Clemson’s defense doesn’t have much time to dwell on what happened last week. Not if the Tigers hope to perform better on their next test.
Notre Dame ran around and through what was the nation’s No. 7-ranked rush defense going into last week’s game at Notre Dame Stadium. The end result was 263 yards on the ground for the Fighting Irish, easily the most Clemson has allowed this season.
The Tigers know as well as any team that things don’t get any easier this week against Louisville.
That’s because the Cardinals will bring the nation’s 25th-ranked rushing offense into Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Louisville has some capable running backs in Tiyon Smith (6.7 yards per carry), Trevion Cooley (4.7) and Jawhar Jordan (4.5), but containing the Cardinals’ rushing attack starts with trying to bottle up one of the most dynamic dual-threat quarterbacks around in Malik Cunningham.
“He’s a problem,” Swinney said.
Louisville’s fifth-year signal caller rushed for 1,000 yards a season ago, and it’s not out of the question that he repeats that feat this season. Cunningham is once again the Cardinals’ leading rusher with 541 yards and has 11 rushing touchdowns through Louisville’s first eight games. He’s eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark in three of them.
Cunningham gets a lot of those yards in the zone-read game, and Louisville gives the 6-foot-1, 190-pound speedster the freedom to improvise at times. Even when he is supposed to be reading how the defensive end or outside linebacker is playing the run on the end of the line of scrimmage before deciding whether to hand the ball off to the running back or pull it, Clemson defensive coordinator Wesley Goodwin said there are times, including instances in last year’s meeting between the teams, where that isn’t the case.
“You can call it zone read, but he wasn’t reading anything,” Goodwin said. “He was pulling it no matter what the read was.”
Said linebacker Barrett Carter, “You definitely have to be on your toes every single play and know where he is. Make sure if it’s an option play that he for sure gives the ball because if he pulls the ball, he can definitely make a play with his feet.”
Clemson was reminded of that last season when Cunningham shredded the Tigers with his feet. He ran 22 times for 134 yards and two scores, including a 51-yarder that saw him break outside on a keeper and race past multiple defenders on his way to the end zone.
“If he gets on that sideline, he’s gone,” Swinney said.
Clemson will also have to be prepared for those times when Cunningham drops back to pass but isn’t able to find any open receivers. He won’t hesitate to pull the ball down and take off, which makes playing a disciplined brand of defensive football a must for the first and second levels of the Tigers’ defense. It’s something Goodwin didn’t think the group did well enough last year against Cunningham.
“We’ve got to change our rush mindset no doubt and also being able to come get him out of the second level (with our linebackers) once he pulls the ball down,” Goodwin said.
Cunningham can throw it a little bit, too. He is completing 61% of his passes with twice as many touchdown passes (8) as interceptions (4), though he’s attempted more than 28 passes in a game just twice so far this season.
Clemson’s objective is to make the Cardinals have to put the ball in the air more than they would like to, though that’s easier said than done with Cunningham running the show.
“He can beat you in every way possible,” Swinney said. “And just when you think you’ve got him, he’s gone. It really stresses how you rush the quarterback and how you play the quarterback.”
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