What We Learned From Clemson Beating Louisville

From Clemson quickly getting over a loss to the offense finding explosive plays again to an outstanding linebacker performance, here's what was learned after the Tigers got back on the winning side.

No. 10 Clemson didn't decide around 3:30 p.m. Saturday that it wanted to get over the Notre Dame loss.

It didn't take until after beating Louisville 31-16 either. According to the coaches, the Tigers (9-1, 7-0 ACC) moved on from getting trounced in a dominating fashion on Nov. 5 right around the time they started a new week. 

"I was really anxious to see them on Monday and how they were going to respond," Swinney said. "It was exactly what I had hoped, even better, to be honest with you. Back to work, full ownership, everybody understands. 

"We had good practice all week and good meetings all the way up until we got on the bus (Saturday). I'm so proud of them."

Clemson could've rolled over against a Louisville team that had won four consecutive games. The Tigers could've let their only loss the week before beat them twice. Instead, they showed some moxie and determination to get back on a winning track. 

"I told someone this week that someone kidnapped my team last week," Swinney said. "They played tough and had a great mentality tonight."

It wasn't perfect. Clemson again made a ton of mistakes, the kind that can get any team beat.

"We got away with some things that didn't cost us the game tonight, but it'll cost you a championship," Swinney said.

It's clear the season isn't over for the Tigers. They still feel like they have something to prove and that there are goals to accomplish. That was evident on Saturday. 

Here's what else we learned about Clemson coming off the ninth victory of the season: 

ACC Atlantic is theirs

While the Tigers had wrapped up a spot in the ACC Championship Game back on Oct. 29 when they didn't play, the win over Louisville clinched the outright division title. There will be no sharing of a trophy or two teams claiming they won the Atlantic. It's all Clemson's. Considering how last year went, with the Tigers finishing second behind a Wake Forest team it beat in the regular season, this achievement shouldn't be taken for granted. 

A lot of people thought NC State was good enough to win the division in 2022. The Demon Deacons brought back a talented offense. Syracuse started the year 6-0. There were plenty of roadblocks, and considering Clemson still plays like a team that struggles to put together a dominating, four-quarter effort, the Tigers are counting their blessings that they've reclaimed a title they had won every year from 2015-20. 

Offense still has the explosiveness 

Yep, it's still there. After putting together just eight plays of 20+ yards in games against FSU, Syracuse and Notre Dame, Clemson had six explosive plays against Louisville. DJ Uiagalelei connected on three big pass plays, including a 36-yarder to Antonio Williams. Will Shipley had a 25-yard touchdown run while Phil Mafah had a 25-yard run and a 39-yard TD scamper that put the game away for good. 

This offense is very dependent on chunk yards. It isn't good enough on third downs anymore to sustain long drives, and it sputtered for much of the second half after scoring on the first possession of the third quarter. But the Tigers proved there are still some big plays in the offense, and that will serve them well down the stretch. 

The next WILL

Barrett Carter got put in a tough situation on Saturday. The linebacker had only played the hybrid SAM role for the Tigers in games this season. But with WILL linebacker Trenton Simpson out with an ankle injury, Carter got put in a new position. And he flourished. Carter racked up eight tackles, 3.5 tackles for a loss, two sacks and an interception. He played near the line of scrimmage most of the night and was a huge problem for the Louisville offensive line because of his speed and instincts. 

Swinney says Carter can play anywhere on the football field, even running back if they needed him to, but on that day, he was one of the best players on the field. Expect to see Carter filling that WILL role next year when Simpson moves on to the NFL. In the meantime, we learned that he might need to play there more this season. 

Turnover perplexity 

For the third consecutive game, turnovers were a huge problem. Clemson committed three of them and put the ball on the turf four times against Louisville. Shipley did it twice, losing one and recovering another. It's hard to understand. Turnovers simply seem to come in waves without explanation. The Tigers have nine of them in the last three contests. They literally got Clemson beat at Notre Dame, and if Louisville had capitalized off the Tigers' miscues in this one, it probably would've happened again. 

"Hopefully, that's three games and we're done," Swinney said. "I don't even know what to say. I'm going to start coaching with my hat sideways. But they didn't have points off those turnovers." 

Coaches don't teach putting the ball in harm's way, and every team does drills to keep it from happening, but this has obviously become a turnover-prone team, and Clemson has to hope it's just been a run of bad luck. Until they stop shooting themselves in the foot, you just expect them to make these mistakes. 

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