Player Grades: Louisville @ Clemson

Offense

Adam Choice, RB, Freshman A: Solid effort by Choice on an otherwise abysmal day for the offense. He racked up 61 yards on 16 Carries. He could've done even better with some improved OL play. No fumbles on the day for Choice, either, which is huge. Clemson showed this game that we don't need a running back to be CJ Spiller, we just need one who can consistently get positive yards and hold on to the ball. That's what Choice did, and it got the job done enough for Clemson

Cole Stoudt, QB, Senior, C: This is a hard one to grade due to all the circumstances. Stoudt was called into duty because of an injured Deshaun Watson, and he hadn't taken normal second team snaps due to a shoulder injury. Honestly, this worries me about how thin we are at QB. The coaches have more faith in a less than 100% Cole Stoudt than they do in Nick Schuessler or Dave Olsen. No knock on either of those guys, but the fact is until Watson is healthy, we are on thin ice at QB. If he were healthy, Stoudt would get a lower grade for his performance, but I'll give him credit for sticking it out. That being said, his performance wasn't great. He didn't get a lot of help from his WR's or OL. It was an ugly day for the offense overall, and this needs to be fixed by Saturday.

Wide Receivers, D: Receiver play was not good, and pairing that with an injured Stoudt at QB just made things worse. Mike Williams and Germone Hopper each had some pretty big drops that hurt. Hopper dropped what looked like a sure highlight touchdown from Watson early in the game, and Williams took a step back, only pulling down 1 catch for 23 yards. Artavis Scott led all receivers with 10 catches for 66 yards, which is solid, but after what we had seen from previous weeks, this unit could've done better, even against a talented defense

Defense:

Ben Boulware, LB, Sophomore, A+: Boulware looked like another Spencer Shuey out there, and was all over the place. 10 tackles and a sack for the day, and he was a huge part of a defense that won the game for Clemson.

Jayron Kearse, S, Sophomore, A: Another good game for Kearse, but what highlights this was the game saving tackle in the 4th quarter. In post game interviews, he stated that he actually was out of position on the play, but he quickly made up for that by sprinting down field and tackling James Quick from behind. That kept Louisville out of the end zone, setting up the goal line stand

Defensive Line, A+: Our defense played well all over, but the D-line was absolutely filthy. Vic Beasley played extremely well, getting his 29th sack to break the Clemson all-time sack record, and later made a huge play by batting down a pass in the backfield. Grady Jarrett contributed by scoring one of Clemson's two touchdowns off of a fumble recovery. He also had 5 tackles. Deshawn Williams batted down the 4th down pass attempt by Louisville at the goal line to end the Cardinal's hopes of victory.

Special Teams:

Adam Humphries, WR/PR, Senior A+: Humphries had the first punt return for a touchdown for Clemson since CJ Spiller did it in the 2009 victory over Boston College. That was also a game where the offense couldn't find the end zone. Humphries had a combined 107 yards on 8 returns. Special teams scoring could be key for Clemson over the next few weeks with Watson out, so hopefully this isn't the last we've seen of Adam's performance.

Ammon Lakip, K, Junio, A: 3/3. Had a long of 45. Was able to hit field goals under pressure. This is what Lakip needed to help his confidence. It will be interesting to see what happens on the road, where he has had more struggles.

Fans, A+: Great job Saturday to let Bobby Petrino know that yes, it does get louder than a half full dome on a Friday night. 81,500 fans packed into the Valley and went absolutely wild. I think the fans should definitely take some credit in this victory. However, I'm going to issue a challenge for the fans. Keep it up. We have three home games remaining. I know you will have no problem getting loud for the game on November 29, but let's do it for the other two games as well. Don't forget that 'Cuse players thought we would be intimidated by their jingling keys last year, so show them what real noise is. And it's a night game, so that should be motivation enough. With Georgia State, do it for the Tigers. We'll impress GSU no matter what, but having a wild crowd for that game would show our players how much we support them. We also have opportunities to create a "home-field" advantage on the road. At both Boston College and Georgia Tech, we always have a lot of fans go to that game, so those of you who are going, make sure to be louder than the home folks!