Louisville football has avenged 2 of its close losses from a year ago. Is Clemson next?

Over the summer, the ACC Network ran a replay of Louisville’s Nov. 6, 2021 football game against Clemson.

Cardinals quarterback Malik Cunningham watched most of it but had to turn it off near the end. The last four plays of the contest still haunt him more than a year later.

To set the scene, Cunningham had a brief exit in the game with an ankle injury but came back during the Cardinals’ second drive of the fourth quarter. He had just scored on a 51-yard touchdown run in the third to put U of L up 24-17 heading into the final frame. Clemson responded with 13 unanswered fourth-quarter points, leaving Louisville with a 30-24 deficit and 2 minutes, 19 seconds on the clock to respond.

Starting at its 25-yard line, U of L’s first play was Cunningham, who later admitted he was nowhere near healthy when he came back in, throwing a 45-yard pass to Tyler Harrell, now at Alabama. The Cardinals then converted a fourth down to set up first-and-goal at the 2 with 1:01 at the clock.

This is the point where, in July, Cunningham could no longer watch.

“It wasn’t the best version of Louisville,” he said during ACC Kickoff in July. “It wasn’t us.”

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Louisville got backed up to the 5 on second down before Cunningham’s 3-yard run on third down got the yardage back. With one last chance, Cunningham tried to run it in but slipped at the 4 with Tigers linebacker James Skalski, who was credited with the sack, coming in to make sure the Cards' QB was down. Clemson’s offense then took the field and ran out the final 10 seconds of the game.

“It sticks with us big time,” Cardinals coach Scott Satterfield said of the heartbreaking defeat. “It's one of those games that you certainly had an opportunity to go win if you get in there. ... There are certain games that stand out more than others. That's certainly one. This stands out, and probably will for a long time.”

An unfortunate pattern:Close calls bring little comfort for Louisville football's Scott Satterfield

Louisville only had two other close losses in similar fashion last season — Virginia (34-33) and Wake Forest (37-34) — and has already beaten both of those teams this season handily. The team started with a 34-17 win over the Cavaliers then dominated the Demon Deacons, ranked 10^th at the time, 48-21. The Tigers are the last team remaining on the Cardinals’ revenge tour. Louisville and No. 10 Clemson are set to face off at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, S.C.

“I still got a bad taste in my mouth (from last year), and we've got six days? Six days to prepare for them,” Cunningham said of the Tigers after Louisville’s 34-10 win over James Madison last weekend. “We've just got to take the mental aspect to another level. Just dial in on those guys because they're a very good football team, well coached. They're not just going to give us anything. We've got to go in there and take it.”

Louisville is not only trying to keep its winning streak alive but also do something it’s never done before: beat Clemson. The Tigers, who have already clinched the Atlantic Division title, have won all seven meetings with the Cardinals. The Tigers haven’t lost a home game since 2016, the 38-game winning streak in Death Valley the nation's longest. Unlike Louisville, though, the Tigers will come into the contest on the heels of a 35-14 loss to Notre Dame. It’s one of the worst in head coach Dabo Swinney’s career.

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This game is especially important to Cunningham, who will once again not be playing the Tigers at full strength. Satterfield said the Cardinals’ quarterback “did ding” his left, non-throwing hand against JMU but can’t pinpoint the exact play or time in the game. It’s considered a minor injury that will be monitored this week in practice.

Louisville offensive coordinator Lance Taylor said he’s not concerned about Cunningham not playing.

“I've talked to Malik a lot over the last 24, 48 hours, you know, minor hand injury," Taylor said. “He seems confident. He wants to play and feels confident about this week of prep. So, I don't think anything's gonna be different from us from a standpoint of preparation, or what we do with him, or how he handles this week. I think he's excited about this game and this challenge and opportunity.”

For as much as the game means to Cunningham, Taylor has been pleased with how well the redshirt senior has been able to avoid riding “the roller coaster of emotions” and encourage his teammates to do the same.

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“It shows how much he's grown, how much he understands that everybody in that huddle is looking at him when things are going well, when things aren't going well,” Taylor said. “Everybody looks to him to set the temperature and tone for our offense and how we how they they're going to feel and react. That's what I want him and our offense and, really, our team to understand is this game shouldn't be bigger, or less or whatever, because of Clemson or last year or what we almost did or because we're playing there or the crowd noise. We have to stay within ourselves and continue to play consistently at a high level no matter what the circumstances or things around us are dictated.”

At a time where Louisville has avenged two losses from a year ago and is playing with a newfound confidence, another upset victory could be on the horizon. The Cardinals, who earned bowl eligibility last week, know how important every game is nearing the end of the season and want to stack up as many wins as possible to end an up-and-down year.

“We know we're going to a hostile environment this week down at Clemson. That’s one of the better home field advantages and venues to play,” Satterfield said. “It’s going to be loud, crazy, all of those things. ... So, we'll have to prepare for that, particularly on offense. We’ve got to be ready for that.”

Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Alexis_Cubit.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville football looking for revenge against Clemson football