No.1 Clemson Survies A Scare at Syracuse
14 Nov, 2015
DeShaun Watson made sure Clemson stayed on track for a shot at the national championship.
The sophomore also kept his name in the talk about the Heisman Trophy, accumulating 461 total yards and accounting for three touchdowns to help the top-ranked Tigers hold off Syracuse 37-27 on Saturday.
“We didn’t think we were going to come up here and just walk through and pick up a big win,” said Watson, who threw for 360 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 101 yards and another score. “We had to earn it. They came out and were pushing us and played `til the end. Glad to have this one and move on to the next.”
The win gave the Tigers (10-0, 7-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) at least 10 victories for the fifth straight season and their first 10-0 start since they won their only national championship in 1981. With 13 straight wins, the Tigers also have their longest winning streak in 34 years.
Watson completed 34 of 47 passes against a team that has now lost seven straight. Syracuse (3-7, 1-5 ACC) put up a good fight for embattled coach Scott Shafer, but fell to 1-10 against No. 1 teams.
“There are a bunch of fighters in that room,” Shafer said. “We stay true to who we are, and that’s a team that will continue to play until the last whistle. Disappointed in the loss, but proud of the fact that the kids played extremely hard.”
Syracuse made a game of it from the start, forcing two early fumbles and repeatedly finding gaping holes in the Clemson defensive line with walk-on Zack Mahoney at quarterback in only his second career start. The Orange rushed for 242 yards and scored their three touchdowns on the ground against a team that had allowed only nine rushing scores.
Another peril survived on the rocky road to college football’s final four.
“I know everybody thinks that we should just show up, go out there and kill everybody by 50 points, but that’s la-la land,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “This is football. Everybody has good players and good coaches. We made some mistakes.”
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