Dec 5, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; Clemson Tigers quarterback Deshaun Watson (40 scores a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the ACC football championship game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Quarterback Deshaun Watson threw for 289 yards and rushed for 131 as top-ranked Clemson defeated No. 10 North Carolina 45-37 in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game on Saturday night at sold-out Bank of America Stadium.
Watson passed for three touchdowns and rushed for two. Running back Wayne Gallman had two touchdown runs and 187 yards on 28 carries.
Clemson (13-0) will go into the College Football Playoffs and North Carolina (11-2), which had an 11-game winning streak snapped, will await a bowl assignment.
Most of the championship-game record 74,514 fans on hand were pulling for Clemson, which wrapped up a spot in the title game nearly a month ago.
Watson had 402 yards of total offense through three quarters.
North Carolina quarterback Marquise Williams finished 10 of 29 with two touchdowns for 207 yards in the air.
Trailing 42-30, North Carolina reached the Clemson 36-yard line with less than seven minutes to play before Williams fumbled on a sack. The Tigers put up a field goal after that.
North Carolina scored with 1:13 left on Williams pass to wide receiver Ryan Switzer on a 17-yard play. The Tar Heels recovered the initial onside kick, but an offsides penalty negated the play. Clemson ended up with the ball on the do-over.
North Carolina took the first possession of the second half deep into Clemson territory. But cornerback Cordrea Tankersley intercepted Williams’ tipped pass at the 3-yard line.
Clemson turned that into a 97-yard drive with Gallman scoring on a 3-yard run.
The Tigers took advantage of the Tar Heels’ misguided fake punt, scoring two plays later on Watson’s 35-yard pass to wide receiver Artavis Scott.
With a 35-16 lead and the ball, it looked good for Clemson until North Carolina defensive tackle Nazair Jones intercepted a Watson pass and the Tar Heels closed within 35-23.
Clemson led 21-16 at halftime, scoring on a 1-yard touchdown toss from Watson to tight end Jordan Leggett with two seconds remaining.
North Carolina led 16-14 lead after Williams’ 3-yard scoring pass to Switzer with 3:52 left in the half.
Those points came after three consecutive three-and-outs for the Tar Heels’ offense. But they needed to go only 34 yards for the go-ahead points because of a botched fake punt by Clemson.
The game’s first possession ended with Clemson’s Greg Huegel coming up short on a 47-yard field goal attempt.
North Carolina scored first on the ensuing possession on Nick Weiler’s 30-yard field goal. That created the first deficit for Clemson in more than 206 minutes of game time.
Clemson wasted little time in taking its first lead, an eight-play drive capped by Gallman’s 16-yard catch-and-run with a Watson pass.
The Tar Heels needed only one play after a Clemson punt, with Williams’ toss to running back T.J. Logan resulting in a 46-yard touchdown play. A two-point conversion pass failed.
Clemson marched 96 yards on 12 plays to go back ahead, with Watson running 9 yards for the score. The drive included a fourth-and-4 conversion.
Clemson took 57 first-half snaps on offense.
North Carolina trailed at the half for only the second time. The Tar Heels came back from a 21-14 hole (after trailing 21-0 earlier) to defeat Georgia Tech on Oct. 3.
NOTES: Clemson S T.J. Green, the starting free safety, was ejected with 2:30 remaining in the second quarter for a targeting penalty on punt coverage. He’s the team’s third-leading tackler. … The game marked the 100th for Dabo Swinney as Clemson’s coach. He entered the game 73-26. … North Carolina coach Larry Fedora agreed to a new seven-year contract with the school that takes him through the 2022 season, the university announced before the game. … North Carolina was without starting S Sam Smiley, who underwent surgery Wednesday to repair his left Achilles tendon from an injury suffered in the regular-season finale at North Carolina State. … Going into the game, it was the first time two ACC teams had double-digit winning streaks at the same time. … Clemson and North Carolina no longer meet annually, but Clemson won 50-35 last year at home. … North Carolina’s only regular-season loss came in this stadium, which is home to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, when it lost to South Carolina in the season opener.
