One of the more dominant and satisfying wins I've seen from Clemson in recent memory. Just completely outplayed Louisville in every aspect of the game, and that was possibly the most fun I've had watching any game since the shutout performance against Ohio State in the playoffs.
Kelly Bryant has made it so clear that Dabo made the right choice naming him the starter out of camp. He has looked so calm early on and two of the three games have been against top 15 opponents, with this one being his first career road start. He's in complete control of himself and the game at all times it seems, and he's been a delight to watch. I've loved his poise on third downs especially so far this season, both running and throwing. Hunter Renfrow is his go-to third down guy making clutch catches all over the place. KB got it going early Saturday with an absolute DIME throw to Renfrow for 40 yards which set up Bryant's first rushing TD. Louisville would tie it up for a bit, but Clemson was still in total control.
KB led a field goal drive to put Clemson up by three, and then threw a 79 yard TD to Ray Ray McCloud to extend the lead and really put Louisville away for good. Ray Ray has been a pleasure to watch as well, save for the fumble last week when he was fighting for extra yards. He's been an Artavis Scott type guy just all over the field making plays and I love it. The receiving core looks pretty great right now and Deon Cain hasn't even gotten going yet! He's only got 8 catches through the first 3 games. Imagine if they get him going. This offense will be almost as unstoppable as the defense.
Speaking of the defense, I mean there's just not much to say other than they rolled Lamar Jackson up, stuffed him in a bottle and tossed him in the sea. The (undeserving) Heisman winner looked absolutely flustered the entire night and it was awesome to watch. I started cracking up when Dorian O'Daniel picked that ball off early in the second half and ran it back for the TD. Just hilarious watching that fraud get stuffed in a locker by a real defense. Of course Bobby Petrino let him stay in down by a billion points so he could get 300 yards and 3 TDs against 2nd and 3rd teamers in the fourth quarter. That's the kinda program they are. Just all about individual stats and achievements and not about the team. I love watching this Clemson team cheer on each other and rally around each other and just come together to completely dominate the opponent. It's amazing.
Another notable takeaway from the game Saturday is the running game. Every running back was able to find space pretty much. I believe Tavien Feaster took over the RB1 job with his production. CJ Fuller struggled to start and Feaster gave the Tigers a nice spark when he came in. Adam Choice had some good runs and then Travis Etienne just took the fuck off on an 81 yard TD run. Simply stunning speed and acceleration in that run and he's just another glimpse at how deep this team is and how scary it is.
The best part of this game was that Clemson was +1 in the turnover differential. Last year the Tigers struggled mightily with turnovers and were I think -3 this season coming into the game. KB was fantastic not turning it over and no one coughed the ball up in the run game either. O'Daniel had the pick for the first turnover created this season. If turnovers start to come with the rest of the domination by the defense, I mean just watch out. I don't want to overhype this team but they looked REALLY good Saturday on the road and I'm confident they're only going to get better. Now let's dominate BC at home before thinking about another primetime road contest against VT. Go Tigers.
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