But the biggest ones were reserved for the fourth quarter of Clemson’s 37-34 victory over Florida State in front of 78,025 fans at Doak Campbell stadium Saturday night.
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The Tigers got off to a fast start, scoring on their first possession with a 1-yd run by Wayne Gallman. He also rushed for 52 yards. Renfrow finished the night with five catches for 62 yards.
Clemson improves to 8-0 on the season, while Florida St. falls to 5-3.
Deshaun Watson connected with Jordan Leggett for a 34-yard touchdown pass with 2:06 remaining as Clemson rallied for a 37-34 win over the Seminoles. Ben Boulware followed, and the Tiger comeback was complete.
Watson was sacked four times.
Even though last year isn’t supposed to factor into this year’s rankings, I think anybody in the committee room would be hard-pressed to not have the defending champion, who is playing this well, anywhere but No. 1. He’s not flawless. He’s not a robot, but I don’t know any other player out there that is. His completion percentage, yards per attempt and presence in the running game (12 rushing TDs in 2015, just one so far in 2016) have all dipped. I’ve seen him play a lot of good ones. “Give them credit for that”.
And dad gum No. 4 – I hope he’s leaving. Clemson finishes ACC play at Wake Forest, which has not beaten the Tigers since 2008. They did a heck of a job. We took the lead early.
It’s survival of the fittest at its finest for Dabo Swinney and No. 3 Clemson.
“The resiliency was awesome”.
“I don’t know what to say other than this group just believes they’re going to win”, Swinney said.
Florida State was able to drive into Clemson territory with under a minute left but could only get to the Tigers’ 34. Sometimes your protection breaks down, sometimes guys drop a ball. “He’s not flawless and he’s going to make a mistake but he just keeps on fighting”.
A game filled with storylines, such as the highly anticipated duel between Clemson’s Heisman candidate quarterback Deshaun Watson and FSU’s maturing quarterback Deondre Francois, Clemson once again narrowly escaped defeat against an ACC team.
With the way the Tigers keep overcoming adversity and winning big games, this season has practically been the opposite of “Clemsoning”. Dalvin Cook’s 50-yard run in the second half was negated by a chop block penalty that most would argue was the wrong call. “Our goal is to be on the plus side when the season is over”.
That next opponent for Watson and the Tigers (8-0, 5-0 ACC) is the upstart Syracuse Orange (4-4, 2-2 ACC), who under first-year head coach Dino Babers have seen a renewed excitement about football in upstate NY. The Georgia native threw three interceptions against the Cardinals, including one midway through the third quarter.
“There’s going to be adversity, but the game wasn’t over”, Watson said.
Leggett ended with five catches for 122 yards, setting a single-game school record for receiving yards.
Clemson will return home next Saturday to take on Syracuse.
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Florida State running back Dalvin Cook put the Seminoles up 34-29 with his fourth touchdown of the evening. Coincidentally, FSU defensive back Trey Marshall was ejected for targeting Clemson receiver Mike Williams when the Noles had a 28-20 lead. Three plays later, the Seminoles were forced to punt. On 3rd-and-6, Watson failed to connect with Leggett over the middle, and the Tigers settled for a 46-yard field goal from Huegel and a 29-28 lead with 5:25 to play.
