September 16, 2017 Week 3 · Regular Season Belt defended

Clemson defends the belt, 47–21, on the road at Louisville.

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Louisville 21

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Clemson 47

AI-Written

Recap

Clemson's defense dominated Louisville in the first half, with Kelly Bryant engineering efficient scoring drives while the Cardinals struggled to keep pace. Bryant found Hunter Renfrow for 40 yards early, then scored on a short 8-yard run, and later connected with Ray-Ray McCloud for a stunning 79-yard touchdown pass that put Clemson ahead 17-7 at intermission. Louisville's Lamar Jackson kept the game competitive with a touchdown pass to Charles Standberry in the first quarter and added two more scores in the second half, but Clemson's defense sealed the win with Dorian O'Daniel returning an interception for a touchdown in the third quarter. Despite Louisville's late-game heroics including an 78-yard bomb from Jackson to Traveon Samuel and multiple touchdown passes to stay in the fight, Clemson's balanced attack with Travis Etienne's 81-yard touchdown run and superior time of possession proved decisive in holding the belt.

Ray-Ray McCloud's 79-yard touchdown reception in Q2 gave Clemson a commanding 17-7 halftime lead
Dorian O'Daniel's pick-six in Q3 extended Clemson's advantage and demoralized Louisville's comeback chances
Travis Etienne's 81-yard touchdown run in Q4 provided separation when Louisville was attempting a furious rally
Clemson's defense forced a turnover and controlled time of possession (35:32 to 24:28) to preserve the belt

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

LouisvilleClemson

Total yards433613

Rushing yards116297

Passing yards317316

First downs2125

3rd down conv.5/169/17

Turnovers10

Penalties–yards4–354–30

Time of possession24:2835:32

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 15:00	Clemson	+31 yd	Greg Huegel kickoff for 65 yds , Seth Dawkins return for 31 yds to the Lvile 31
Q1 11:46	Clemson	+40 yd	Kelly Bryant pass complete to Hunter Renfrow for 40 yds to the Lvile 20 for a 1ST down
Q1 9:45	Clemson	+8 yd	Kelly Bryant run for 8 yds for a TD, (Greg Huegel KICK)
Q1 4:22	Louisville	+11 yd	Lamar Jackson pass complete to Charles Standberry for 11 yds for a TD, (Blanton Creque KICK)
Q1 5:28	Louisville	+30 yd	Lamar Jackson run for 30 yds to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down
Q1 4:43	Louisville	+20 yd	Lamar Jackson run for 10 yds to the Clem 21 for a 1ST down CLEMSON Penalty, Personal Foul (Tanner Muse) to the Clem 11 for a 1ST down
Q2 11:52	Clemson	+42 yd	Greg Huegel 42 yd FG MISSED
Q2 6:57	Clemson	+31 yd	Greg Huegel 31 yd FG GOOD
Q2 6:57	Clemson	+20 yd	Greg Huegel kickoff for 64 yds , Seth Dawkins return for 20 yds to the Lvile 21
Q2 4:06	Clemson	+79 yd	Kelly Bryant pass complete to Ray-Ray McCloud for 79 yds for a TD, (Greg Huegel PAT BLOCKED)
Q2 0:28	Clemson	+49 yd	Greg Huegel 49 yd FG GOOD
Q2 0:28	Clemson	+20 yd	Greg Huegel kickoff for 65 yds , Seth Dawkins return for 20 yds to the Lvile 20
Q3 8:57	Louisville	-44 yd	Lamar Jackson pass intercepted for a TD Dorian O'Daniel return for 44 yds for a TD, (Greg Huegel KICK)
Q3 2:16	Clemson	+1 yd	Kelly Bryant run for 1 yd for a TD, (Greg Huegel KICK)
Q3 4:43	Clemson	+26 yd	Tavien Feaster run for 26 yds to the Lvile 16 for a 1ST down
Q4 13:45	Louisville	+36 yd	Lamar Jackson pass complete to Jaylen Smith for 36 yds for a TD, (Blanton Creque KICK)
Q4 12:26	Clemson	+33 yd	Kelly Bryant pass complete to Diondre Overton for 33 yds to the Lvile 39 for a 1ST down
Q4 11:56	Clemson	+39 yd	Adam Choice run for 39 yds for a TD, (Greg Huegel KICK)
Q4 13:45	Louisville	+21 yd	Blanton Creque kickoff for 65 yds , Travis Etienne return for 21 yds to the Clem 21
Q4 7:37	Louisville	+8 yd	Lamar Jackson pass complete to Dez Fitzpatrick for 8 yds for a TD, (Blanton Creque KICK)
Q4 8:30	Louisville	+30 yd	Lamar Jackson pass complete to Dez Fitzpatrick for 30 yds to the Clem 14 for a 1ST down
Q4 10:19	Louisville	+22 yd	Lamar Jackson pass complete to Traveon Samuel for 22 yds to the Lvile 49 for a 1ST down
Q4 6:13	Clemson	+81 yd	Travis Etienne run for 81 yds for a TD, (Greg Huegel KICK)
Q4 6:13	Clemson	+20 yd	Greg Huegel kickoff for 63 yds , Seth Dawkins return for 20 yds to the Lvile 22
Q4 1:50	Louisville	+78 yd	Lamar Jackson pass complete to Traveon Samuel for 78 yds to the Clem 4 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Lamar JacksonLouisville	21/42	317	7.5	3	1	27.2
Kelly BryantClemson	22/32	316	9.9	1	0	66.8
Hunter JohnsonClemson	1/1	0	0.0	0	0	33.5

