By Russ Brown
NKyTribune correspondent
LOUISVILLE — Louisville’s football team lost the biggest regular season game in program history, but not their dream goal or national respect.
The No. 4/3 Cardinals (4-1, 1-1 ACC) came away with both intact, despite coming up one yard short in their dramatic, nationally-televised 42-36 loss at Clemson (5-0, 2-0) Saturday night in a classic showdown that had all of the excitement and trappings of a playoff game.
Although it is undoubtedly of little consolation to the UofL players or coach Bobby Petrino in the immediate aftermath of the disappointing defeat, the Cards proved they truly belong in the College Football Playoff conversation and could still be there in early December when the spots will be determined.
Clemson is now effectively two games up on UofL in the Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic Division and a lot would have to go the Cards’ way for them to make the league championship game against the Coastal champ. But the playoffs are a different matter (UofL Athletics Photo)
Clemson is now effectively two games up on UofL in the Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic Division and a lot would have to go the Cards’ way for them to make the league championship game against the Coastal champ. But the playoffs are a different matter.
In fact, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney reminded Petrino of such a potential scenario during their post-game handshake, telling him: “Just keep winning. You’re not out of it. I’ve seen enough of them. You have a great team.”
Swinney knows his recent college football history. Three of the four teams that made the playoffs last year suffered a loss early in the regular season and last year’s champ, Alabama won the crown despite falling to Mississippi in the Tide’s third game.
Furthermore, 2014 champ Ohio State was upset at home — by two touchdowns — against an average Virginia Tech team in the Buckeyes’ second game.
“That’s a real tough loss,” Petrino said in brief post-game remarks. “There were a lot of guys out there who were really playing very, very hard. We got back in the game, took the lead, then weren’t able to finish it. We’ll come back, though. We’ve got a lot of games left. We’ll be alright.”
Looking ahead, UofL quarterback Lamar Jackson correctly observed that, “We still have a lot to play for. We don’t plan on losing no more.”
Their ACC schedule is in the Cards’ favor the rest of the way. They’ll be solid favorites in their next five games against Duke, NC State, Virginia, Boston College and Wake Forest, all of which are miles away from the Top 25 . And three of those games will be in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. As long as Jackson stays healthy, none of those five contests should be competitive.
“One loss don’t define your season,” UofL linebacker Keith Kelsey says. “(We’ve come) too far, we’re not quitters. We’re some fighters. Plenty of teams have gone far with one loss. We’ve just got to keep playing.”
Louisville’s only remaining serious test will come on Nov. 17 at Houston, which is currently undefeated, ranked No. 4 and — like UofL — has a relatively obstacle-free path to that Thursday night nationally-televised battle that could decide the playoff fate of both teams.
Of course, the Cards also have to hope that a number of the other 16 undefeated teams stumble somewhere along the way.
Who knows? We could see a replay of Louisville vs. Clemson in the national championship game in Tampa on Jan. 9.
“It’d be cool to see them again. Two ACC teams in the final four,” said Clemson tight end Jordan Leggett, whose 31-yard catch-and-run touchdown with 3:14 left proved to be the game-winner.
If the rematch happens it could be a doozy, but it might still be hard-pressed to match the thrills and chills and momentum changes of Saturday’s meeting, which was a rare instance of a game living up to the hype — and maybe even more.
UofL, perhaps bothered by the deafening noise from the sellout crowd of 83,362 in Death Valley, was uncharacteristically sloppy and non-productive at the outset, falling behind 28-10 by halftime after committing nine penalties, allowing four sacks and generating just 134 yards total offense, 36 yards fewer than its season average for one quarter.
The Cards regained their composure and poise at halftime, made some adjustments and reeled off 26 unanswered points, scoring on five straight possessions, to take a 36-28 lead on Jackson’s 11-yard touchdown run with 7:52 left.
But the Tigers roared back to score two TDs in four minutes — quarterback Deshaun Watson’s 20-yard pass to Mike Williams and Leggett’s decisive score that capped an eight-play, 85-yard drive.
Taking over with 3:14 remaining, Jackson guided his team 72 yards to the Clemson 12-yard line with 40 seconds remaining. But then came two of a handful of costly mental mistakes the Cards made during the evening. They were called for a false start, pushing them back to a 4th-and-12 at the hosts’ 14.
Jackson found wide receiver James Quick wide open in the left flat for a short pass, but instead of cutting inside and upfield Quick inexplicably ran toward the sideline and, apparently unaware that he needed to get to the two for a first down, was pushed out of bounds at the three on a diving tackle by Clemson defensive back Marcus Edmond.
“They brought pressure, and Lamar knew exactly where to go with the ball,” Petrino said. “We knew that when (Quick) caught the ball there, you have to go run and get the first down. What we really wanted was to get the first down, and unfortunately we came up just a little short.”
Quick wasn’t made available for post-game comments.
Said Edmond, who finished with 11 tackles: “I was worried about him cutting back inside, so I was trying to play him inside out. The one thing I was worried about was, ‘Don’t get juked.’ If I get juked, it’s a touchdown. I played it to the sideline. He went to the sideline, I went to the sideline and I made the tackle.”
Jackson said he initially thought Quick had the first down, but acknowledged that the senior, who finished with seven catches for 83 yards, including an 8-yard TD — “probably” misjudged the first down since there wasn’t a sideline marker on that side of the field.
“I’m not mad at him,” Jackson said. “He thought he had the first down.”
In the Heisman race against one of his primary challengers, Jackson probably didn’t do anything to hurt his status as the consensus frontrunner. Despite struggling against Clemson’s defensive front and swarming defense in the first half, he finished with 457 yards total offense — 162 rushing, with two touchdowns, and 295 yards passing on 27-of-44 with a TD and an interception.
“It’s a shame we came up a yard short,” Petrino said, “because I thought he did a great job of leading and competing, and I thought it elevated the guys around him.”
“He’s definitely the best player I’ve played against,” said Clemson linebacker Ben Boulware, who had a game-high 18 tackles, including three for a loss. “He’s a freak athlete. A lot of times, we had good leverage on him and he just outran us and made a play. He exposed us on some plays because physically we were just drained. But we found a way to win.”
Watson, who finished third in the Heisman voting last season, was also outstanding and probably elevated his Heisman stock after a slow start this year. He completed 20-of-31 passes for 305 yards and five touchdowns. He had three interceptions, but they were more the fault of the receivers than his.
“Deshaun played like Deshaun,” Leggett said. “Lamar had a hell of a night, and he’s definitely a great quarterback. But I still think the best quarterback on the field was wearing orange.”
Clemson increased its home winning streak to 19, now the longest in the FBS after Florida State’s home loss to North Carolina, and the Tigers have won 22 of their last 23 dating back to 2014. Their only loss during that span was to Alabama last season in the national championship game.
Louisville will now get a well-deserved rest with a bye week before hosting Duke (2-3, 0-2) for a Friday night game on Oct. 14.
“Obviously, we’ve had a very difficult schedule, playing two of the best teams in the conference in back-to-back conference games,” said Petrino, who fell to 0-11 in road games against top-15 teams. “I’m proud of the way our guys handled it, preparing and getting ready with the schedule we were presented with. What we need to do now is just come back and regroup. The bye will help us.”
QUOTABLE–““That’s a great football team. They’ve got some creatures over there. That quarterback is special.” — Swinney.
“If he’s Superman, we’re going to be Kryptonite.” — Swinney on what he told his team about facing Jackson.
“That’s the most stressful game I’ve ever been in.” — Clemson tight end Jordan Leggett, who has played in a national championship game, a semifinal, the ACC title game and a BCS bowl.