Adam Randall ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner with 7:16 remaining, to give visiting Clemson a 20-19 upset victory over No. 20 Louisville on Friday night.
The Tigers (5-5, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) survived a bad punt snap with 2:31 remaining as Nick Keller missed a 46-yard field goal try with 1:33 left.
Earlier in the quarter, Cooper Ranvier missed a 50-yard field goal that would have given the Cardinals the lead. Ranvier also doinked an extra-point attempt in the second quarter that led to Clemson’s margin of victory.
Louisville’s Keyjuan Brown eclipsed the century mark for the second straight game with 135 yards on 15 carries.
The two teams traded field goals in the first quarter as neither amounted much on offense. Both team’s touchdowns came on short fields.
Neither team played especially well. Clemson converted just one of its 13 third downs. Louisville (7-3, 4-3) outgained its guests 385-308 but the Cardinals committed 10 penalties for 84 yards. They racked up 20 yards in flags on the drive that resulted in Keller’s miss.
Louisville got its first lead after Clemson’s thanks Jack Smith’s 31-yard punt that gave the Cardinals the ball at the Tigers’ 38. The drive started with Miller Moss finding Bell for a 37-yard pass. Two plays later, Moss plunged in from the 1 to make it 9-3 with 8:47 remaining in the half, but Ranvier’s PAT attempt bounced off the left upright and was no good.
Clemson got its short field five minutes later after Avieon Terrell stripped Duke Watson of the ball and recovered the fumble at the Louisville 25. The Tigers needed only one play, a Randall draw, to score and take a 10-9 with 3:17 to go in the second quarter.
With the win, the Tigers are now one win away from extending their bowl streak to 21 seasons.
The defeat, the Cardinals’ second straight, ends any chance the team had for an ACC title-game appearance. All of Louisville’s losses have come by three points or less this season.
