1. Clemson cannot continue shooting itself in the foot
Clemson (No. 11) was lucky to get out of Louisville with a win on Thursday night to open up Week 3. Missed opportunities and turnovers gave the Cardinals a shot at winning, but thankfully a clutch, last-second interception by Jadar Johnson sealed the ugly win for the Tigers.
Sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson was equal parts tremendous and forgettable. He threw a couple of interceptions and missed on a couple of easy throws that could have made Clemson’s night much easier, but head coach Dabo Swinney isn’t sweating the mistakes.
“He played pretty good,” Swinney said about Watson, via ESPN.com. “He’s going to be disappointed in two missed throws. I mean, shoot, he ain’t perfect.”
The Tigers improved to 3-0 with the win. And, while Louisville is no easy out, the going only gets tougher the next couple of weeks with Notre Dame and Georgia Tech lined up in Weeks 4 and 5. Any more stinkers like this one will surely result in a loss for Clemson, if not two.
Still, rough wins on the road have merit, regardless of how ugly they are. Florida State had a similar experience at the same venue in 2014 and bounced back in a big way, winning out until Oregon stymied the Seminoles at the Rose Bowl.