Subscribe
Follow Us
The Louisville Cardinals take on the Clemson Tigers. Check out our college football odds series for our Louisville Clemson prediction and pick.
The Clemson Tigers had their chance. They had a path to the College Football Playoff. They knew that the ACC was very weak this season, which meant that if they could simply beat Notre Dame in a year when the Fighting Irish were not nearly as good as expected, they would have the inside track to college football's version of the Final Four. Notre Dame lost at home to Marshall and Stanford this season. Surely Clemson, even with its pronounced offensive limitations, could still take care of business. The thought process was simple and reasonable: Notre Dame can't throw and it can't score in bunches.
As it turned out, Notre Dame didn't need to score in bunches. It simply dominated Clemson's offense from start to finish (minus a few late garbage-time scores).
Notre Dame's offense scored only one touchdown in the first three quarters of last week's game. However, that was more than enough for the Irish because they blocked a punt for a touchdown and shut out Clemson's offense. Notre Dame led 14-0 after three quarters and cruised to an easy 35-14 win over the Tigers, who were outplayed, outworked, and outcoached in every possible way. Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, who was benched in an earlier game against Syracuse and replaced by Cade Klubnik, got the start in this game and couldn't do anything in the first three quarters. Klubnik replaced him but then immediately threw an interception Notre Dame turned into seven points. It was a total disaster for Dabo Swinney, and now Clemson's playoff hopes are slim. The weakness of the ACC means that Clemson's various wins over ACC opponents, particularly Wake Forest and Syracuse, contain a lot less value. The Tigers will need some chaos to find a path back to the playoff. They have to win out, a pursuit which begins this weekend against Louisville.
Scott Satterfield appeared to be on the hot seat earlier this season. Louisville lost to Syracuse in Week 1, which looked bad at the time, but Syracuse's surprising start made that loss look a lot less awful. The really bad loss on UL's portfolio this year was a loss at Boston College. When Satterfield dropped that game, he was definitely under fire. Yet, from the rubble of that game, Satterfield has earned the trust of his players and gotten the Cardinals to bounce back. They crushed Wake Forest in a blowout no one anticipated. They beat Pittsburgh. They beat James Madison last week and are now on course to make a bowl game. If they can beat Clemson, though, the Cardinals will have a signature win they can carry into next season.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Louisville-Clemson College Football odds.
College Football Odds: Louisville-Clemson Odds
Louisville Cardinals: +7 (-110)
Clemson Tigers: -7 (-110)
Over: 51.5 (-110)
Article Continues Below
Under: 51.5 (-110)
Why Louisville Could Cover the Spread
The mess Clemson faces on offense is profound. There is no quick fix. Louisville has been playing good defense and should be able to keep this game close with its defense. Clemson is not going to run away and hide.
Why Clemson Could Cover the Spread
Clemson is being devalued after the atrocious performance against Notre Dame. However, Notre Dame is a lot better than Louisville, and Clemson — coming off a loss — figures to play authoritative and focused football. It's a great bounce-back situation for the Tigers.
Final Louisville-Clemson Prediction & Pick
Clemson being favored by only one touchdown seems low. The Tigers are not a great team, but they're comfortably better than Louisville is.
Final Louisville-Clemson Prediction & Pick: Clemson -7