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Lamar JacksonLouisville	17	64	3.8	0	30
Malik WilliamsLouisville	6	35	5.8	0	14
Reggie BonnafonLouisville	4	17	4.3	0	7
Adam ChoiceClemson	4	47	11.8	1	39
Travis EtienneClemson	6	98	16.3	1	81
Tavien FeasterClemson	10	92	9.2	0	26
C.J. FullerClemson	10	34	3.4	0	7
Kelly BryantClemson	18	26	1.4	2	14

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Traveon SamuelLouisville	2	100	50.0	0	78
Jaylen SmithLouisville	5	79	15.8	1	36
Dez FitzpatrickLouisville	2	38	19.0	1	30
Malik WilliamsLouisville	3	36	12.0	0	19
Charles StandberryLouisville	4	34	8.5	1	11
Seth DawkinsLouisville	4	28	7.0	0	12
Micky CrumLouisville	1	2	2.0	0	2
Ray-Ray McCloudClemson	7	115	16.4	1	79
Hunter RenfrowClemson	4	71	17.8	0	40
Diondre OvertonClemson	2	48	24.0	0	33
Deon CainClemson	4	29	7.3	0	11
Trevion ThompsonClemson	1	16	16.0	0	16
Milan RichardClemson	1	11	11.0	0	11
C.J. FullerClemson	1	11	11.0	0	11
Tee HigginsClemson	1	8	8.0	0	8
Tavien FeasterClemson	1	7	7.0	0	7
Will SwinneyClemson	1	0	0.0	0	0

Show more stats (6 more categories)

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR	TD
Stacy ThomasLouisville	10	5	0	0	0	0	0
Zykiesis CannonLouisville	9	6	0	0	0	0	0
James HearnsLouisville	8	6	2	2	0	0	0
Ronald WalkerLouisville	7	6	0	0	0	0	0
Chucky WilliamsLouisville	5	5	0	0	2	0	0
Trevon YoungLouisville	5	3	0	0	0	0	0
Dee SmithLouisville	5	3	0	0	0	0	0
Khane PassLouisville	5	3	0	1	1	0	0
Henry FamurewaLouisville	5	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jonathan GreenardLouisville	4	3	1	1	1	1	0
Trumaine WashingtonLouisville	4	3	0	0	1	0	0
London IakopoLouisville	3	3	1	1	0	0	0
C.J. AveryLouisville	3	2	0	0	0	0	0
G.G. RobinsonLouisville	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Dorian EtheridgeLouisville	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Lamarques ThomasLouisville	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
De'Asian RichardsonLouisville	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tabarious PetersonLouisville	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Corey ReedLouisville	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
TreSean SmithLouisville	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Isaiah SimmonsClemson	8	6	0	0	0	0	0
Dorian O'DanielClemson	6	3	0	1	0	0	1
Mark FieldsClemson	5	5	0	0	0	0	0
Trayvon MullenClemson	5	3	0	0	0	0	0
Van SmithClemson	4	3	0	0	0	0	0
Clelin FerrellClemson	3	2	0	0	0	0	0
Nolan TurnerClemson	2	2	1	1	0	0	0
Ryan CarterClemson	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Kendall JosephClemson	2	2	0	0	0	1	0
Dexter LawrenceClemson	2	1	1	1	0	0	0
Jalen WilliamsClemson	2	1	0	0	2	0	0
J.D. DavisClemson	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
James SkalskiClemson	2	1	0	0.5	0	0	0
Tre LamarClemson	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sterling JohnsonClemson	1	1	1	1	0	0	0
Christian WilkinsClemson	1	1	1	1	0	0	0
Amir TrappClemson	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Denzel JohnsonClemson	1	1	0	0	1	0	0
A.J. TerrellClemson	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Logan RudolphClemson	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Chris RegisterClemson	1	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0
Jabril RobinsonClemson	1	0	0	0.5	0	0	0
Judah DavisClemson	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Austin BryantClemson	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tanner MuseClemson	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
Chad SmithClemson	1	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0
K'Von WallaceClemson	1	0	0	0	1	0	0

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Dorian O'DanielClemson	1	44	1

Kick Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Seth DawkinsLouisville	5	105	21.0	31	0
Travis EtienneClemson	2	30	15.0	21	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Blanton CrequeLouisville	0/0	0.0	0	3/3	3
Greg HuegelClemson	2/3	66.7	49	5/6	11

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jaylen SmithLouisville	1	3	3.0	3	0
Ray-Ray McCloudClemson	3	9	3.0	15	0

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Mason KingLouisville	8	350	43.8	0	0	58
Will SpiersClemson	4	207	51.8	0	0	64

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back.

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