COLUMBIA — South Carolina had just cut Clemson’s 18-point lead to three points. The 81,409 fans in attendance were on their feet. “Sandstorm” was blaring on the loud speakers. Deshaun Watson was smiling.

“It is fun,” the Heisman Trophy candidate said afterwards.

With the pressure of an undefeated season in the balance and a possible spot in the College Football Playoffs on the line, Watson was sitting on the sideline and taking it all in. This was the moment Deshaun Watson came to Clemson for.

With the game on the line, Watson engineered a 10-play, 60-yard drive, which included three third-down conversions. He capped the drive himself with a three-yard touchdown in which he dove for the end zone.

In the end it was Watson that kept the Tigers undefeated with a 37-32 victory over archrival South Carolina at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia.

“I’m always relaxed,” Watson said. “It’s a blessing to be out here. It is a blessing to have this opportunity. I love games like this. I was just capable of showing my skill set and what I can do.”

What Watson did was frustrate a South Carolina defense that simply could not stop him. The Gamecocks, who played as hard as they have all season, twice had the Tigers staring at third-and-long situations in the game’s key drive, and in both situations Watson made the play they needed.

With the score 28-25, and with a little more than 11 minutes left in the game, Clemson faced a third down-and-nine at its own 41.

“The place was going crazy. It was loud. It was a little bit intimidating, I will be honest,” Clemson tight end Jordan Leggett said. “I was nervous.”

Watson wasn’t. He roped a throw to the sideline where Leggett was, and his big tight end overcame the jitters to haul in the most important pass of the four he caught on Saturday. The play covered 12 yards and Clemson kept the drive going.

Four plays later, Watson and the Tigers found themselves in a third-and-long again. This time it was third-and-seven from the Carolina 33. But again, Watson wasn’t worried. Throwing into a small window between the corner and the safety, he threw a bullet to Trevion Thompson near the far sideline for a first down to the USC 9-yard line.

“We had this situation before earlier in the season, and Tre told me, ‘Come my way. I got you.’ That was a big credit to him,” Watson said. “He ran a good route, made the catch and then got some extra yards. It was all good. Everyone executed and everyone did their job and we came out with some points on that drive.”

The points came three plays later. On third-and-goal from the three, Watson called his own number as he raced off the left side and then dove into the end zone to extend the lead with 34-25 with 8:05 to play.

“We never give up. We know what we can do, and we know that we can score points,” Watson said. “The only thing that was stopping us was ourselves.”

Clemson, who improved to 12-0 for the first time since the 1981 national championship season, was shooting themselves in the foot all afternoon. The Tigers lost three fumbles overall, which South Carolina converted into eight points.

Following Artavis Scott’s fumble, South Carolina running back Shon Caron went in from a yard out and Lorenzo Nunez followed with a two-point conversion to make the score, 28-25, with 12:19 to play.

But there was nothing to worry about. Clemson has Deshaun Watson, and he finished the game off with his third rushing touchdown of the afternoon.

Watson totaled 393 yards overall, including a career-high 114 on the ground. He also completed 20 of 27 passes for 279 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown pass to Deon Cain in the second quarter that was perfectly thrown.

“No one throws a better deep ball,” Cain said.

And few know how to win like Watson, who is now 18-1 as a starter.

“This is what we work for. This is what we play the game for,” he said.