Lamar Jackson, Louisville excited to get Clemson at home this season

Louisville’s attempt to knock off Clemson last season came up just short as the Tigers earned a 42-36 victory at Death Valley on their way to winning the national title.

The Cardinals are looking forward to having home-field advantage when the teams meet in September at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in Louisville.

“I’m very excited. We played there, and it was very loud. Their fans were all into the game. It’s our turn now so it should be a great game,” Heisman winner Lamar Jackson said Thursday at the ACC Kickoff event.

Louisville took a 36-28 lead midway through the fourth quarter and maintained its lead until Jordan Leggett caught a touchdown pass with 3:14 remaining to put the Tigers on top.

The Cardinals drove to Clemson’s 3-yard line with less than a minute remaining but turned the ball over on downs.

“We’ve got to transition into this year and turn it into motivation,” Jackson said. “We felt like it was our year last year. We’ve just got to play.”

Louisville cornerback Jaire Alexander, who had two interceptions and forced a fumble last year at Clemson, is also eager to face the Tigers.

“Papa John’s will be rocking,” Alexander said. “Big-time players make big plays in big games. That’s what we were looking forward to doing… We need our fans to be in it, and we just need to play just like how we played the last few quarters (in 2016) the whole game.”

This story was originally published July 13, 2017 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Lamar Jackson, Louisville excited to get Clemson at home this season."