Clemson Tigers at South Carolina Gamecocks Start Time, College Football
End of story, end of game.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound quarterback accounted for 398 yards and four touchdowns for Clemson (three on the ground) to lift the Tigers to a 37-32 over rival SC.
Watson had his third game this season with 200 pass yards and 100 rush yards.
In a loss that completed a 3-9 season, Elliott’s more immediate thoughts were with his players.
Clemson is ranked number one in the nation thanks to a ideal 11-0 record for the 2015 season. Clemson reported no injuries; USC senior RB Brandon Wilds left the game with a concussion … North Carolina reached 11 wins for the fourth time in program history, compiling 553 yards of total offense in avenging a lopsided loss to N.C. State from a year ago. Clemson, though, entered the SC game at minus-1 with 18 fumbles and 12 interceptions (20) to forcing 17 fumbles and 12 interceptions (19). Clemson has the ACC Championship next, and the potentially the College Football Playoff. T.J. Gurley on Clemson’s third down efficiency:”I think the quarterback [Deshaun Watson] just extended the plays”. “At the end of the day, we’re 12-0”. “They’re a pretty good basketball team and for the first time all year, we embarrassing in practice the last two days”. It took Clemson eight plays to dent the scoreboard.
Watson, though, followed series with a 60-yard scoring drive that he ended with a 3-yard burst around the left side.
SC could find a way to circle the wagons, rally the troops and pull off the stunner, but they really are considerably worse on all three phases of the game.
Top-ranked Clemson has been here before: With its undefeated season on the line and facing its bitter rival. This time, however, he hit Deon Cain in stride with a well-placed pass for a 55-yard touchdown extending the Tigers’ lead to 14-0. “We were careless at the beginning of the game but we paid more attention to detail in the second half”. Clemson led 14-3 at intermission.
The Tigers’ defense, though, didn’t let the Gamecocks capitalize on the mistakes. Gallman has paced the Tiger run game with just over a 1,000 yards with nine touchdowns.
Did I mention that the Tigers also have a legit Heisman contender in Deshaun Watson?
But as is so often the way with college football rivalries, there were the Gamecocks, down just 28-25 early in the fourth quarter after a Shon Carson touchdown and two-point conversion. “All I know is SC is going to play their tails off, but so are we”. Spurrier walked away from one final chance to get in a dig at Clemson by having his team upset or at least scare the Tigers.