SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Clemson made enough mistakes to lose on Saturday, but when Dabo Swinney’s team needed to the most they made the necessary plays to win.

No play was bigger than Deshaun Watson’s 39-yard run with 10:18 to play with top-ranked Clemson up just seven points and backed up to its 15-yard line. It wasn’t a pretty play, the sophomore broke it up the middle and seemed destined to score after breaking two tackles, but as he went to change the ball from his left hand to his right, his knee hit it, and he nearly fumbled it.

The bobble caused him to go down at the Syracuse 46, which eventually led to a 42-yard Greg Huegel field goal with 6:58 to play to secure the Tigers’ 37-27 victory in the Carrier Dome.

“I knew right when I got out that I had one man to beat. I stiff armed a guy. My knee hit the ball and it just kind of came out. I could have kept running, but I probably would have fumbled it so I kind of secured it and got down,” Watson said. “It was a great block by the offensive line and the running back. They created a hole. I found the hole and got a big gain.”

The 39-yard run keyed Clemson’s seven-play, 60-yard drive, which all but ended the Orange’s bid for an upset.

Syracuse (3-7, 1-5 ACC) had just cut the Tigers’ lead to seven points, 34-27, on a Cole Murphy 24-yard field goal. With its offense moving the ball it seemed like at will on Clemson’s fifth-ranked defense, the Tigers’ ensuing drive was perhaps the biggest in this undefeated season to this point.

“It is always big to get points and score,” said Watson, who totaled 461 yards and was responsible for three touchdowns. “It challenged the other team to have to score twice. That is our motto, go ahead and get points on every drive and try to make it hard on them and help our defense out.”

Clemson’s defense followed with just its fourth three-and-out of the game. The Tigers (10-0, 7-0 ACC) led the nation in forcing three-and-outs prior to Saturday.

“That was big. That was real big,” Swinney said. “The last couple of drives were big to answer (Syracuse scores).”

After the Orange’s final three-and-out, the Tigers closed out the game with a 13-play drive that covered 69 yards and ate up the final 5:57 off the game clock.

“I never doubt myself or my team,” Watson said. “We believed that we could win. I never had any doubt or anything like that.”

Watson finished the game with 101 rushing yards and one touchdown, while throwing for 360 more on 34 of 47 passing. He had two touchdown passes – five yards to Charone Peake and 40 yards to Deon Cain.

“He just showed who he is,” Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. “That was the message at halftime. Let’s just go be who we are. We are one of the best offenses and we take pride in executing well.

“When the game is on the line, we wanted the ball in No. 4’s hand. We knew he was going to have to run it a little bit. We knew he was going to have to throw it and get us in a good situation.”