CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Clemson became the 2015 ACC Championship team when the No. 1 Tigers took down No. 8 North Carolina, 45-37, in Bank of America Stadium.
Clemson (13-0) is now the only remaining team in the FBS to hold a perfect record. The Tigers also locked up a spot in the College Football Playoffs on New Year’s Eve.
Here is what we heard after Clemson clinched its 15th ACC Championship and won its record-setting 16th straight game.
There will be pizza in Death Valley at noon, and the players are excited about it.
“That’s going to be great. Just going to come out there and celebrate with all our fans, just figure out where we’re going to go from there,” wide receiver Artavis Scott said.
Clemson fans certainly showed up in Charlotte to support the Tigers, and the atmosphere was electric.
“It was great to see that atmosphere out there and just what they brought out there, it was great for us. We can feed off of that energy. It was just great to see all that orange out there,” Scott said.
North Carolina led Clemson 16-14 in the second quarter and left for halftime trailing Clemson by just 5 points. However, a 35-yard touchdown pass from Deshaun Watson to Scott helped to change the momentum in the game.
“It’s good to get back in the endzone and its good for me to just go out there and just have fun in this type of game and just be blessed to score,” Scott said. “We have a lot of doubters out there that say we shouldn’t be where we are, but we’re here for a reason, and we just showed that out there.”
Watson made a strong case in the Heisman race when he led Clemson to rack up over 600 yards of total offense.
“The guys, they just rally around him, and I think that is one reason anytime we have ever had a little bit of adversity, maybe not quite clicking like we wanted to early in the first half, Deshaun just gets those guys together to say, ‘hey let’s go do what we do, just execute,’ and the guys listen to him,” Scott said.
Watson completed 26 of 42 passes for 289 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 131 yards and two scores.
“It’s a blessing to actually be playing for a Heisman candidate quarterback. I wish the best of luck to him and he’s probably one of the best quarterbacks ever,” wide receiver Deon Cain said.
After playing 10 straight games, the Tigers are a little beaten up, especially linebacker Ben Boulware. However, Clemson now gets to enjoy a bit of a break before the college football playoff.
“Personally, my shoulder is killing me. I have been playing with one arm the past two games. Emotionally, I’m really happy. We’re ACC Champs, we’re 13-0, we’re the best team in the country, so I’m ecstatic right now,” Boulware said. “This month is going to be huge because I’ll get my shoulder completely back to where it was and I’ll get to play with two arms so that’s pretty awesome.”