The old cliche – “we didn’t lose, we beat ourselves,” was on full display for Louisville football in devastating loss to Clemson.
You never wanna lose two games in a row. You really don’t wanna lose two conference games in a row. Losing two conference games at home in a row, though…that’s just unforgivable. Unfortunately for Jeff Brohm’s Louisville football program a perfect storm was brewing for that very thing to happen on Friday night when they took on ACC preseason favorite Clemson.
The Tigers have had an almost shockingly rocky season, especially considering who they have calling their plays and taking their snaps. In spite of entering L&N Stadium at 4-5, with their every game being an essential win to qualify for a bowl game, Dabo Sweeney still has multiple future NFL players on both sides of the ball: much like the California team that just escaped Louisville with a win, Clemson is better than their record indicates.
De-ja-vu
And much like the California game, the opposing team started off by ramming the ball down the Cardinal defense’s throat. The Tigers got all chunk yardage, aside from a seven yard Clev Lubin sack, dividing the play calling down the middle between runs and passes. A bobbled incomplete pass stopped the Tiger charge, however, and Louisville managed to escape only giving up a field goal.
The teams traded punts, and, when Louisville got the ball back, a 15 yard penalty and a Miller Moss pass over the middle got the Cards into Tiger territory. Moss connected with receiver Chris Bell, giving Louisville a first down at the Clemson 38. Brohm called a middle screen for Duke Watson, which would have put the Cards in the red zone, but Watson failed to catch the pass. Cooper Ranvier connected on a 51 yard field goal, tying the game at 3-3. Though the score was knotted, it felt like Clemson had settled for a field goal, while Louisville was bailed out by their kicker.
The teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter after Watson fumbled the ball deep in Cardinal territory. The usually reliable Ranvier missed an extra point following a Miller Moss sneak into the end zone. Going into the half, the misfire on that kick would be the difference in the game, with Clemson on top by one, 10-9.
Things that are underlined and italicized are important, by the way.
Running Brown-hill
Keyjuan Brown came out of the locker room on a mission. He had back to back runs of 21 and 10 yards, followed by a run to the red zone in which he absolutely bulldozed a Clemson defender.
An option pass from Caullin Lacy to Nate Kurisky gave the Cards their second touchdown, and the lead, at 16-10.
Goal line stands
Clemson would again march down the field, doing basically whatever they wanted to do against Ron English’s defense. Cade Klubnik was 4/4 on the drive until the Tigers got in the red zone, when Louisville, again, was able to hold the threatening Tigers to a field goal. Louisville was still on top, 16-13.
Another Ranvier field goal would increase the Cardinal lead back to 6, when Klubnik went to work again.
The Cards gave him entirely too much time in the pocket, but were able to seemingly halt his advance with a sack for a 10 yard loss. The Cardinal rusher was flagged for a horse collar, however, giving Clemson a new set of downs within the 10 yard line. It was here that Louisville’s goal line defense managed to force two fumbles in four downs, giving the Cards the ball back with a 6 point lead still secured.
Flags and field goals
Keyjuan Brown exploded for 20 yards out of the end zone on the first down of the drive, but the play was called back on a truly questionable holding call. The Cards were doing all they could to give their punter room to operate with the downs they had remaining, and again had to kick the ball away.
Clemson negated the cushion provided by the punt in one run. Again, with four downs in their pocket and only ten yards between them and the end zone, the Tigers pushed toward the touchdown that had eluded them in the red zone thus far. In spite of holding them to fourth down, Clemson broke the plane with a one yard run. The Tigers were up, 20-19.
Brohm called a trick play for speedster Lacy, who managed to get within field goal range before being brought down. It was here that offensive stagnation again plagued the Cards in critical situations: Duke Watson had back-to-back runs for no gain, followed by a Moss sack that put Louisville at the edge of Ranvier’s range. Ranvier, who had missed an extra point in the first half, pulled his kick wide. Clemson got the ball back, still up 20-19.
The Louisville defense forced the Tigers to a three and out, when a poorly executed long snap gave the Cards the ball back inside the 25 yard line: just like against California, the Cards were given an opportunity to escape with a win on a silver platter. A Louisville dead ball personal foul, however, pushed the Cards back out of field goal range. Moss completed a cross route to Meeks that, because of a broken tackle, got the Cards back into field goal range. Unfortunately Brohm brought out a cold kicker (Nick Kellar) whom, like Ranvier had the previous possession, pulled the kick wide.
Wide kicks are a, not the, problem
Remember earlier, when I said the misfire on that kick would be the difference in the game? Hard to believe that statement would be true three times over.
Kickers have a truly terrible job: their perfection is expected, their points taken for granted. I won’t put this loss on them, although they had multiple chances to steal a victory for the Cards. Louisville has to put themselves in the position to win: being completely unable to move the ball, and in fact losing yardage, in critical moments, has plagued the offense for two weeks in a row.
What’s more is the completely unacceptable dead ball personal fouls incurred and sack taken that put the ball on the very edge of Louisville’s field goal range with victory in reach. Not only was Louisville unable to play itself into a winning position, it was also unable to hold the winning position it was given for the second straight game.
Defense needs to show up on both sides of the red zone; Offense needs to show up
The Cardinal defense has been pretty stellar in the red zone as of recently. The 80 yards before, however, have been a different story. While the Tigers failed to convert a 3rd down in the first half, this was largely due to dropped passes by Clemson and chunk yardage surrendered by Louisville. And what’s even more confusing is that Louisville seems to get whatever they want on the ground when they rush Keyjuan Brown. The passing game should feed off of this, but penalties and poor decision-making have offset any success gained on the ground.
If there’s a bright side, it’s that every game that Louisville has lost has been a heart-breaker. What drives me nuts, though, is that the team seems unable to do what we all thought they would do effortlessly: move the football. There is just too much talent on this team for it to be defined by inconsistency, and Louisville has too many weapons on offense to have such difficulty scoring points.
On Friday night, neither our kickers nor a Clemson turnover could seal the deal for Louisville. While the conference championship and playoff are out of the question now, Louisville can still finish with a successful season: they just have to stop shooting themselves in the foot.
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