Clemson edges Louisville 42-36 in battle of top 5 teams

The Tigers are 5-0 after Saturday’s 42-36 victory over third-ranked Louisville.

According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetDSI, the Tigers are now a 1-point home underdog versus the Cardinals after they opened as a 3.5-point favorite.

—Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State, passed for 392 yards and three TDs to help the Cowboys defeat No. 22 Texas 49-31. “He’s a great player, a hard worker, he didn’t quit to the very end”, Watson said.

Georgia Tech’s offense bounced back with 361 yards after being shut down in last week’s 26-7 loss to No. 5 Clemson.

Their Heisman Trophy candidate, Deshaun Watson, did throw for 306 yards and five touchdowns. On the ground, Brandon Radcliff rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown in 19 carries while Jackson had 62 yards and two touchdowns in 12 carries.

Joe Yearby had 65 yards rushing, including a 27-yard scoring run, and Mark Walton added a 14-yard touchdown run for Miami.

Clemson allows just 11 points per game and is tied for fifth nationally in scoring defense.

Watson tossed a 12-yard pass to Scott on first down, then found wide receiver Deon Cain behind the defense down the left sideline for a 33-yard touchdown to tie the score. The ensuing extra point attempt was blocked by the Tigers’ Carlos Watkins cutting the Tigers lead to 28-16.

Ben Boulware #10 of the Clemson Tigers reacts after sacking Lamar Jackson on Saturday. Jackson needed to answer, again, and he gave it an impressive try on Louisville’s final drive. The computer is taking Louisville to cover the spread and the over the point total.

Jackson emerged from the pile and was clearly frustrated with the play and complained to the referees.

Louisville drove 82 yards in 11 plays to take a 7-0 lead on the third play of the second quarter.

Jackson ripped off 38 yards on a scramble on the first play after a Louisville interception. Like Louisville and Clemson, both teams are undefeated thus far in the season.

—Terrell Newby, Nebraska, ran for 113 of his 140 yards and scored two TDs in the fourth quarter to help the No. 15 Cornhuskers beat IL 31-16. There was no epic rainstorm this time, and the Tigers’ defensive stand inside the 5-yard line wasn’t on a two-point conversion.

If the interception didn’t count in the box score, it certainly will in the minds of National Football League scouts, who saw Watson telegraph his throw to Williams and fail to put enough loft on the ball, resulting in Louisville linebacker Keith Kelsey tipping it into the waiting hands of his teammate Stacy Johnson. His 31-yard touchdown pass to tight end tight end Jordan Leggett was the decisive score.

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.

The Tigers turned the ball over six times, including three interceptions by Deshaun Watson. However, Quick didn’t cut back in and instead went out of bounds 1-yard short of the first-down marker.

The senior linebacker led the Tigers with a career-high 18 tackles, three tackles for loss, one pass break up and a fumble recovery.