Note: The following appears in the Louisville football gameday program.
Editor’s Note – Last season, Dabo Swinney became the winningest coach in Clemson history when he led the Tigers to a win over Notre Dame. It was his 166th career win, one more than Frank Howard had between 1940-69. In each gameday program this season, Tim Bourret reviews an important victory in Swinney’s head-coaching career. Today, we recall Clemson’s win over Louisville in 2016.
When Clemson faced Louisville on Oct. 1, 2016 at Memorial Stadium, it was billed as the greatest quarterback matchup in Death Valley since 1977, when Notre Dame’s Joe Montana faced off against Clemson’s Steve Fuller. Montana and Fuller would go on to win Super Bowl championships at the next level.
This 2016 contest featured Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, who finished third in the 2015 Heisman Trophy voting, and Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, who put together some incredible statistics and highlight plays four games into the season.
Clemson was ranked No. 5 by AP and No. 3 by USA Today, while Louisville was ranked No. 3 by AP and No. 4 by USA Today.
No matter which poll you examined, it was only the second matchup of top-five teams in Memorial Stadium history. The hype for the game was off the chart and it brought ESPN College GameDay to campus for just the fifth time.
Much of the pregame attention centered around the matchup of the Louisville offense against the Clemson defense. The Cardinals were averaging 63.5 points per game, 682 yards per game and 9.0 yards per play, including 7.8 yards per carry, all highest in the nation.
Defensively, Clemson was third in the nation, allowing just 218 yards per game and 3.4 yards per play, second best in the nation. The Tiger defense was led by the defensive line of Clelin Ferrell, Dexter Lawrence, Carlos Watkins and Christian Wilkins, all still in the NFL, and linebackers Ben Boulware and Kendall Joseph.
It was a scoreless first quarter, as both teams had to punt on their first three drives. Louisville scored first when Watson threw an interception that Louisville turned into an 82-yard touchdown drive.
The second quarter was all Clemson, as Watson led the Tigers to four touchdowns. He threw two passing touchdowns to Deon Cain and completed a five-yard touchdown pass to Artavis Scott just five seconds before halftime. That gave the Tigers a 28-3 run to take a 28-10 halftime lead.
With all the momentum going into halftime, many expected Clemson to run away in the second half. But the opposite happened thanks to the confident play of Jackson, who led Louisville on a 26-0 run.
Louisville led 36-28 with 7:52 left in the game when Scott turned the game back to Clemson’s favor by returning a kickoff 77 yards. Two plays later, Watson connected with Mike Williams on a 20-yard touchdown pass, and the Louisville fever was broken.
Clemson forced a punt on Louisville’s next drive, the Cardinals’ only punt of the second half, and the Tigers drove 85 yards in eight plays. Clemson took the lead on a 31-yard receiving touchdown by Jordan Leggett, Watson’s fifth touchdown pass of the game. Head Coach Dabo Swinney revealed after the game that they had seen Louisville run the play earlier in the season, and he thought it would fit Clemson’s personnel.
However, the game was far from over. Louisville took over at its own 25 with three minutes left. Jackson worked his magic, rushing and passing, and took the Cardinals to the Clemson nine yard line with under a minute left.
A penalty moved the Cardinals back to the Clemson 14. On fourth and 12 from the 14, Jackson threw a pass in the left flat to James Quick, who had scored on a touchdown reception from Jackson earlier. Quick took off for the first-down marker at the two, but he was driven out of bounds at the three with 33 seconds left by reserve defensive back Marcus Edmond.
The next home game against NC State, Edmond would again save the day with a walkoff interception in the endzone in overtime.
It had been a thrilling game, as both quarterbacks lived up to the billing. Watson had 306 passing yards and five touchdowns and added 91 rushing yards for 397 total yards. Jackson had 295 passing yards and 162 rushing yards for 457 total yards.
Ironically in the end, it came down to a defensive play by a Tiger reserve who just happened to be doing an internship that semester in the Clemson athletic communications office.
The two teams went in opposite directions after this game. The Tigers kept winning close games (except for one against Pittsburgh) and won the national title with an even more thrilling 35-31 victory over top-ranked Alabama. Louisville finished the season with a 9-4 record and No. 20 ranking in the AP poll.
In December, Jackson won the Heisman Trophy and Watson finished second. Most believed had the vote taken place after the College Football Playoff, Watson would have won the award.
But by all accounts, Watson and the Clemson faithful were fine with how it all worked out.
