It was fourth-and-inches for Florida State on the Clemson 40-yard line, and every single one of the 83,099 people inside Memorial Stadium knew who was getting the ball.

The Seminoles had ridden the legs of Dalvin Cook all day, but on this play, the Tigers were not going to be embarrassed like they were when the sophomore sprinted 75 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the game. Linebacker Ben Boulware blew through the offensive line, while defensive Shaq Lawson cleaned up on the play, throwing Cook for no gain.

“I knew that play was coming,” Lawson said afterwards. “I knew from film study that when they hurry to the line of scrimmage they like to run that toss play. I played it well and made a tackle on Cook. It just comes down to film study and knowing what to do.”

A few plays later, Wayne Gallman busted up the middle and broke two tackles on his way to the end zone to clinch the Tigers’ 23-13 victory over No. 16 Florida State. With the win, the top-ranked Tigers clinched a share of the ACC Atlantic Division Title and also a berth in the ACC Championship Game next month.

Clemson also improved to 9-0 for the first time since it won the national championship in 1981.

“We accomplished one of our top five goals on the team,” Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson said. “The first goal was to win the opener and that is what we did and the next goal was to win the division, and we knew we would have to get past (Florida State) and that is what we did.”

Boulware forced a fumble on FSU’s ensuing possession and Watson and Gallman ran behind the offensive line to secure the victory. Watson rushed for a career-high 107 yards, while Gallman finished with 103 yards on 22 carries.

“It is always good to get a win. Florida State is a great team. They have been the ACC Champions for the last three years and they had the title,” Watson said. “We knew they were not going to come up here and give us the game. We knew we were going to have to work for it and that’s what we did.”

Watson also threw for 297 yards and a touchdown, while finishing the game with 404 total yards. He was 22 of 28, which included a 38-yard touchdown pass to Deon Cain in the third quarter.

“He made some huge plays for us. He was the difference down the stretch,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.

The Tigers (9-0, 6-0 ACC) finished the game with 512 yards of total offense.

“We had two 100-yard rushers and one 100-yard receiver, and our offensive line was great,” Swinney said. “We definitely got stronger as the game went on. Our guys had a will to win and showed a lot of fight in the fourth quarter.

“Our offense played hard, and that is what it is about.”

Cook rushed for 194 yards, but 111 of those yards came on his first two carries, including his 75-yard jaunt on the game’s second play. He had just 83 yards the rest of the game on 19 carries, and just 44 in the second half.

The Seminoles (7-2, 5-2 ACC) started Sean Maguire at quarterback, but he was ineffective for the most part against a Clemson defense that held them to 362 total yards, including just a 159 in the second half.

Clemson also got three field goals from Greg Huegel’s 31, 25 and 34 yards.

“We had help from all phases tonight,” Swinney said. “When we had mistakes, we picked each other up. There was no panic.”

Clemson seemed befuddled for much of the first half, especially Watson. Though he did complete 12 of 21 passes for 124 yards, he missed a wide open Charone Peake on the opening drive. He later over threw a wide open Gallman on a blitz pickup which would have easily gone for a touchdown.

With the Tigers driving late in the second quarter and the ball at the FSU seven-yard line, he clocked the ball on third-and-three following his own 4-yard run on the previous play.

“That was just missed communication on my part,” Watson said. “I missed a signal there. That was my fault.”

Huegel connected on a 23-yard field goal with 29 seconds left to cap the eight-play, 75-yard drive. Huegel also made a 31-yard field goal in the first quarter.

The Tigers will travel to Syracuse next Saturday. Clemson has now won 12 straight games, one shy of the all-time record of 13 straight set between 1980-’82.