Clemson running game shuffles Cards as Tigers defeat Louisville again

Shipley hurdles a Louisville defender.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Nov 12 19:08:09 GMT-04:00 2022

CLEMSON – The Clemson running game shuffled the Cards back to Louisville.

No. 10 Clemson rushed for 248 yards and Phil Mafah’s late touchdown run put the cap on his terrific afternoon as the Tigers defeated Louisville 31-16 on Military Appreciation Day in Death Valley Saturday afternoon.

Clemson will accept the ACC Atlantic Division trophy after the game. The Tigers wore orange britches with the purple jerseys because they considered the game a championship game (winning the division outright with no chance of a tie).

Clemson improves to 9-1 overall and 7-0 in the ACC. Louisville falls to 6-4 overall and 3-4 in league play.

Mafah rushed 10 times for 106 yards and a touchdown, while Will Shipley carried it 19 times for 97 yards. Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei was 19-27 for 185 yards and a score. Antonio Williams had a career-high 10 receptions for 83 yards.

The nine-win season is the 30th in program history and the 13th under head coach Dabo Swinney. Clemson is now 8-0 against Louisville all time. Clemson won its 39th consecutive home game to extend the longest home winning streak in ACC history. No member of Clemson’s roster has lost a home game at Clemson in their careers. The streak ties the 2005-11 Oklahoma Sooners (39) for the ninth-longest home winning streak in FBS history.

Clemson earned it 100th victory against Power Five opponents since 2013, the most in that span against Power Five teams in the country. Swinney (159) pulled within one victory of Oklahoma's Bob Stoops (160) for the second-most victories in the first 15 seasons of a head coaching career in FBS history. Clemson played a 150th consecutive game since losing back-to-back games in a single season. Clemson's 149-game streak dating to 2011 is the nation's longest active streak.

The Tigers recorded three sacks, giving them 475 since the 2012 season. That’s more than any other team in the country.

"We weren't perfect, but you got some glimpses of what we can do when we do put it together," Swinney said. "If we stay focused and continue to apply the lessons from our mistakes, we can have a really strong finish and that's our goal. Everything we didn't do last week-- I told someone this week that someone kidnapped my team last week. They played tough and had a great mentality tonight.

"Been a rough couple of weeks for DJ (Uiagalelei). This was a do-or-die day for him. Just kind of where we were. He responded and played his butt off. Hopefully this propels him to have a great finish and it's a sign of what's to come. It was Phil Mafah's first 100-yard game. Will Shipley had 97 yards and one of the greatest touchdowns I've seen. Think Antonio Williams tied the freshman record today with 10 catches."

Uiagalelei carried the ball on the first two plays of the game and then, facing a third-and-15, connected with Joseph Ngata for 24 yards down the sideline to keep the drive alive. Later in the drive, Shipley slipped through the middle of the line for a 17-yard pickup. Two plays later, Uiagalelei kept the ball and bounced off defenders on his way to the endzone and a 7-0 Clemson lead with 10:17 to play in the first quarter.

On Clemson's third series, Uiagalelei again came out firing with an eight-yard completion to Drew Swinney and a 36-yard completion to Williams down the Louisville sideline. After a seven-yard rush by Phil Mafah, Clemson's offense stalled at the two-yard line and had to settle for a 19-yard BT Potter field goal.

Potter has scored in 50 consecutive games. Potter has scored in every game since earning the starting placekicking job prior to the 2019 season. The Clemson record is 53 games, set by Chandler Catanzaro from 2010-13.

Clemson led 10-0 with just over two minutes to go in the opening stanza. After back-to-back three-and-outs, Louisville's offense began to find its groove. On third-and-12, the left side of the field was wide open for Jawhar Jordan, who raced for 44-yards into Clemson territory. On the next play, Cunningham found Tyler Hudson down the sideline for a 19-yard pickup. Two plays later, Tiyon Evans raced eight yards untouched for the Cards' first touchdown of the game and trimmed Clemson's lead to 10-7 at the 14:17 mark of the second quarter.

The teams traded ineffective drives for much of the rest of the quarter, but the Tigers finally put together another decent drive after taking over at their own 20 with 3:57 to play. The Tigers mixed in the run with slants and passes to the seam, then scored on a 4-yard scoring pass on a slant to Antonio Williams to take a 17-7 lead with just 32 seconds left in the half.

The Cardinals took advantage of Clemson’s soft defense and drove down the field. Facing a 2nd-and-1 at the Clemson 40 with just two seconds remaining, Louisville skipped the long field goal attempt and ran a play. Cunningham juked his way down the field, but was nailed by Nate Wiggins and landed on his right (throwing) hand. His left hand was already heavily taped, and with the injury to his right hand, didn’t return.

He was replaced by Brock Domann to start the second half and the Cards were held to a three-and-out. Following the punt, Clemson took over at its own 15, and a facemask penalty and 25-yard run by Mafah gave the Tigers the ball in Louisville territory. On first down at the Louisville 25, Shipley burst through a hole, leaped two defenders (like a hurdler) and then ran over two more defenders and into the endzone for the score. Early in the third quarter Clemson led 24-7.

Louisville added a field goal, but that was the last of the scoring as Clemson’s offense went conservative and Louisville couldn’t gain any traction until Mafah scored on a 39-yard touchdown with 2:37 left to play. The Cards added a touchdown on the last play of the game.

The Tigers host Miami next week. The kickoff time will be released by the ACC later by Sunday.

Clemson-Louisville box