Louisville football: How do the Cards slow down Clemson?

Make a big play (or two, or three, or four) on special teams

The big difference between the Louisville football program and Wake Forest on Saturday was surprisingly special teams. On plays that could’ve been touchbacks and fair catches, the Cardinals turned them into game-changing plays.

Hassan Hall has been somewhat overshadowed by the breakout season from Javian Hawkins. But he’s still been featured within the offense, and this Saturday he reminded us all what he’s capable of.

His kick return touchdown against Wake completely changed the game and put the Cardinals up by a margin that they were incapable of losing. His speed and athleticism really stood out in the open field, he even almost struck twice. He had another return all the way into the red zone and finished with 220 return yards in the entire game.

Tutu Atwell has also been great returning punts, especially against Wake Forest. Getting Atwell into space has been the goal for Louisville all year, and special teams only gives them more opportunities to do such. His 51-yard punt return put the Cards in position to score on the next play last weekend, which they did giving them desperatly needed points. Things happening like this gives your offense confidence and can really frustrate a defense.

It’s going to be a lot harder to have this kind of success against Clemson. But to hang in there, given that there’s a 24 point spread, the Cardinals will need it.