a loss and finished with three tackles in the most productive game of his young career.

Stat of the Game: The Tiger defense finished with nine tackles for a loss, giving them 79 on the season, which ranks in the top 10 nationally. 

Injury report: Louisville lost Cunningham at halftime after he fell awkwardly on his injured left hand on the last play of the first half, and he didn't return to the game. Clemson lost safety Tyler Venables in the first quarter with an undisclosed injury. Several other Tigers, including Simpson and right guard Walker Parks, didn't dress for the game. 

Up Next: Clemson hosts Miami next Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The kickoff time has yet to be announced. The Hurricanes (5-5,  won 35-14 at Georgia Tech in Week 11.

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