No. 3 Clemson got off to a rough start but was buoyed by its strong defense and three Trevor Lawrence touchdown passes in a 45-10 win over Louisville on Saturday afternoon.

Playing at Louisville, now 4-3 on the season, stood as one of the more intimidating tests remaining on the schedule for a Clemson team that will be favored by 20+ points against pretty much every opponent remaining in the regular season. Scott Satterfield has the Cardinals playing at a high level, most recently outlasting then-ranked Wake Forest in a 62-59 shootout last weekend in Winston-Salem. But the Cardinals' offense saw no such success against Clemson's defense, which was without one of its stars in starting defensive end Xavier Thomas but still was the most impressive unit on the field for either team on Saturday. 

Lawrence was a big part of the slow start for Clemson, throwing two interceptions at the goal line in the first quarter. But those points that Lawrence and the offense left on the field early were there for the taking in the second half as the Tigers' pulled away. 

Lawrence's final stat line masks some of the unsettling moments from the early stages of the game. The sophomore quarterback completed 20-of-29 passes for 233 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, but the most interesting aspect of his performance from Saturday was his impact on the Tigers' rushing attack. Travis Etienne totaled 192 rushing yards and a touchdown on just 14 attempts, but Lawrence was just as important with 47 yards on 10 attempts. Lawrence's ability to extend the play with his feet and take off when things break down make him one of the top quarterback prospects for NFL Draft folks, but Clemson is asking him to be a major threat with designed runs as well. 

Making Lawrence more of a rushing threat is going to force defenses commit more defenders to the line of scrimmage. Defenses have had the most success when defensive backs are playing deep to avoid getting burned by Justyn Ross or Tee Higgins. Because both players are elite-level wide receivers, they're still finding ways to make tough catches over defenders, win 50-50 balls and shake off tackles to score touchdowns. 

One such pass was this Hail Mary-style toss at the end of the second quarter that was pulled down by Ross for a touchdown to give Clemson a 17-3 halftime lead. 

Some of Lawrence's interceptions have come from being too aggressive and throwing into traffic, but when you're wide receivers are making plays like that, I understand why you might get in the habit of trying to recreate that kind of magic.

Those incredible "no one else could make this play but him" moments for Clemson's passing game have paired with explosive plays in the running game by Etienne to power the Tigers' success. But on a down-to-down basis, that group is still working on finding consistency that can keep opponents on their heels for four quarters. 

Here are three things to know about Clemson's win and what it means moving forward: 

1. Clemson's defense is improving with every game. Brent Venables lost a handful of multiple-year starters from last year's title team, forcing some younger and less experienced faces into action in 2019. This year's group doesn't create the same kind of pressure with its front four alone the way the Power Ranger defensive line of Christian Wilkins, Dexter Lawrence, Clelin Ferrell and Austin Bryant did during their time at Clemson. However, Venables has found ways to create the same kind of havoc with an extremely athletic group of linebackers and defensive backs. The results still show dominance, as Clemson totaled six sacks and 11 tackles for loss in the win against Louisville, holding the Cardinals to just 4.0 yards per play and no touchdowns for 54 minutes of game action. 

Clemson's future pros on offense make it easy to get hung up on the successes and shortcomings on that side of the ball, but the game-by-game improvement of the 2019 Tigers' defense sets up a trajectory that has it peaking when postseason play gets going in December. 

2. There was hard hitting, and a Clemson player was ejected for throwing a punch. Both teams brought intensity and physicality to Saturday afternoon's contest, but defensive back Andrew Booth took it too far in the second half. A skirmish broke out after Booth threw a punch, and he was ejected from the game. 

3. Clemson vs. Clemson continues to be the biggest challenge for the Tigers. Swinney is trying to get this year's team to hold itself to a standard higher than what's probably required to beat most of the opponents on the schedule. Lawrence's turnovers are going to be a big talking point during the week as Clemson's merit as the best team in the country continues to be debated, but when you look up from the nitpicking and realize this is an undefeated team that's winning games against Power Five opponents by more than three touchdowns per game, it's hard to argue against the Tigers' national championship contention. Critics might have their reasons to pick against Clemson in a playoff scenario, but this is a team that deserves to compete for a national championship. 

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