Dabo Swinney on loss to Louisville: 'They freaking kicked our tails all over the field'

Louisville gashed the Clemson run defense and put a noticeable dent in the Tiger’s College Football Playoff hopes over the weekend.

The upset-hungry Cardinals piled up 210 yards on the ground, complete with 151 yards from freshman running back Isaac Brown, a 47-yard scamper from wide receiver Chris Bell and a four-yard touchdown run from quarterback Tyler Shough that featured a somersault into the end zone.

Head coach Jeff Brohm’s team came into Clemson and snatched the program’s first-ever win over the Tigers, improving to 1-8 in the all-time series with a 33-21 win.

“It’s college football,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said postgame. “I mean, I wish I could say it would go your way every single time and you’re going to win every game. That’s what we strive for, and that’s what we expect. But when it doesn’t go your way, I mean, it’s football — you got to take ownership, and you go back to work. That’s what we do.”

Clemson’s 12-point defeat marked its first setback since the season opener when it suffered a 34-3 loss to then-top-ranked Georgia in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The Tigers had rattled off six wins in a row, averaging 48.5 points per game along the way. Clemson had only seven points entering the final frame Saturday against Louisville. Two fourth quarter touchdown runs from running back Phil Mafah made things look closer than they actually were.

“We got to try to find a way to win next week, and you just go from there,” Swinney said. “You put everything you got in. Every game is a season of its own. That’s how we look at it. And you can’t carry anything over, good or bad. It’s new. And this one is is over, and there’s certainly so much disappointment in it.

“But, again, I give all the credit to Louisville and Coach Brohm and his staff. They flat out got it done. And this is not an easy place to win. We got the best winning percentage at home, I think, in college football coming into tonight, and they walked in here and they freaking kicked our tails all over the field. So all you can do is own that and go back to work.”

Louisville blocked a pair of Clemson field goals, one in the second quarter and another in the fourth. Sandwiched between those missed opportunities was a Tigers turnover on downs in the third quarter — more specifically, on a 4th-and-1 Mafah run from the Clemson 34-yard line, which led to a Louisville field goal that put the Cardinals up 26-7.

Now, the Tigers have to hit the road for back-to-back games, first against Virginia Tech (5-4, 3-2 ACC) and then against Pittsburgh (7-1, 3-1).

That trip starts with a 3:30 p.m. showdown versus the Hokies in Lane Stadium.

“You better show up Monday ready to work,” Swinney said, when asked about his team’s upcoming matchup in Blacksburg, Virginia. “I mean, you better get your eyes forward quick. They’re not gonna care about what happened here on Saturday night. They ain’t gonna care. … They’re gonna care about beating the Tigers, as they should, and that’s all we need to worry about. We need to worry about trying to have a good week of practice, learn from it. There’s obviously a lot of soul searching that’s got to be done when you have just a horrible performance the way we had.

“Again, I don’t take anything away from Louisville. I think you give them a ton of credit. They earned it. They deserved it in every facet, from coaching, playing — you name it. But we’ve got to take ownership and get back to work and just try to go win the next game. It ain’t gonna be easy, if that’s what you’re asking. That ain’t no easy place to play. The way Louisville just ran the ball on us, they’ll have a lot to be excited about when they watch that tape.”