Night Game Nightmare in Death Valley: Cardinals shock Tigers

Not much went right for Clemson's offense in the loss (Photo by Merrell Mann).

David Hood - Senior Writer - Saturday, November 02 2024

CLEMSON – Louisville took out eight years of frustration in one epic beatdown of No. 8 Clemson, delivering a serious blow to any hopes the Tigers had of an ACC Championship or College Football Playoff appearance.

In a dominating effort, the Cardinals defeated Clemson 33-21 in Death Valley Saturday night for the first time in nine tries. The loss drops Clemson to 6-2 overall and 5-1 in the ACC, while Louisville improves to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the ACC.

The Tigers now have to hope that somehow one or both of Miami or SMU – both winners Saturday and still undefeated in the ACC – falters. With two blowout losses, Clemson’s path to the Playoff as an at-large team is probably over.

Phil Mafah put together a career day with 30 carries for 171 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Cade Klubnik was 32-of-55 for 228 yards and a score.

Clemson’s first two drives failed to gain any traction, and Louisville missed a 40-yard field goal on its first drive. However, the Cardinals’ Brock Travelstead hit a 21-yarder on the second drive for a 3-0 lead at the 4:39 mark of the first quarter.

The Tigers hit paydirt on the third drive, mixing in the run and the pass to drive deep into Louisville territory. With 16 seconds left in the first quarter, Klubnik faked the quick handoff to Mafah and threw to Antonio Williams in the flat. Williams made a twisting catch and raced by a defender for a 12-yard touchdown that gave Clemson a 7-3 lead.

The teams traded ineffective drives, but Louisville made the Tigers pay for a third-down pass interference call. With the Cardinals facing a 3rd-and-7 at midfield, Avieon Terrell was called for pass interference, drawing boos from the orange-clad crowd. Quarterback Tyler Shough rushed for four yards for the touchdown and a 10-7 Louisville lead.

The Tigers drove into Louisville territory, but a long field goal attempt was blocked, and the Cardinals took over at the Clemson 47 with 1:43 to play in the half. The Cardinals took just a minute to score – a one-yard run by Keyjuan Brown – and Louisville led 17-7 at the break.

The Cardinals took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched easily down the field, but settled for a 42-yard Travelstead field goal for a 20-7 lead with 11:45 to play in the third quarter. Louisville kicked two more field goals – one after the Tigers rushed three times into the middle of the line for no gain, turning it over on downs – and led 26-7 at the end of the fourth quarter.

As the clock continued to bleed, the Tigers put together a five-minute drive, still filled with stops and starts, but finally got back on the scoreboard with a three-yard Mafah touchdown run that made it 26-14 with six minutes remaining.

However, after a failed onside kick attempt, Louisville’s Isaac Brown raced almost untouched 45 yards for the score to make it 33-14.

Another long Clemson drive led to a Mafah one-yard scoring run with 2:07 left to play, making it 33-21.

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