Watson accounts for 5 TDs, Clemson beats Virginia Tech 42-35

Quarterback Deshaun Watson has guided the Tigers back to the College Football Playoff after they advanced to the National Championship Game and lost to the University of Alabama last season.

The victory mirrored the season, with its ups and downs, but now Clemson likely will head west to the College Football Playoff semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl. Still, can their upcoming bowl game serve as a springboard to the 2017 playoff in the same manner that last season’s bowl game did for this 9-3 campaign?

“This right here is the best player in the country”, Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney said after, “and it ain’t even close”. If the Hokies focus too much defensively on containing Watson, who has run for 441 yards, they risk allowing the Tigers’ other prolific performers to have big days. But the Buckeyes didn’t play on Saturday and are not a conference champion while three teams below them – Clemson, Washington and Penn State – beat top-s25 teams to win conference crowns. The wildest, and one that got Virginia Tech going after a string of five consecutive quick-ending drives, came on 42-yard from Evans to Bucky Hodges in the third quarter.

Clemson was unable to pick up a first down on its next possession and gave Tech the ball back with 4:03 to play. That was as close as the Hokies would get, though, as Cordrea Tankersley intercepted Evans at the Clemson 14 to seal the Tigers’ win. On Clemson’s next possession, linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka grabbed an interception in Clemson territory, but Virginia Tech was forced to punt.

But with a trip to the College Football Playoff and their 16th ACC title on the line, it worked out in their favor. The Tigers, 12-1, had to survive a furious comeback by Virginia Tech to win, 42-35. The last player to win the Heisman after his team lost its final two games was Notre Dame’s Tim Brown in 1987. “They have … the top or (one of the) top two or three players in America in Deshaun Watson“. “We have come a million miles from where we started”.

It was a fitting final salvo in a battle for the award that looked to be all but over three weeks ago, when Louisville Cardinals quarterback Lamar Jackson was the runaway favorite.

– Evans threw for 264 yards in the game, giving him a new program single-season record with 3,303 passing yards. Watson cooled a bit, connecting on only four of his next nine passes as Tech’s defensive coordinator Bud Foster continued to bring pressure. Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said Worth is done for the season, along with running backs Toneo Gulley and Darryl Bonner, both of whom left with first-half injuries. He ranks fourth in the nation in completions, fifth in touchdown passes, eighth in completion percentage and eighth in total offense. They’re very multiple on defense, not just one defense, but it all starts with personnel.

Led by junior quarterback Jérod Evans, the Hokies were able to chip away at a Clemson defense that has managed to surrender only 17 points per game. A pair of scores on the ground pulled Tech within seven early in the fourth, but Hunter Renfrow came through on the ensuing drive with two huge plays. “We played hard and tried to win an ACC Championship”.

Clemson LB Dorian O’Daniel was ejected in the opening quarter after being penalized for targeting on a high hit on Virginia Tech RB Sam Rogers, who was dropped for no gain on a pass reception. Meanwhile, Cam Phillips had 12 receptions for 92 yards, and Isaiah Ford had four catches for 89 yards while becoming the Hokies’ career leader in receiving yards. Foster’s unit responded by stifling Clemson for just 13 yards in five plays – and then skipped around the sideline imploring the crowd to raise the decibel level.