Clemson’s Deshaun Watson makes Heisman statement vs South Carolina

The Clemson Tigers knocked off rival South Carolina in the regular season finale to enter the ACC Championship Game undefeated and the No. 1 team in the nation.

The Clemson Tigers won a game that was closer than most expected. Deshaun Watson and the rest of his offense came back from a cold start to a nice finish to cap off their victory over their in-state rival South Carolina.

The game started off with a scoreless first quarter for both teams. By halftime, the score was 14-3 in favor of the Tigers. But, in the second half of the game the points started being scored in bunches. In the 3rd quarter, both teams scored 14 points, and in the 4th the Tigers scored six points. Interestingly, the Gamecocks were able to score a touchdown and a two point conversion to bring themselves within nine points from the lead.

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Ultimately, the Gamecocks were simply not able to score enough points in the fourth quarter to get a win. Maybe if they had produced points at all in the first quarter, then an upset could have occurred.

Key Player

Deshaun Watson

The Clemson Tigers’ signal caller was easily the best player on the field against South Carolina. He completed 20 passes for 279 yards, and totaled one touchdown. Although he had a turnover (fumble), he continued his Heisman candidacy with a win over the Gamecocks. Watson also rushed 21 times for 114 yards, and three touchdown. He was the team’s leading passer and rusher and made a big Heisman statement with another game to go to pad his stats.

Fallout

Clemson defeated their in-state rival by a smaller margin than they would have wished, but a win’s a win. However, could the Tigers narrow margin of victory influence the playoff committee and drop them from the top spot? We’ll find out on Tuesday evening when the next playoff rankings are released.