It might have been one of the strangest performances by a quarterback in Clemson history. Deshaun Watson threw for 420 yards on 27 of 41 passing and three touchdown passes in leading No. 5 Clemson to a 34-17 victory over Boston College on Saturday.

Those are pretty decent numbers, right? But what the stat sheet doesn’t show are all the overthrown passes and a third interception that was overturned by replay officials. Regardless, Clemson became the first team to go gain more than 500 yards on a Boston College defense since 2013.

“I just can’t say enough about the perseverance of our guys,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “That was kind of a tale of two halves, offensively. We really did not do anything different in the second half. We just made plays.”

The Eagles (3-4, 0-4 ACC) came into the game leading the nation in total yards, rushing defense, passing defense and pass efficiency defense, but it had no answer for Watson or wide receiver Artavis Scott. The two hooked up 10 times for 162 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown in the third quarter that broke BC’s spirits.

“We knew they were not going to just give it to us,” Watson said. “We knew they were going to come out here and play. They started off strong, and we started off a little slow, but we picked it up and we put the game away.”

Watson was named the MVP of the game and was awarded with the leather helmet award. He finished the game with 452 total yards and four touchdowns.

The game started rough for Watson. He was intercepted twice in the first half and overthrew several of his wide receivers who were open on deep passes, which led to 10 Boston College points.

“In the first half, I was a little to amped up. I was overthrowing the guys and was not putting the ball where it needed to be, but in the second half I came in relaxed and started playing my game.”

But then he hit Scott on a 10-yard slant, which the wide receiver turned into a 50-yard gain.

“We missed a few plays in the first half, but we just kind of hung in there,” Swinney said.

From there Watson was Deshaun Watson again.

The sophomore first ran for a 4-yard score and then threw to running back Zac Brooks for a 21-yard touchdown for a 17-10 lead at halftime.

Watson started the second half by leading the Tigers first to a field goal, and then he found Scott down the side line for the 51-yard touchdown later on.

Watson also threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass of six yards to tight end Jordan Leggett. It was the fourth consecutive game Leggett scored a touchdown, tying a school-record with K.D. Dunn, who set the mark in 1983.

Clemson finished the night with 532 total yards. Boston College had allowed just 523 combined yards the last three games. The Tigers held BC to 246 total yards, the fifth time this season an opponent failed to reach 350 yards against Clemson’s defense.

“When you are playing with as many young players that we are playing with on offense, against the level of the defenses that we are playing right now, we took a step forward today, and that’s a fact. I think you saw a window into the future today, with some talented guys who are going to play a lot of football.

“We felt great at halftime, I felt like we could move the ball against a great defense.”

Clemson also set a record for consecutive wins at home with 14 straight wins in Death Valley.

The Tigers will travel to Miami next Saturday for a noon kickoff on ABC, which will be nationally televised game.