Game Day Blog: Clemson 34, Boston College 17 Final
By: rmacrae@bellsouth.net October 17, 2015

Clemson beats Boston College, 34-17.

 

Deshaun Watson throws a 6-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Leggett to cap a 9-play, 85-yard scoring drive. Clemson now leads 34-10 with 6:38.

Leggett became just the second tight end in Clemson history to record four consecutive games with at least one touchdown. The last was K.D. Dunn in 1983.

Watson has now thrown for 420 yards and three touchdowns. The second time he has gone over 400 yards passing in his career.

Clemson now has 522 total yards, the most the BC defense has given up since the 2013 season.

 

Clemson has 437 total yards, while Boston College has 153. Clemson leads 27-10 after three quarters. Watson has thrown for 329 yards and two touchdown through three quarters.

 

Watson finally found Artavis Scott with a 51-yard touchdown pass. Clemson takes a 27-10 lead with 4:20 to play in the third quarter.

It was the second long throw of the drive from Watson to Scott. The two connected for a 33-yard pass on first-and-15 from the Clemson 14 two plays earlier. After a Gallman 2-yard run, Watson found Scott down the far sideline for the 51-yard score.

The touchdown pass to Scott capped a 98-yard scoring drive that needed just seven plays to complete. Watson has thrown for 310 yards on 21 of 34 passes. Scott has nine receptions for 164 yards. The Tigers have 418 total yards overall.

 

Clemson gets a 39-yard Greg Huegel field goal following what looked like Watson’s third interception of the season. Renfrow tried to catch a low pass that he kicked into the air and was intercepted by a BC defender. But, replay overturned the interception, ruling the ball hit the ground first.

Huegel then kicked his 39-yard kick to give the Tigers a 20-10 lead with 8:47 to play in the third quarter. Clemson’s scoring drive was 9 plays, covering 69 yards and taking 3:07 off the clock.

 

Clemson racked up 261 yards of total offense against Boston College’s No. 1 ranked defense, yet the Tigers went into the break with just a seven-point lead, 17-10.

BC kicker Mike Knoll kicked a 21-yard field goal with three seconds left in the second quarter to pull the Eagles within seven points. It was the second time in the game a interception set up a BC score.

Linebacker Steven Daniels intercepted Deshaun Watson after the quarterback’s arm was hit on a third-and-10 play. Daniels returned the pass 18 yards to the Clemson 41. The Eagles drove to the three-yard line before Knoll kicked his 21-yard field goal.

Boston College scored the game’s first touchdown when quarterback Jeff Smith hit fullback Bobby Wilford on a third -and-goal with 8:13 to play in the first quarter. Like Knoll’s field goal, the touchdown followed a Watson thrown interception which the Eagles returned to the Clemson 20. It took them four plays to cash in on the turnover.

Despite totaling 228 yards, while running and throwing for a score, the Clemson quarterback continuously missed on deep throws the entire half. Two to Artvais Scott, one to Hunter Renfrow, one to Trevion Thompson and one to Charone Peake.

Watson finished the first half 16 of 27 for 191 yards. He did throw a 21-yard touchdown pass to running back Zac Brooks and ran four yards for another score.

Scott had a 50-yard reception to set up Clemson’s first touchdown, and then freshman Deon Cain made a spectacular 30-yard catch to set up Greg Huegel’s 42-yard field goal.

 

Clemson leads 17-10 at the break following a 21-yard field goal by BC’s Mike Knoll with three seconds left in the first half.

 

Tell me if this this ins’t cool. I don’t know why the fans are doing this, but it is cool.

 

Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott calls a screen pass to Zac Brooks on fourth-and-one from BC 21. Watson sells the fake then rolled right where he hit Brooks behind the linebacker who came up field rushing, and then the running back took it up the field 21 yards for a touchdown.

Clemson leads 17-7 with 7:11 to play in the opening half. Clemson has 219 total yards already against the nation’s top-ranked defense.

 

 

Another photo gallery from TheClemsonInsider. This one features the football and basketball prospects who made it to Clemson for Saturday night’s game against Boston College.

Gallery

 

Clemson had 139 yards in the first quarter. BC’s defense came into the game allowing 141 per game. In that first quarter, Watson was 6 of 12 for 101 yards. He ran for a touchdown pass as well as had an interception.

