No. 1 Clemson beats No. 10 North Carolina, 45-37, in ACC title game

Heisman Trophy hopeful Deshaun Watson threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two touchdowns, and No. 1 Clemson captured the Atlantic Coast Conference championship by holding off eighth-ranked North Carolina, 45-37, on Saturday night.

Watson’s 420 yards and five touchdowns set ACC championship game records and assured the Tigers (13-0) a spot in the College Football Playoff.

It didn’t come without some suspense.

North Carolina’s Ryan Switzer hauled in his second touchdown catch of the game with 1 minute 13 seconds left to cut Clemson’s lead to eight points and give the Tigers a scare.

The Tar Heels appeared to recover the onside kick, but were called for being offside and had to kick again. They tried another onside kick and this time Clemson recovered and ran out the clock.

“I had a chance to look at it and they missed it. They were wrong. That’s all I’m going to say about it. They were wrong,” Coach Larry Fedora said of the officials on the offside call.

Now, the only suspense left is whether Clemson or No. 2 Alabama is in the top spot when the playoff pairings are revealed Sunday.

“We’ve got three top 10 wins. Anybody else got that? And we’re 13-0,” a grinning Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney said.

Clemson racked up 608 yards, a conference championship game record.

Wayne Gallman had 185 yards in 27 carries and scored two touchdowns, and Artavis Scott had seven catches for 96 yards and a touchdown.

Marquise Williams threw for 224 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for 81 yards and a touchdown for the No. 10 Tar Heels (11-2), who were trying to win their first ACC title in 35 years.

Clemson took control midway through the third quarter, turning a Williams interception in the red zone and failed fake punt into touchdowns to take 35-16 lead. Gallman scored on a three-yard run and Watson connected with Scott on a 35-yard scoring strike in the end zone to build a 35-16 lead.

After Williams cut the lead to 35-23 on a one-yard touchdown run, the Tigers got a scare when Watson took a shot to the side of his helmet with 29 seconds left in the third quarter on a short run. But he returned to the game after sitting out one play.

The Tar Heels trailed, 42-30, midway through the fourth quarter and were looking to make it a one-possession game when Clemson end Shaq Lawson sacked Williams and forced a fumble that teammate Austin Bryant recovered. That led to a field goal and 45-30 lead.