The Clemson Tigers will take on the Louisville Cardinals on Thursday night as both teams open up their ACC schedules. Clemson comes into the game ranked 11th in the nation after two dominating wins over lesser opponents, while Louisville has lost two very close games.
The Tigers opened up their schedule by defeating FCS opponent Wofford in a 49-10 blowout and new FBS team Appalachian State in a 41-10 blowout. In the two games, quarterback Deshaun Watson has only played one series in the second half in each game but has played extremely well in his limited action throwing for 442 yards and five touchdowns.
This will be the best opponent Clemson has faced so far this season despite their 0-2 record and the Tigers are aware of it. Last season Watson was hurt in the game against the Cardinals and Clemson barely came away with the win at home by a score of 23-17. Watson is one of the potential candidates for the Heisman Trophy at the end of this year and Clemson is one of the favorites to win the ACC Championship.
Of note for Clemson is the fact that head coach Dabo Swinney had his team practice on Sunday just one day after their victory over Appalachian State as he doesn't want there to be a letdown heading into ACC play.
Louisville lost in week one to number six Auburn by a score of 31-24 and followed that up last week with a 34-31 loss to Houston. The Cardinals made a change at the quarterback position at the end of their game against Houston as Lamar Jackson wasn't getting the job done and the guy who replaced him, Kyle Bolin, is expected to start against Clemson on Thursday.
Bolin came on in relief of Jackson against Houston and did very well throwing for 157 yards on 18 attempts with a touchdown and no interceptions. Bolin's QBR in the short amount of action was 79.5, which is far above what Jackson has done so far this year, and that is why he is the likely starter in the ACC opener.
Last season, Louisville had one of the best defenses in all of college football but that hasn't been the case so far this year and things will only get tougher on Thursday night against Watson and the Tigers.
The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time, and you can watch the live stream right here. To listen to the Clemson radio broadcast, head on over here, and for the Louisville radio broadcast go here.
