By Will Vandervort.

North Carolina’s game plan Saturday night was stop Clemson’s running game and make Deshaun Watson beat them.

It was a successful game plan.

The Tar Heels held Clemson to 92 rushing yards on 44 carries. As for Mr. Watson—a true freshman making his first start in his college career—he definitely beat them.

Watson completed 27 of 36 passes for 435 yards, while setting a Clemson single-game record and tying an ACC record with six touchdown passes in the Tigers’ 50-35 victory at Death Valley.

“We tried to make Watson beat us with his arm and I did not foresee that he would just turn loose,” North Carolina head coach Larry Fedora said. “He did a nice job taking advantage of that. That kid is a good player. He is going to be really good.”

That kid was magnificent.

Watson’s 435 yards ranked second in Clemson history for a single-game to only Tajh Boyd’s 455 yards at Syracuse last year. Additionally, his production was the second best performance for a first-time starter in ACC history, only out done by Duke’s Dave Brown, who threw for 444 yards against Wake Forest in 1989.

“You have to tip your hat to that number four,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “Man, I have been doing this a long time—25 years for me in college football—he is special. He made a lot of mistakes tonight. He is going to get coached hard on Monday because he made some mistakes he has to correct, but are you kidding me – an all-time Clemson record with six touchdowns in your first ever career start.

“He tied the all-time ACC record and he added some rushing yards. He makes the game look easy. He makes it look slow. He just kind of floats around, creates and extends plays. He just has a poise about him that is unique, especially for a guy that is a freshman so I was really excited about what he was able to do tonight.”

The only people that kept Watson from doing more were Swinney and offensive coordinator Chad Morris. Both coaches decided it was best to pull the true freshman after he found tight end Jordan Leggett in the left corner of the end zone for his sixth touchdown pass with 5:56 to play.

That gave the Tigers (2-2, 1-1 ACC) a 50-28 lead at the time. But North Carolina scored 48 seconds later to make it a two-score game. But Swinney felt comfortable with the lead still and he stuck with his and Morris’ decision to take Watson out.

Ultimately, their decision turned out okay as Cole Stoudt ran the final two possessions for Clemson, which was aided by a Robert Smith interception in the end zone that preserved the lead.

“We felt pretty good about where we were and we felt good about Cole finishing the game,” Swinney said. “We just wanted to go ahead and get (Watson) off the field.”

That’s the only time Watson was really stopped all night. Granted he did throw a third quarter interception to UNC safety Sam Smiley, put it was hardly remembered because of the ease and beauty in which he threw the six touchdowns.

“As soon as I heard Coach (Swinney) say he set the record, I was like ‘Dang, how in the world did he do that as a young freshman?’ He just stays so calm in these situations and we’re happy for him,” wide receiver Artavis Scott said.

Scott caught Watson’s fifth touchdown of the night, a 33-yard catch in the middle of the field in which the freshman receiver bulled over a North Carolina defender to get in the end zone. That play was one of three Swinney singled out from Watson’s six scoring tosses.

The others were the 50-yarder he dropped right into Gerome Hopper’s arms in the second quarter and the record-setting sixth touchdown pass to Leggett.

But for Watson, it was simple – the first touchdown pass to Hopper on the Tigers’ second offensive play of the game set the tone and got him going as well. The play covered 74 yards as Hopper found himself wide open in the middle of the field as he outran everyone to the North Carolina end zone.

“We game planned against those guys and that’s what Coach Morris wanted to call and we kind of knew what they wanted to do and they did exactly what we wanted,” Watson said. “G-Hop was running down the middle of the field wide open so I had to easily get it to him and he ran the rest of the way.”

After throwing his first-career interception in the third quarter, Watson quickly bounced back as he hit Mike Williams on a 24-yard touchdown pass and then found Williams again with a 33-yard pass later in the quarter.

“I was not really expecting (the six touchdowns),” Watson said. “I was expecting to get out there and help get a ‘W’ and execute. That’s what we did. My O-line protected me and my receivers caught some big passes. I’m happy I broke the record.”

Which wasn’t exactly the plan Fedora and his Tar Heels had hoped for coming into the game.