Clemson Football: Can Tigers avoid massive upset vs. red-hot Louisville?

Louisville hosts Clemson football on Saturday at Cardinal Stadium but can they pull the upset? Here’s a preview, prediction and how to watch.

Clemson head coach put his Clemson Tigers back on the ROY bus during their bye week:  message received.

The Tigers dominated Florida State at home last week 45-14. The Cardinals, under Scott Satterfield, outlasted the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 62-59 in Winston-Salem. Both the Tigers and the Cardinals have to feel good about themselves coming into this noon tilt.

It’s funny when you hear the criticism of the Clemson Tigers this year. When you’re good, any small thing you do makes news. So Clemson hasn’t been dominant offensively this year, well their defense has given up 12 points and 254 yards per game this season. You don’t have to score 50 when you only give up 12. They’ve had some turnover on their offensive line as well, and they’ve taken some time to gel.

Let’s be honest about one thing when it comes to Clemson: their most dangerous opponent isn’t on their schedule but rather it’s in the mirror.

Louisville and its first-year coach has to be excited about the future of the program with how well they’ve played so far this year. Former head coach Bobby Petrino didn’t recruit at an especially high level before he left — it shows on defense — and that program was in a bit of a mess.

Enter Satterfield, the tough-minded former head coach of the Appalachian State Mountaineers. All he did in Boone, N.C., was help them transition from being a championship level FCS team to a Sun Belt champion. Winning translates anywhere.

So you have a team trending up, and another team looking to prove they are still the best team in the country.

Here’s how you can watch Saturday’s game:

Date: Saturday, Oct. 19
Time: 12 p.m. ET
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Venue: Cardinal Stadium
TV: ABC
Live Stream: WatchESPN

Keys to Victory

Louisville is far from a perfect team, but if they’re going to win this one they’ll have to be a close to perfect as they can be, and hope Clemson turns in a C- effort. Louisville would need a herculean effort on defense, and hope the offensive line gives Evan Conley or Micale Cunningham time to through against Clemson’s defensive front.

The Tigers might have to travel to Cardinals Stadium on the ROY bus. Clemson needs to use the same strategy they used against Florida State. Smother Louisville on defense, let Trevor Lawrence loose early in the lead and lean on Louisville with their offensive line and running game.

Prediction

If you’ve seen the Cardinals play, you know that they are going to give Clemson everything they have. Satterfield and his staff will have a sound game plan for this game. At the end of the day, however, this is still a defense that gives up over 30 points and 430 yards of offense a game. This one might be close for a quarter or so, but Clemson has too much talent for this to be a repeat of UNC.

Final Score: Clemson 42 Louisville 17