It’s elementary: Get it to Watson
RALEIGH, N.C. — Deshaun Watson accounted for six touchdowns to help third-ranked Clemson pull away after halftime to beat North Carolina State 56-41 on Saturday.
Watson threw for 383 yards and 5 scores and ran for 54 yards and 1 touchdown for the Tigers (8-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who are closing in on an appearance in the ACC Championship Game and chasing a College Football Playoff berth.
The Tigers host No. 17 Florida State next week with a chance to wrap up the ACC’s Atlantic Division title.
Wayne Gallman ran for 172 yards and a touchdown for Clemson, which put together a lightning-strike scoring drive right before halftime to go ahead for good.
The Tigers led by 20 after halftime and finished with 623 total yards, spending the final quarter answering desperate scoring drives from the Wolfpack (5-3, 1-3) to remain in firm control.
It wasn’t perfect for Clemson, with N.C. State breaking off a few big plays and turning the game into a shootout while playing from behind. But the Tigers were never seriously threatened in the final 20 minutes, leading by at least 12 on their way to an 11th consecutive victory dating to last season.
It also marked Clemson’s 36th consecutive victory against teams unranked in The Associated Press Top 25, the last loss coming at the Wolfpack in 2011.
Jacoby Brissett threw for three touchdowns and ran for one, while Jaylen Samuels ran for a score for the Wolfpack. Freshman Nyheim Hines had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in a wild opening 5 minutes that saw both teams score twice and even block an extra point.
N.C. State played the second half without top rusher Matt Dayes because of what was described as lower-body injury, and the Wolfpack never found a way to slow Watson and the Tigers consistently.
In other games involving ACC teams, No. 17 Florida State showed no sign of a letdown despite missing its top two play-makers, putting up one of its best offensive games of the season in a 45-21 victory over Syracuse. … Michael Brewer threw a first-quarter touchdown pass and linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka returned a fumble 34 yards for a score early in the second, carrying Virginia Tech to a 26-10 victory over Boston College. … Matt Johns threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Canaan Severin in the third quarter and Virginia limited Georgia Tech to two long scoring plays until the final minutes of the Cavaliers’ 27-21 victory.