No. 3 Clemson’s path seems clear to championship goals

The No. 4/3 Cardinals (4-1, 1-1 ACC) came away with both intact, despite coming up one yard short in their dramatic, nationally-televised 42-36 loss at Clemson (5-0, 2-0) Saturday night in a classic showdown that had all of the excitement and trappings of a playoff game.

Taking over with 3:14 remaining, Jackson guided his team 72 yards to the Clemson 12-yard line with 40 seconds remaining.

Top passers: Louisville sophomore Lamar Jackson has completed 74 of 126 attempts for 1,330 yards, 13 touchdowns and three interceptions in four games.

“I know (Watson’s) the best player in the country”, Clemson receiver Ray-Ray McCloud said. Instead, Smith pushed Quick out of bounds 1 yard short of the first-down marker, and Clemson took possession just outside the end zone to run out the clock.

Neither quarterback won the Heisman Trophy, but neither lost it. Louisville’s Lamar Jackson continued to flash the skill and quickness that thrust him into the conversation during the first month of the season.

How dynamic? Jackson finished with 162 rushing yards and 295 passing yards. If he’d gotten four yards farther, Louisville would’ve won. Louisville senior RB Brandon Radcliff has 428 yards on 46 carries (9.3 average) and three touchdowns in four games.

After forcing a Louisville punt the Tigers wasted no time getting back to work. Then it was Watson’s turn to respond with two fourth-quarter touchdown passes.

Clemson came out on fire and controlled this game right from the start. The two quarterbacks total for 854 total yards and eight touchdowns. Let’s jump to the fourth quarter, with Louisville up two points and riding an impressive comeback wave that had Clemson on its heels. After that opening score, the Cards fell behind 28-10, and they spent the third quarter digging out. The pass was actually a little underthrown but it was sacked with the right velocity and trajectory to take advantage of a late reaction from Louisville’s secondary, allowing Cain to simply back into the end zone.

The frustration on Lamar Jackson’s face was hard to miss.

And the defense, which at times looked hapless and helpless against Louisville’s high-powered onslaught, finally showed up, forcing a punt between Clemson’s scoring drives to allow the Tigers to take a permanent lead. Not many were sure if Jackson could put up big numbers against a good team, then in the second week of the season he posted five touchdowns.

Louisville vs Clemson live stream is available on WatchESPN.

The subsequent two-point conversion try failed as Watson was intercepted for the fourth time, making the Cardinals lead 36-34.

If the interception didn’t count in the box score, it certainly will in the minds of National Football League scouts, who saw Watson telegraph his throw to Williams and fail to put enough loft on the ball, resulting in Louisville linebacker Keith Kelsey tipping it into the waiting hands of his teammate Stacy Johnson.

After Clemson’s defense forced a three-and-out, Watson completed 5-of-6 passes on a game-winning 85-yard drive that culminated with a 31-yard strike from Watson to tight end Jordan Leggett with 3:14 to play.

Watson and Cain connected on another touchdown to pad the Tigers’ advantage with 3:47 left.

-Brad Mayes, Lehigh, threw six touchdown passes and a school-record 524 yards in a 63-35 win over Yale.

For his part, Boulware apologized after game, telling reporters he didn’t intend to make a “dirty play”. Wayne Gallman, who totaled 110 yards on the ground, sprinted into the endzone on a 24-yard run.

“Deshaun played like Deshaun”, Leggett said.

Louisville outscored Clemson 16-0 in the third quarter, capitalizing on two Tiger turnovers.