Tigers take down Tar Heels, 50-35
The North Carolina Tar Heels found themselves on the wrong side of history for the second week in a row, as Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson passed for record-breaking numbers on the way to a 50-35 Tiger home win. The Heels, now 2-2 on the year, gave up over 500 yards of total offense in the loss despite gaining nearly that much themselves. Watson got things going for the Tigers early, finding Germone Hopper on the first Clemson drive early in the first quarter.
Clemson would extend the lead near the end of the first, when Ammon Lakip hit a 27 yard field goal to put the home team up by 10. Lakip would hit one more field goal in the second quarter, but not before Watson hit Hopper again for another score, marking 20 unanswered points for the Tigers.
The Tar Heels finally got on the board midway through the quarter, when Marquise Williams found Mack Hollins in the endzone. Hollins also made this crazy catch that was easily one of, if not the best, of the night.
The Heels’ positivity would be short-lived, as Williams found himself on the bad end of a tackle by Shaq Lawson in the end zone that resulted in a safety, and took the game to halftime with a 22-7 Clemson lead.
On the first Tiger drive of the second half, Watson threw his only interception of the game with a pass that went right into the arms of Sam Smiley, which put the Heels just outside enemy territory.
UNC took advantage of the mistake a few plays later, as Williams found Thorpe to make it a one possession game at 22-14.
Clemson then began to pull away, scoring 14 unanswered points in the quarter off two more Watson touchdown passes, putting his total at 4.
Both teams then began trading touchdowns near the end of the game, as Williams found Quinshad Davis for a score on a 4th and goal attempt, and then found Ryan Swizter for a 75-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter.
Elijah Hood also got into the mix with a run of his own that found paydirt, but the scoring came too later, as Clemson had already put on 50 points on two more Watson touchdown throws.
Watson’s six touchdown passes in the game is now a school record, and marks the first time the Heels have given up that many touchdown throws since Doug Flutie did it with Boston College in 1984.
The freshman also totaled up 435 yards through the air, while Williams had a night of his own with 345.
The Tar Heels will look to put the loss behind them, as they will return to Chapel Hill next week to take on Virginia Tech.