Instead, it was No. 1 Clemson who got the biggest break of the game during its 45-37 victory over the Tar Heels on Saturday night in the ACC Championship game.
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Deshaun Watson did everything in his power to ensure Clemson’s flawless season continued.
“That was championship football”, Swinney said. That’s what I love about this team.
“I was like so happy inside to finally get to meet him”, Austin said”.
With some momentum on their side, North Carolina was able to move the ball back down the field.
Clemson immediately responded. Deshaun Watson orchestrated an eight-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Watson to Wayne Gallman.
UNC reached the Clemson 41 to start the third quarter, but Williams was picked off by Cordrea Tankersley inside the 5. Instead, North Carolina went home empty-handed and awaiting their bowl fate.
Williams was under heavy pressure for much of the game. However, UNC opted to go for two following the touchdown. “We’re excited for the opportunity”, North Carolina linebacker Jeff Schoettmer told reporters. “It doesn’t matter one way or the other, so I’m going to have to swallow it like a man and just take it, and that’s just the way it is”.
“It sucks”, Switzer said.
“That was a blown call, obviously”, Switzer said after the game.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) – Seven reserves combined for 35 points Saturday to help No. 21 Miami beat Charlotte 88-60 Saturday.
Nick Weiler, the UNC kicker, hit it just right and the ball took a big bounce and ricocheted off a Clemson player. Best team in the country?
Had the call not been made, the Tar Heels would have had the ball at their own 48-yard line.
Clemson would make a little history on the ensuing drive.
Clemson turned that into a 97-yard drive with Gallman scoring on a 3-yard run. Defensive lineman Shaq Lawson (8.5 sacks) leads the nation with 20.5 tackles for loss, but the Tigers have allowed 25.2 points per game in their last five.
Save Watson’s performance, neither team was poised in the first half Saturday. But they needed to go only 34 yards for the go-ahead points because of a botched fake punt by the Tigers. After coming away with an interception, the Tar Heels would come up with a touchdown of their own. The sophomore rushed for 94 yards in the third quarter alone after putting up only 17 in the first half. The score put the Tigers up 42-23. North Carolina, however, wasn’t done. “All I know is if you give someone a short field, you’re in for a long day”.
The Tar Heels lost because they faltered offensively like they rarely had this season through the first three quarters, and because Clemson’s defense often kept UNC guessing with an array of different blitzes and formations. Eight minutes later, the Tar Heels scored again.
North Carolina led 16-14 lead after Williams’ 3-yard scoring pass to Switzer with 3:52 left in the half.
Fedora said he was sure UNC would score on that drive if the ball wasn’t tipped.
Yet still, Fedora found himself afterward talking about his team’s grit.
“They deserve that No. 1 spot that they have but a lot of the problems we today came from mistakes we had on defense”, senior linebacker Shakeel Rashad said. However, officials declared the Tar Heels offsides negating the recovery and forcing a re-kick.
“I had a chance to look at it, and they missed it”, said Fedora, who in the moments after the call appeared angry and animated while speaking with the officials. “That’s all I’m going to say about it. They were wrong”, the AP quoted UNC coach Larry Fedora as saying.
Those points came after three consecutive three-and-outs for the Tar Heels’ offense.
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Clemson will celebrate with fans at Memorial Stadium on Sunday, when they find out their CFP opponent and destination when the final four are announced on ESPN at noon.
