By Will Vandervort.
ATLANTA — With a little less than three minutes to go in the first quarter on Saturday, No. 17 Clemson lost the game.
That’s when Deshaun Watson, who was returning for the first time since breaking his finger against Louisville on Oct. 11, went down with what appeared to be a left knee injury. Three plays later Georgia Tech free safety Jamal Golden stayed home on a Cole Stoudt screen pass attended for tight end Jordan Leggett and returned it 85 yards down the near sideline for a touchdown.
Sources tell The Clemson Insider that Watson tore his ACL and is done of the year.
After that, there was little the Tigers did right on either side of the football. Stunned by the sudden change of events, Clemson never fully recovered as the 22nd-ranked Yellow Jackets rolled to a 28-6 victory at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta.
It was Georgia Tech’s first win against a ranked opponent since beating Clemson in 2011.
Tech (9-2, 6-2 ACC) used a 46-yard run by Broderick Snoddy to set up a Harrison Butker field goal in the second quarter and then a 65-yard run by quarterback Justin Thomas on the first play of the third quarter set up his own five-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Smelter with 12:45 left.
Stoudt then threw is his second interception of the game on Clemson’s ensuing possession that set up a 32-yard field goal by Butker.
Trailing 19-6, the Tigers finally got a little something going when Wayne Gallman broke off a 34-yard run, setting up Ammon Lakip’s second field goal of the day – a 32 yarder.
Clemson (7-3, 6-2 ACC) then recovered a Zach Laskey fumble at its own 39, but that momentum did not last long. Stoudt made his third and final mistake of the game.
This time on third down-and-nine from the Tech 49, he threw a pass into double coverage in the middle of the field and cornerback Chris Milton intercepted it and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. That gave Tech a 25-6 lead with 1:23 to play in the third quarter.
Stoudt was pulled after his third interception for third-string quarterback Nick Schuessler, who was unable to provide any kind of spark as well.
Losing the game was not the only thing Clemson lost on Saturday. The Tigers lost Watson for the rest of the year with a torn ACL, plus the loss also knocked the Tigers out of possible Orange Bowl consideration.
Things looked promising for Clemson early in the game. After recovering a Thomas fumbled pitch, Watson guided the Tigers 41 yards down the field which resulted in a 27-yard Lakip field goal.
Clemson’s defense then got a three-and-out and Watson had the offense on the move again. But when the freshman carried the ball down to the Tech 14, he tore his ACL in left knee and his first season at Clemson was done, and so were the Tigers on this day.