“What a great interception Cordrea had, unbelievable”, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said.
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For the record, Swinney said there was no fake punt and joked, “That was (Teasdall) losing his mind”. That’s what I love about this team. “We’re excited for the opportunity”, North Carolina linebacker Jeff Schoettmer told reporters.
HOUSTON – Greg Ward, Jr. ran for 148 yards and two touchdowns and No. 17 Houston got a 24-13 win over 20th-ranked Temple in the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championship game on Saturday. Clemson ended up with the ball on the do-over.
ABOUT CLEMSON (12-0, 8-0): Watson, who is the only player in the country with at least 3,000 yards passing and 750 rushing, has completed 70.4 percent of his passes – third-best in the nation.
Watson has never lost a game as Clemson’s starting quarterback.
North Carolina regained the lead with under two minutes to go in the period.
Williams was under heavy pressure for much of the game.
The Bears got one more chance, but Jefferson’s last-ditch pass was incomplete. However, UNC opted to go for two following the touchdown. A two-point conversion pass failed.
But Watson wasn’t going to let the Tar Heels keep the lead for long. The Tigers put up a field goal after that. OK, maybe not. But Swinney promised it’s one Clemson fans won’t want to miss.
“We changed the play”, Swinney said. But what do I know?
The Tar Heels took advantage right away, quickly moving 34 yards in four plays with Williams finding Switzer in the back of the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown pass to give the Tar Heels a 16-14 lead.
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. “I don’t think there’s any question that the ACC should be in one of them (national semifinal) games”.
The Tigers weren’t done on offense. Watson has been the guy driving the train most of the season, but it’s a defense that has also played lights out, particularly in the big games, despite an exodus to the National Football League draft a year ago.
The loss marked just the second time Grambling State (9-3) has fallen in the title game.
Wayne Gallman ran for 185 yards on 27 carries and scored two touchdowns and Artavis Scott had seven catches for 96 yards and a score.
As Heisman poses go, Watson said he might have struck a few in his room back at Clemson. And Watson made sure of that. The score put the Tigers up 42-23. That led to a field goal and 45-30 lead. North Carolina, however, wasn’t done. The fifth play of the drive saw Elijah Hood score only touchdown of the night. There’s always going to be grit in this team. We fought. Nobody was down on the sideline. I don’t have an answer for it…. UNC recovered the kick.
The Tar Heels appeared to recover the onside kick, but were called for being offside – although replays didn’t show any player in a blue jersey being offside – and had to kick again.
Those points came after three consecutive three-and-outs for the Tar Heels’ offense.
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The Tigers move to 13-0 and will find out where they will play on Sunday at noon.
