Louisville defense had Clemson’s number the past two years

Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) awaits the snap during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Huntington, W. Va., Saturday Sept. 24, 2016.

The advantage for Clemson may be more notable in the second-string where the Tigers have young four-stars athletes like running back Adam Choice, tight end Garrett Williams, and wide receiver Deon Cain and Louisville has young three-star athletes.

Louisville and Clemson are powered by superstar quarterbacks: Lamar Jackson and Deshaun Watson. “We’re going to have to play our best football to this point, their offense, our defense”.

Watson and Tigers (4-0, 1-0 ACC) will certainly need it this week.

Watson is still one of the most talented players in the country, and although Jackson will surely get his stats, Watson will outperform him. They’ve scored at least 59 points in every single game, including a 63-20 thrashing of the then number two ranked Florida State. The game is essentially the ACC Atlantic championship game barring madness later on down the road. However, he played well last Thursday in a win over Georgia Tech, and everyone knows what he’s capable of following his brilliant sophomore campaign a season ago.

“All the great ones love the great competition, going against the best”, Watson said.

We’ll look at this first play where Clemson’s Clelin Ferrell (99) breaks up the play before it even gets developed. He’s been a dominant player on the defensive front, and he’s poised for another big game this weekend. “We tell our players they come to the University of Louisville for to play in games like this”.

Swinney later admitted he apologized to his team for becoming a distraction as the focus on Clemson briefly swayed from the team’s ongoing success.

Watson pointed to Alabama running back Derrick Henry winning the Heisman after performing well down the stretch in 2015 as proof that the award is won at the end of the year, not in Week 5.

The 4-0 Cardinals are already 2-0 in conference play with a win over Syracuse to go with the victory over the Seminoles. On this week’s HTC we talk LSU’s fall, Louisville’s rise, and the Lamar Jackson troph…cough cough I mean Heisman race. “That’s out of my league”.

Clemson is one of the best defenses in the nation as they rank in the top ten in tackles for loss (38) and are top 15 in rushing yards allowed per game (92.8). “We feel like it’s a great opportunity for us”. He really understands that his teammates are working extremely hard, and working hard. “Let’s go play it”.

Louisville has lost the last two meetings in dramatic fashion.

For the Tigers defensive coordinator, the understanding that what the Tigers defense has accomplished in the first four weeks of the season – while impressive – has absolutely nothing to do with their ability to stop Louisville Saturday night.

“Baker, a 5’11”, 180-pound junior cornerback from Hallandale, Florida is coming off a junior season in which he registered seven tackles, two interceptions and one pass deflection.

I’ve never been confused with Knute Rockne – or even Cam Cameron – but ESPN’s College GameDay is free to borrow my material. “Hopefully it gives them confidence knowing that we’re right there to compete with them in the fourth quarter”, Petrino said. “We just want to be 1-0 this week and move on from there”.