By Will Vandervort.
10:46 p.m.
Clemson wins 50-35
10:28 p.m.
I’m with you. This makes no sense. Why isn’t Watson in the game.
10:25 p.m.
North Carolina is hanging close with Clemson. It is 50-35 with 5:08 to play.
10:21 p.m.
Watson needs 21 yards to break Boyd’s single-game record for passing yards. Boyd had 455 at Syracuse last year. Watson has 435 yards right now.
10:19 p.m.
Clemson Deshaun Watson threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Leggett, his sixth of the game to set a new Clemson- single-game record for TDs thrown in a game.
10:04 p.m.
Vic Beasley gets his second sack. That was his 27th career sack, one short of the record.
10:03 p.m.
The Watson to Scott TD gallery. link
9:57 p.m.
Smith was left flatfooted on that play, literally. Williams hits Switzer with a 75-yard touchdown. Now the good news, you get to see more of Deshaun Watson. Clemson leads 43-28.
9:54 p.m.
That 33-yard touchdown pass to Artavis Scott gives Watson another record. He tied the school record for TD passes in a game and is the first freshman of any kind to throw five touchdown passes in a game. Another Charlie Whitehurst record goes down. Tigers lead 43-21 with 14:44 to play. His 378 yards is 7th all-time in a game and only Tajh Boyd and Whitehurst have thrown for more yards in a game at Clemson.
9:46 p.m.
That is the end of the third quarter as Clemson leads 36-21 over UNC.
9:44 p.m.
Watson and Williams hook up, again. link to photo gallery.
9:41 p.m.
North Carolina again rallies as Williams hits Davis for a 2 yd TD to pull the Heels within 15 at 36-21 with 3:51 to play in the third quarter.
9:31 p.m.
Watson now has 311 yards and 4 TDs after that pass to Mike Williams. Both of those are new true freshman records. Clemson leads 36-14 lead with 6:21 to play in the third quarter. He also has 797 passing yards, which is also a new Clemson record for a true freshman. He ties freshman record for touchdowns freshman and redshirt freshman.
9:29 p.m.
Mike Willians TD gallery. Link
9:18 p.m.
On third and nine from the 24-yard line, Watson finds Mike Williams down the right side for a touchdown, which gives Clemson a 29-14 lead with 9:30 to play in the third quarter.
9:10 p.m.
We have a ball game. After Watson is picked off for the first time in his career, North Carolina’s Williams hits Thorpe for a 34-yard touchdown pass on a tunnel screen. Clemson leads 22-14 with 12:17 to play in the third quarter.
9:08 p.m.
Here is TCI’s first-half photo gallery. Link
8:53 p.m.
Clemson leads 22-7 at halftime thanks to 192 yards passing from Deshaun Watson and a defense that held North Carolina to 136 total yards.
The Tigers had 218 total yards.
After the defense forced a three-and-out on UNC’s opening possession, Watson hit Germone Hopper in stride on the second offensive play of the game for the Tigers’ and the sophomore took it 74 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 12:34 to play in the first quarter.
Ammon Lakip made his first of two field goals, a 27-yard field goal, with 0:42 to play in the quarter for a 10-0 advantage.
Watson made it 17-0 in the second quarter when he delivered a perfect pass to Hopper, while taking a smack from a blitzing safety. The pass fell perfectly in the arms of Hopper for a 50-yard score. Hopper ended the first half with two catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns.
Lakip made a 45-yard field on Clemson’s next possession to give the Tigers a 20-0 lead with 9:47 to play in the opening half.
The Tar Heels finally got on the board with 6:45 to go in the half when Mack Hollins caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Marquise Williams. That touchdown covered 75 yards, UNC had 61 yards on the rest of its possessions.
The Clemson defense scored for the second time at Death Valley in two games when Shaq Lawson pressured Williams in the end zone forcing him to initially ground the ball. The safety made the score 22-7 at the time.
The Clemson defense held UNC to 49 yards rushing and sacked Williams twice.
8:40 p.m.
Clemson takes a 22-7 lead into the break.
8:35 p.m.
Josh Watson is down. But he seems to be okay.
8:30 p.m.
Clemson gets a safety from Shaq Lawson to make the score 22-7. It was initial grounding from Williams in the end zone, which gave Clemson the two points with 3:08 to play.
8:28 p.m.
