Louisville football falls to the Clemson Tigers in another heartbreaking loss as the Cards lose 20-19 at L&N Stadium. The Cardinals now drop to 7-3 and lose their second game in a row, and are now out of any ACC Title and College Football Playoff conversation.
The Cards were given multiple chances to try and pull this win off, but the Cardinals' self-inflicted wounds continue to cost Louisville's season and have now ended the Cardinals' CFP hopes and dreams. Louisville's kicking game and penalties not only cost the Cardinals this game but also their College Football Playoff dreams. Louisville fans are completely outraged after this loss, as self-inflicted wounds have plagued the Cardinals' 2025 season, and tonight their penalties finally caught up to them.
Louisville football's self inflicted wounds cost all CFP hope
The Cardinals dropped their third game of the season, and all three losses are by a combined seven points, including two overtime losses. Tonight's loss was one Louisville fans are going to lose sleep over, as the Cards' penalties and missed kicks cost the Cardinals the 2025 season.
Louisville would have had a 15 percent chance of making the ACC Championship, according to ESPN Analytics, with a win tonight. However, after this crushing loss, Louisville has lost all hope of making the ACC Championship game and the College Football Playoffs. The Cardinals had six penalties in the fourth quarter alone and 10 penalties in the entire game.
To make it even worse, Louisville's kicking woes continue and were a massive reason why the Cardinals lost, as they not only missed two field goals in the fourth quarter but also missed an extra point in the first half. The Cardinals' missed field goals came after it felt like Clemson was trying to gift this game to Louisville. Louisville missed a 50-yard field goal with about four minutes remaining and a 46-yard field goal under two minutes.
The Cardinals' season has been an absolute roller coaster all season long, and Brohm has preached time and time again about penalties and dumb mistakes. While Louisville had a massive win over Miami, these back-to-back losses in November ended any College Football Playoff dreams and made this an incredibly disappointing season. Louisville will now look to play spoiler and try to beat SMU next weekend and then end the season with a win over Kentucky in the Governor's Cup.