Deshaun Watson had a day to remember in his first collegiate start. He threw a school record 6 touchdown passes on Saturday, as the Clemson Tigers won 50-35 over North Carolina.
Watson's game started brilliantly with a 74 yard touchdown pass to Germone Hopper on Clemson's second play from scrimmage. Ammon Lakip added a 27 yard field goal late in the first quarter to make it 10-0 after the first 15 minutes.
Clemson's first drive of the second quarter was much like their first drive of the first quarter: a touchdown. In fact, it was the same duo of Watson to Hopper from 50 yards out to take a 17-0 lead. Lakip's second field goal of the game made it 20-0 before North Carolina finally showed up.
Marquise Williams found Mack Hollins from 17 yards out to cut the deficit to 20-7. After forcing a punt, North Carolina was backed up in their own red zone. Williams dropped back to pass on third and 12 but was sacked in the end zone for a safety and Clemson led 22-7. That would be the score at the break.
Watson had a shaky start to the second half with his third down pass being intercepted by Sam Smiley. North Carolina turned it into a touchdown five plays later with Williams hitting T.J. Thorpe for a 41 yard touchdown.
Watson came back strong after that mistake. He threw a 24 yard touchdown to Mike Williams on the next drive to restore the lead to 15 points at 29-14. Watson and Williams hooked up again from 33 yards out on the next Clemson series to take a 36-14 lead.
The Tar Heels were not quite down with the scoring. Williams threw his third touchdown pass of the night, with this one going to Quinshad Davis from 2 yards out. The score after 45 minutes was 36-21 in favor of the Tigers.
The fourth quarter started with fireworks from both teams. The second play of the quarter saw Watson hit Artavis Scott for a 33 yard touchdown. On North Carolina's next play, Williams threw a 75 yard touchdown pass to Ryan Switzer to make it 43-28 in the first 30 seconds of the quarter.
Watson's sixth touchdown pass was a beauty to the back corner of the end zone to Jordan Leggett from 5 yards out. That made it 50-28 with less than 6 minutes to play. Elijah Hood added a 9 yard touchdown run for North Carolina to make it 50-35. Williams was intercepted in the end zone with a chance to make it a one score game and Clemson was able to run the clock out.
Marquise Williams went 24 of 38 for 345 yards with 4 touchdowns and an interception. Elijah Hood had 13 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown.
Ryan Switzer was the top receiver for the Tar Heels with 3 catches for 87 yards and the 75 yard score. Eric Albright caught one pass for 67 yards while Bug Howard contributed 5 catches for 50 yards.
It was an amazing performance for Deshaun Watson. He went 27 of 36 for 435 yards with 6 touchdowns and the one interception. Despite that pick, he played phenomenally. Watson also ran for 28 yards on 11 carries.
C.J. Davidson was the top rusher for the Tigers with 32 yards on 9 carries. D.J. Howard had 13 carries for 31 yards.
Three receivers stood out for the Tigers. Germone Hopper caught 3 passes for 139 yards and 2 touchdowns. Mike Williams caught 6 balls for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns. Artavis Scott had 8 catches for 66 yards and a touchdown.
The Tigers amassed 528 yards of offense, which is an indictment of how awful the Tar Heels have been on defense. North Carolina surrendered 789 yards last week in a 70-41 crushing at the hands of East Carolina. Larry Fedora has a lot of work to do with that defense.
North Carolina (2-2, 0-1) faces Virginia Tech (3-2, 0-1) next week at home. Clemson (2-2, 1-1) rebounded from last week's heartbreaking loss to Florida State very well. They face North Carolina State (4-1, 0-1) who lost to the Seminoles earlier on Saturday.