Pinion is now 30 for 30 on punts inside the 10 yard line his career. That means no touchdown backs.
8:20 p.m.
North Carolina gets a 17-yd TD pass from Williams to cut the Clemson lead to 20-7 with 6:45 to play in the second quarter. The drive covered 10 plays and went 75 yards in 3:02.
8:09 p.m.
Lakip hits a 45-yard field goal, but it was not pretty. He is now 5-5 for field goals at home. Clemson leads 20-0.
8:05 p.m.
Watson has six TD passes already this year which set a new true freshman record, breaking Willie Jordan’s five from 1975.
8:03 p.m.
Cole Stoudt is coming into the game. Clemson starts at the 43. Clemson’s defense now has 3 three-and-outs.
8:02 p.m.
That is career sack No. 26 for Beasley. He is two away from tying the school record for sacks in a career.
8:00 p.m.
Clemson’s scoring drive was 6 plays for 62 yards. Hopper now has 124 receiving yards and 2 TDs which are career highs.
7:59 p.m.
Cole Stoudt is warming up and we saw Carlos Watkins has gone back to the locker room.
7:57 p.m.
I hope the guy at Channel 10 in Columbia sees why Watson is the quarterback now. WOW! He out that touchdown pass right in Hopper’s bread basket. Tigers lead 17-0 with 12:53 to play in the second quarter.
7:46 p.m.
Carlos Watkins is coming off the field a little gimpy. We will give updates soon. He is at the trainers table. It is the left lg. Tigers lead 10-0 at the end of the first quarter.
7:44 p.m.
Lakip adds a 27-yard field goal. The Tigers take a 10-0 lead with 0:42 seconds in the first quarter. Lakip is 4-4 at home this year. The drive was 8 plays, 34 yards and took 3:06.
7:37 p.m.
Take a look at Watson’s 74-yard TD pass to Hopper. link
7:27 p.m.
Norton and Webster were both split on that play.
7:25 p.m.
Williams did a great job getting his foot down there.
7:19 p.m.
Clemson defense looks good again. Beasley made a very good run stop there.
7:16 p.m.
Daniel Rodriguez made his first career start tonight for Charone Peake, who will sit out because of his knee injury. We are told he is available but he is unlikely to play.
7:13 p.m.
That was way to easy as Watson hits Hopper for a 74-yard TD. 2 plays, 74 yards and took 35 seconds. Hopper had 66 receiving yards this year before that catch. Clemson leads 7-0. That was its longest offensive play of the year.
7:10 p.m.
That was a statement made by Clemson on that opening drive. The defense has set the tone.
7:06 p.m.
Clemson won the toss and deferred to the second half. That’s the first time in a long time.
7:05 p.m.
Captains for Clemson are Anthony, Howard, Crawford and Webster.
7:03 p.m.
The Tigers are running down the Hill
7:01 p.m.
Clemson commitment Ray Ray McCloud is at the top of the Hill with the Tigers right now.
6:45 p.m.
Here are a few things I saw down on the field. Tight end Jordan Leggett is wearing a brace on his left knee that is taped. He will play though.
Bradley Pinion looked better than all the kickers as made all his field goals and his kicks were higher and he made longer kicks.
Ammon Lakip made all his kicks, but a couple of them were low.
Ryan Norton will start at center.
Kalon Davis will start at right tackle
Reid Webster will start at right guard.
5:18 p.m.
North Carolina injury report
Offensive tackle John Heck is listed as out for the game, along with defensive tackle Devonte Brown and defensive back Andrew Moore. Listed as doubtful is offensive guard Landon Turner. Bandit Shakeel Rashad and safety Dominique Green are both listed as probable.
5:16 p.m.
Clemson injury report
Out
Oliver Jones, OT, torn ACL
Zac Brooks, RB, foot
Tyshon Dye, RB, Achilles
Travis Blanks, SAF, Knee
Sam Cooper, TE, broken leg
Martin Jenkins, CB, Foot
Probable
Jay Guillermo, hamstring
5:06 p.m.
Here we go guys and gals. We are back in Death Valley as Clemson gets set to play North Carolina tonight. Stay tuned here for Game Day Blog updates. Of course we all know Deshaun Watson will make his first start as a Clemson Tiger tonight and we will bring you all the coverage from pregame, to opening kick to post game. We will have you covered.