 

Clemson gets a 42-yard Greg Huegel field goal to take a 10-7 lead with 1:09 to play in the first quarter. His field goal was set up by a 30-yard pass to Deon Cain and a 22-yard Zac Brooks run.

 

Clemson uses a roughing the punter penalty and then a 50-yard pass to Artavis Scott, which set up Deshaun Watson’s 4-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7 with 5:25 to play in the first quarter.

On the 50-yard pass to Scott, the Clemson wide receiver took a slant pass, made one man miss and then sprinted 50 yards down the side line to the 10-yard line.

 

Death Valley is quiet as Boston College intercepts a Deshaun Watson pass and then uses four plays to get the ball in the end zone. The Eagles take a 7-0 lead on the Tigers with 8:13 to play in the first. Smith throws a five-yard touchdown pass to Wolford.

 

Death Valley is alive tonight. The fans have really brought it.

 

Clemson’s captains tonight are Tankersley, Watson, Guillermo and Goodson. Boston College has own the toss and has deferred to the second half.

 

We are back in Death Valley for the third straight week as No. 5 Clemson hosts Boston College on Homecoming Weekend in Tigertown. The game is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. It will be broadcasted on ESPNU for those of you watching at home.

Did you hear about D.J. Reader? The Tigers’ defensive tackle will be back at practice on Monday. The Clemson Athletic Communication staff slipped it onto the front page of today’s game notes.

Injuries: Clemson – Out: LB Korin Wiggins (torn ACL); WR Mike Williams (neck); C Ryan Norton (knee); DB Ryan Carter (hamstring); DE Austin Bryant (knee); C Zach Riggs (knee). Boston College – Out: RB Ben Glines (collarbone); WR Chris Garrison (head); QB Darius Wade (ankle); RB Jon Hilliman (foot); TE Michael Giacone. Questionable: K Alex Howell (leg); OL Frank Taylor (ankle); TE Louie Addazio (ankle), RB Myles Willis (shoulder).

Stat worth noting: Clemson has won 30 of its last 32 games in Death Valley, including 13 straight. A victory on Saturday will set a new record for consecutive wins at home.

Second stat worth noting: Clemson has won eight consecutive games dating to last year’s loss at Georgia Tech. The Tigers have won 14 of 15 over the last two years. If Clemson beats Boston College on Saturday it will be 15 of 16. The last time Clemson won 15 of 16 games was the 1947-49 era when Clemson won 15 in a row, still the school record for consecutive wins.

Third stat worth noting: With a win on Saturday, Deshaun Watson can become the first Clemson quarterback to open his career with 10 wins in his first 11 starts. Watson enters the BC game with a 9-1 record as a starter.

Records: Clemson (5-0, 2-0 ACC); Boston College (3-3, 0-3 ACC)

Series record: Clemson leads 13-9-2

Games in Clemson: Clemson leads 5-3-1

First meeting: Clemson won, 6-3, in the 1940 Cotton Bowl

Last Meeting: Clemson won 17-13 at BC

Streak: Clemson has won four in a row, and six of the last seven

Last BC win: 16-10 in 2010

Homecoming: Homecoming has historically been a celebration that has included a Clemson victory 76 percent of the time since its first celebration in 1922. Clemson has an overall record of 68-20-3 for its previous 91 Homecoming games, a .764 winning percentage. That includes a 38-4- 2 record (.886) on Homecoming games since the 1971 season.

The first homecoming game at Clemson was in 1922, a 21-0 loss to Centre. Clemson was actually 0-4-1 through its first five home­coming games, so it is surprising that the tradition continued. Clemson defeated Auburn in 1927 by a 3-0 score for its first homecoming victory.

There is no record of a homecoming game in 1930 or 1938, but the event has been held in conjunction with a football game every year since 1939, even through the war years.

Clemson has just four losses on Homecoming since 1971. Georgia Tech upset a 14th ranked Clemson team 30-14 in Danny Ford’s final year as Clemson head coach. That was the last loss for Ford as Clemson head coach and the only time he lost a homecoming game in 11 years as Tigers head coach. Georgia Tech went on to a fine 7-4 season in 1989, then won the national Championship the following year.

Clemson’s other three losses on homecoming since 1971 took place in 1997 to Virginia, in 2001 to North Carolina and 2010 to Miami. Clemson had won eight in a row on homecoming prior to that loss to Mi­ami. Clemson has now won four in a row entering Saturday’s game with Boston College.