Watson TDs Lift No. 5 Clemson to 42-36 Win Over Louisville

For his part, Boulware apologized after game, telling reporters he didn’t intend to make a “dirty play”. But the playoffs are a different matter.

“Louisville played their hearts out”, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. You’re not out of it. “I was just trying to get him down”. “It was incredible. That’s what makes college football so much fun”. Combined with last week’s 21-point comeback against Florida and their lucky bounce win over Appalachian State in the opener, it’s looking like it an orange-and-white kinda year. Cole Hikutini complimented for 85 yards and two touchdowns.

“It’s a tough loss”, Petrino said.

“We’ve got a lot of things we need to evaluate there”, Swinney said. Let’s finish the game – this is what we are built for.

Their ACC schedule is in the Cards’ favor the rest of the way.

Failed first true test at NC State.

Louisville has a bye week until they face Duke on October 14. As long as Jackson stays healthy, none of those five contests should be competitive.

With the Sanford Stadium crowd celebrating like their team had won, Tennessee took the kickoff into position to take one shot at the end zone.

It was a painful loss, to be sure, but it also taught the team about themselves. “We’ve just got to keep playing”. The Cardinals suffered their first loss of the season, but they still should be considered one of the best teams in the country despite the close defeat.

Clemson’s defense was stifling in the first half, sacking Jackson – who had only been sacked three times in the Cardinals’ first four games – four times in the first 30 minutes. His 31-yard touchdown pass to tight end tight end Jordan Leggett was the decisive score. We made a couple of mistakes.

No. 5 Clemson did just enough, rallying for two fourth-quarter touchdowns and stopping Jackson and No. 3 Louisville a yard short on fourth down with 33 seconds left to hold on for a 42-36 victory Saturday night.

Football handicappers know what they’re doing. Quick’s coming up so narrowly short was a fitting metaphor.

Then, the Tigers earned a critical three-and-out, which set the stage for Leggett’s TD catch. But James Quick was knocked out of bounds on Louisville’s final play shy of the first down. After the extra point got blocked I talked to him on the sideline and said he had to get it out of his head. “He thought he had the first down”.

Jackson will be a Heisman finalist at the end of the season.

The Tigers’ offense also showed up, building a 28-10 halftime lead on Watson touchdown passes to Deon Cain (twice) and Artavis Scott and a 24-yard scoring run by Wayne Gallman. But the sophomore continued to have one of the best seasons we’ve ever seen from a college quarterback. S Josh Harvey-Clemons, who leads Louisville with 7.3 tackles per game, had a team-high 11 tackles against Clemson. “He’s a freak athlete and he exposed us in some areas”. “Just that windshield mentality, have that daily focus and play to a standard”. “We found a way how to handle adversity”.

As for the quarterback duel, Watson passed for 306 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions to go along with 91 rushing yards on 14 carries. He had three interceptions, but they were more the fault of the receivers than his. “He did a great job of leading his guys … he did what great quarterbacks do – fight and lead”.

The Tigers remained at No. 3, behind No. 1 Alabama, which routed Kentucky at home, and No. 2 Ohio State.

Florida State: The Seminoles are now 7-5 in their last 12 games dating back to last season. “I learned that we’re some fighters”.

“They (the offense) came out believing”, Watson said. – Swinney on what he told his team about facing Jackson.

The ACC title game could mean rematches from a year ago with Miami (58-0 Clemson win) or North Carolina (45-37 victory in the league championship).