CLEMSON -- A bye week and the calendar flipping to November was supposed to bring an elevation to championship form for No. 11-ranked Clemson.
Instead it brought a bye-bye to the idea that the Tigers are primed for a return to the playoff and rare elite air.
Clemson farted around and found out Saturday night at Death Valley, suffering a humiliating 33-21 defeat to an unranked Louisville team that carried three losses into the game.
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If there's any consolation, it's that thanks to the inaugural 12-team playoff the Tigers can still win the ACC and earn an automatic bid to the field.
But Clemson seemed a long way off from even thinking about that possibility Saturday, because it failed at rudimentary things that will bring more losses if this keeps up.
Like competent field-goal protection (the Tigers had two more blocked in startlingly similar fashion to the two Florida State blocked earlier this season).
Like an acclaimed defensive line winning the line of scrimmage against an injury-plagued Louisville front (the Cardinals controlled the line of scrimmage).
Like pushing the pace when down 19 points (the Tigers ran so much clock and were so deliberate that you wondered if the coaching staff thought they were up 19).
As Clemson piled up six consecutive wins after a 34-3 beatdown against Georgia in the opener, it felt uplifting and redeeming.
But as it became more obvious that the Tigers' victims weren't very good or close to it, it was fair to wonder if the gaudy statistics and lopsided victory margins were misleading.
Yep.
Most folks knew the final stretch of the season was going to bring more rigorous competition, starting with Louisville.
But this?
Getting embarrassed at home, under the lights, after two weeks off, against a team that had to come from 20 points down to beat Boston College last week?
Yeah, you're not used to seeing this. Not even over the previous three seasons when the program declined markedly from perennial playoff form.
The low point came two years ago when South Carolina, a two-touchdown underdog, came into Death Valley and ended Clemson's 40-game home winning streak in agonizing fashion.
But that was by a point.
This was by a mile (and not as close as the 12-point margin suggests).
Clemson began the game with two three-and-outs, was outgained 105-3 at one point and picked up its first first down with less than four minutes left in the first quarter.
And it didn't get much better from there.
The final stats couldn't have been more misleading.
At one point Louisville had outgained Clemson 315-171.
So a lot of the Tigers' 101 plays, 450 total yards and 31 first downs (to 366 and 19 for the Cardinals) came in garbage time.
Louisville gashed Wes Goodwin's defense for 210 yards rushing and 7.8 per attempt.
Freshman Isaac Brown had 20 totes for 151 yards, including a dagger of a 45-yard scoring run to make the deficit 33-14 just seconds after Clemson thought it recovered an onside kick (ESPN cameras didn't pick up the same angle that the in-house feed did that showed Ronan Hanafin with the ball and his knee on the ground).
There were quite a few calls and no-calls that drove Dabo Swinney and the fans nuts.
But as they filed out quietly, everyone knew there was no one to blame but the entire outfit occupying the south sideline.
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Cade Klubnik threw for 228 yards with a touchdown and zero interceptions on a 33-of-56 clip.
Phil Mafah somehow had 171 rushing yards on 30 carries.
The offense was unsettled and undone by an inability to land explosive plays. The Tigers had three plays of 20 or more yards, and one of them (a 23-yard run by Mafah) came late.
The defensive line suffered a big loss in the first half when Peter Woods left the game after falling victim to a cut block. He didn't return, and DeMonte Capehart and Tre Williams also missed time with injuries.
But Clemson fans expect better from the defensive front than what they saw on this night, even with the attrition. Tyler Shough had plenty of time to throw and wasn't sacked. The Tigers had just three tackles for loss totaling 8 yards.
It was Clemson's first double-digit loss at home since 2013 against Florida State (51-14).
It was Louisville's first victory ever over Clemson.
It was not what anyone in these parts or anywhere expected of this Tiger team with the calendar turning to November.
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