Saturday’s ACC championship game between No. 1 Clemson and No. 10 North Carolina ended with a 45-37 win and continued unbeaten season for the Tigers, and a disputed offside call that the Tar Heels say cost them a win.
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Clemson (1) can not afford to let a chance at the College Football Playoff go by the wayside by overlooking this ACC Championship game against UNC.
“I wanted to prove that we were one of the best teams in the country and that we deserved to be in the top four”, Watson said. However, officials declared the Tar Heels offsides negating the recovery and forcing a re-kick.
Quarterback Marquise Williams had a poor game passing the ball – finishing just 11-for-33 with 224 yards and a key interception that resulted in a 97-yard Clemson touchdown drive.
North Carolina agreed to terms on a seven-year contract with coach Larry Fedora, athletic director Bubba Cunningham said Saturday.
“I had a chance to look at it and they missed it. They were wrong”. But cornerback Cordrea Tankersley intercepted Williams’ tipped pass at the 3-yard line. Callaway’s 46-yard first quarter reception threatened to give Florida the lead, and his 85-yard second quarter punt return score did just that.
The Tigers (13-0) built a comfortable third quarter lead, going up by by 19 points before holding on late in the 45-37 victory at Bank of America Stadium.
Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail Clemson defensive end Shaq Lawson (90) tackles North Carolina’s T.J. Logan during the second quarter of the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte, North Carolina. Two plays later Watson made UNC pay with a 35 yard touchdown strike to Artavis Scott to take a 35-16 lead with 4:58 left.
North Carolina was also called for a block in the back penalty, forcing Clemson to punt the ball again.
“I’m just going to have to swallow it like a man”, Fedora said.
Clemson improved to 13-0 with the win, and removed any doubt about whether it would be in the playoff. Two plays later, the Heisman candidate found his tailback, Gallman, wide open down the sideline for the game’s first touchdown.
Clemson has won 55 games in the last five seasons and still has one or two more to play this season.
Tigers coach Dabo Swinney promised to provide pizza for all comers on Sunday at Death Valley, win or lose.
Clemson’s lead might have been bigger had it not been for a curious decision by Tigers punter Andy Teasdall, who chose to take matters into his own hands and take off running on fourth-and-15 at his own 30. He had topped 100 yards rushing with 11:30 to go in the third quarter. He averaged 6.7 YPC with a long run of 31 yards.
North Carolina went ahead by a field goal early on, but Clemson answered back with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Deshaun Watson to Wayne Gallman.
A few things happened when the final whistle was blown in the ACC title game: (1) The Tigers were crowned ACC champs.
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What will be remembered, on the UNC side, is that the Tar Heels had momentum and, it seemed, possession when they recovered an onside kick with a little more than one minute remaining.
