Tim Sullivan | Defense continues to carry Cardinals

CLEMSON, S.C. – Will Gardner rolled to his right until he had nowhere left to go. He turned back toward the center of the field and then he let fly. He had come off the bench to bring the Louisville Cardinals back, and to the brink of a memorable upset, and for a few fleeting seconds he held the ball and Clemson held its breath.

But in a finish befitting a game marked mainly by futility, Gardner's final pass was batted down near the goal line by Tigers' defensive tackle DeShawn Williams. Though Gardner likely reclaimed his starting job Saturday evening from freshman Reggie Bonnafon in Louisville's 23-17 loss, the Cardinals departed Memorial Stadium still searching for an offensive identity and the ability to finish in close games.

For U of L head coach Bobby Petrino, this is football as a foreign language. Instead of dazzling opponents with his cutting-edge strategy and wondrous weaponry, Petrino has been reduced to depending on his defense to hold that line -- to push 'em back, push 'em back, waaaay back -- and to explaining his own peculiar clock management choices as part of a plan.

He is now 5-2 in his second stint as the Cardinals' head coach – not bad in a transition year and a new conference –but for a man accustomed to testing scoreboard capacity, Petrino has lately looked like a wizard who has misplaced his wand.

Though Gardner's fourth-down incompletion proved the deciding play in Saturday's game, the preceding play was the true head-scratcher. Petrino claimed responsibility for a third-down spike that stopped the clock with 27 seconds remaining and Louisville perched two yards from a potential winning touchdown. Though Clemson had squandered a strong scoring opportunity at the close of the first half because it could not get the ball snapped quickly enough, Louisville wound up betting everything on one play when it might have been able to run two.

"I thought that we had the one touchdown play that we practiced and would be able to get it in on fourth down," Petrino said. "The clock was running down, so we felt like we needed to spike it. You can always look back and say, 'Well, we could have thrown a fade,' or something like that, but you feel like if you have a chance to huddle and regroup, you'll be able to get it in there."

To dissect that decision any further, though, risks missing U of L's overarching issues. Petrino's stated confidence in his fourth-down play was in stark contrast with his team's offensive ineptitude. The Cardinals were called for five false start penalties as they struggled for cohesion against sustained and sometimes deafening crowd noise. They converted on only one of their 17 third-down plays and were 0-for-2 on fourth down. They did not reach 200 yards of total offense until Gardner and James Quick combined on a 73-yard pass play on the first play of their last possession.

Granted, were it not for a saving tackle by Clemson safety Jayron Kearse, Quick could have scored a winning touchdown and turned all of the big questions about Louisville's offense into small quibbles. Instead, the quarterback question awaits a lasting resolution, the anticipated return of injured receiver DeVante Parker's has been delayed at least one more week, and Petrino's revolving running backs produced only 90 yards Saturday in 30 carries.

Game Rewind:A look back at U of L's loss

The good news, such as it is, is that the other guys aren't getting much traction, either. Clemson's two touchdowns were scored on a punt return and a recovered fumble, neither play the responsibility of Todd Grantham's dogged defense. Louisville ranked No. 1 nationally against the run prior to Saturday's game, led the nation in interceptions and did nothing to detract from its reputation against its most difficult opponent to date.

"Louisville's defense was the best defense Bobby Petrino has had," said Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, "and the best Petrino defense we've seen in a while."

In 31 rushing attempts, Clemson's longest gain was 11 yards. Its 39 passes produced an average of four yards and two Louisville interceptions.

"They're playing really well," Petrino said. "They're doing a really good job. They're stopping the run. They're putting pressure on the quarterback and getting interceptions. They're making plays on fourth down.'

And yet. . .

"We're putting a lot of pressure on them," Bobby Petrino said. "That's the problem."

Tim Sullivan can be reached at (502) 582-4650, by email at tsullivan@courier-journal.com, and on Twitter @TimSullivan714