LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As many teams across the ACC can attest, defeating Clemson at home is no easy task.

Since 2011, the Tigers had an 82-4 record at Memorial Stadium. They also had a 22-game winning streak in night games at home, with the last team to beat Clemson at night in Death Valley being eventual national champion Florida State in 2013.

The energy and noise that a hostile Death Valley audience can generate in prime time can be rivaled by very few programs in college football. Even former Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson couldn't defeat them during his time as a Cardinal.

But none of that mattered to Louisville last Saturday night.

Ten years after joining the ACC, the Cardinals finally managed to get rid of the monkey, handing the No. 11 Tigers a decisive 33-21 loss in Death Valley. Louisville was previously 0-8 all-time against Clemson.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney then presented Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm with his flowers for the work he has done.

“I give full credit to Louisville, coach Brohm and his team… it's not easy to win here,” he said. “They came in here and kicked our butts. We need to get back to work.”

Additionally, when asked about the various reasons for the Tigers' loss, Swinney sidestepped possible excuses and continued to praise Brohm.

“That's not the point… I didn't get any more training tonight,” he said.

Swinney doesn't praise Brohm and Louisville for nothing. Almost from the start, the Cardinals established themselves as the more decisive and physical team of the night, with performances from both coaches and players fueling the excitement even further.

“Really proud of our football team,” Brohm said after the game. “I think our players, our coaches worked hard all week. We had to overcome some adversity along the way. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t easy, but we keep working.”

“A lot of new guys stepped up and played hard. Going out there in that environment, against a really good team that was hot, and just playing hard the whole game. We had to make plays. We played at a great pace.” We were very strong defensively, simply much better, so very proud of our team.

Offensively, Louisville was able to rack up 210 yards and 7.8 yards per carry, while true freshman phenom running back Isaac Brown ran for 151 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, the Cardinals held a productive Clemson offense to just 4.5 yards per play and a score on their first nine drives. Then, on special teams, Louisville blocked two of the Tigers' field goal attempts, while Brock Travelstead made four field goal attempts.

All told, it gave Louisville its largest road win in program history. The previous highlight was when the Cardinals defeated No. 13 Southern Miss in 2000.

“I think it’s special,” defensive end Ashton Gillotte said when asked what it meant to finally beat Clemson. “I think our guys have been waiting for this. We've had games where we should have won against Clemson since I've been here. “It just feels good to be able to carry that stamp, to leave our mark on history.”

(Photo by Jeff Brohm, Dabo Swinney: Ken Ruinard – Imagn Images)

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