Paws Up, Paws Down: Tigers Remain Perfect Against Louisville

After a slow start, Clemson put a touchdown on the board just before halftime, then pulled away in the second half for a 45-10 win. It wasn’t always pretty, especially early, but a 35-point ACC road win, on a “bad day” is something we’ll take every time. We seem to be saying this more often than not this season, but this is a young team in a lot of spots and they are still learning.

Defense

This D was dialed in against the Cards. Evan Conley and Micale Cunningham were each just 4-11 passing, and Louisville only had 107 passing yards. Clemson forced 3 turnovers and had six sacks. They allowed a 100-yard rusher for the first time this season, but this defense is going to allow more yards on the ground at times than we are accustomed to seeing..... Paws Up

Travis Etienne

After turning in one of the worst games of his career in Chapel Hill, Etienne has responded by having two of his best games of 2019. The junior running back had his best game since the opener, finishing with 192 yards on 14 carries. In his career against the Cardinals he has 443 yards on just 28 carries, with 3 TDs..... Paws Up

Trevor Lawrence

After a sloppy start, the second year QB was locked in. He had two early INTs, both of which were ugly, but at least one of those was largely on the receiver. The second one was just ugly. After starting just 3-7, he hit on 17 of his next 22 attempts, with 3 going for scores..... Paws Up

Justin Foster

With XT sitting this one out, Foster had maybe his best game yet, particularly in that first half. He had 2 sacks, 3.5 TFL, and 5 total tackles..... Paws Up

Andrew Booth

Whatever happened to instigate Booth taking a swing, he has to have better control over his emotions. That cannot happen, ever..... Paws Down

Clemson vs Louisville All Time

The Tigers have owned the Cardinals in their six meetings. After winning the first three matchups by a combined 15 points, it looked like we might have a budding rivalry on our hands. However, it hasn’t quite played out that way. Clemson has won the last three by 26, 61, and 35..... Paws Up

Isaiah Simmons

8 more tackles and 2 more sacks, giving him 6 on the season. Simmons terrorized the Cardinals all afternoon, and is making his case for being the best player in the country..... Paws Up

And in other action across the nation.....

Wisconsin

What happened to that stifling Badger defense? The Illini were 30.5 point underdogs at home, but won it on a 39 yard FG as time expired. It was the first time a team won outright as a 30+ point underdog since Iowa State did it against Oklahoma in 2017. It was the signature win Lovie Smith’s program needed, but it was a loss that puts a serious hamper on the Badgers playoff hopes..... Paws Down

Missouri

Mizzou’s stay in the Top 25 won’t be a long one. After cracking the poll, they went and laid an egg in Nashville, and saw their 5-game winning streak snapped. Kelly Bryant was just 13-26 for 140 yards and the Tigers offense that was averaging 38.8 PPG was held to just 17 points. This just one week after Vandy got blown out at home by UNLV 34-10..... Paws Down

Texas

The Longhorns survived a close call against Kansas, needing a last second FG to get the 50-48 win. The Texas defense allowed 569 yards of offense, with 259 of those coming on the ground. It was a crazy game in which the teams exchanged 6 TDs in the 4th quarter, as well as 2 FGs and a blocked PAT that went for a safety. Kansas came in with worst offense in the Big 12, so not the best look for Texas. Especially at home..... Paws Down

Officiating

This weekend gave us some of the worst officiating I can recall in recent years. The SEC officials stand out more so than any. Some of the calls that were missed in the U of SC/Florida game and the Alabama/Tennessee game were egregious.....Paws Down

That is all we have for this week. Give us some of your thoughts in the comments, and keep checking back with STS for more from the Louisville game and as we look towards Boston College.