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ESPN’s College Gameday will head to Louisville for an ACC Atlantic showdown with the defending National Champion Tigers.
You ready, Louisville?
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 10, 2017
We're coming your way for the Cardinals vs. Clemson! pic.twitter.com/gSXWQfTgYV
In week 2, the Tigers defeated the #13 Auburn Tigers 14-6. While Clemson’s offense was stymied at times, their defense put forth one of the most dominating performances against a quality offense in memory. They sacked Jarrett Stidham 11 times holding him to 79 yards passing and -42 rushing. RB Kamryn Pettway, who ran for 1,224 yards on 5.9 YPC in 2016, was held to just 74 yards on 22 carries (3.4 YPC).
Kelly Bryant passed his first big test as Clemson’s new starting QB. He finished 19/29 with 181 passing yards including a beautiful 29-yard pass to Ray-Ray McCloud on the first TD drive. From three yards out, Bryant faked a toss and ran up the middle for a TD. Later, he’d break a tackle and run 27-yards for the only other TD of the game.
Auburn’s defense is very good. Their defensive line (two-deep) averages 4.25 stars (Rivals) and it showed as they held Clemson RBs to just 41 yards. Now the Tigers will have the nation’s attention as they head to Louisville to face a potentially more manageable defense that is dealing with a losses of DC Todd Grantham and star LB Keith Kelsey.
Louisville allowed 35 points to UNC in Chapel Hill this week (including a KO return TD), but overcame thanks to another sparkling performance from QB Lamar Jackson. Jackson passed for 393 and 3 TDs and ran for 132 and 3 more TD accounting for all of the Cardinals’ touchdowns. He has to be the early Heisman-favorite after this performance, though Big 12 QBs Baker Mayfield and Mason Rudolph won’t go away without a fight.
In Week 1, Louisville allowed four passing TDs to Purdue, but won behind Lamar Jackson’s 378 passing yards, 2 passing TDs, and 107 rushing yards.
Check back with ShakintheSouthland.com for more as we preview this week 3 ACC Atlantic showdown. It’ll surely have a different feel from the Tigers vs. Tigers defensive slugfest from which we just emerged victorious!