It wasn’t his best performance as a quarterback, yet No. 1 Clemson still beat No. 4 Oklahoma by 20 points, 37-17, in the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday.

Though Watson finished the game with 332 total yards and was named the game’s Most Valuable Offensive Player, he wasn’t his normal efficient self. The sophomore, who is completing 68 percent of his passes this year, completed just two of his first eight passes.

He was off the mark. Rusty, if you will. Knowing his quarterback was struggling and the Sooners were intent on stopping running back Wayne Gallman, co-offensive coordinators Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott decided to unleash Watson as a runner to loosen things up as well as get their young quarterback into the flow of the game.

It worked.

Trailing 7-3 and backed up to their own 4-yard line, the Tigers called a read option and when Watson saw the defensive end crash down on Gallman, he pulled the ball out and ran 46 yards in the open space.

The run nearly matched what Clemson had the entire first quarter, and more importantly it got Watson going. Watson ran the ball nine times for 102 yards in the second quarter including a five-yard touchdown that gave the Tigers a 10-7 lead with 12:45 to play in the first half.

Though Clemson shot itself in the foot a few times and had to settle for field goals, plus Watson made a bad decision at the end the half that cost the Tigers a sure three points, the tone was set for what was going to take place in the second half.

On the first play of the second half, Gallman broke off an 11-yard run and Oklahoma could not slow them down the rest of the afternoon.

“We could tell at that moment that they were done, physically, maybe even a little bit mentally,” left guard Eric Mac Lain said. “We were just running all over them, and thankfully Wayne and Deshaun I think both were over 100 yards and just really dominated.”

Watson finished the day with 145 yards on 24 carries, while Gallman had 150—111 came in the second half—on 26 carries. Gallman scored from a yard out on the opening drive of the third quarter to give the Tigers a 23-17 lead with 10:51 to play in the quarter.

With the running game working Watson settled in as a passer. He completed 7 of 8 passes for 72 yards in the third quarter, including a 35-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow that extended the lead to 30-17 with 4:07 to play in the quarter.

Watson threw just one more pass after the touchdown to Renfrow and finished the day an average 16 of 31 for 187 yards. It wasn’t a great day, but the Tigers still found a way to win even though Watson was not at his best from a throwing standpoint.

With No. 2 Alabama up next in the National Championship Game, Clemson knows now it can win a big game even when the passing game isn’t at its best.

“We were pretty balanced. We have a great rushing game and a great passing game, so if you want to stop the running game, then we can pass the ball. You want to stop the pass, then we can rush the ball. It doesn’t really matter what the defense does,” Watson said. “We just focus on us and our job and just really just focus on that one play, and if it’s a run play, we dominate the line of scrimmage, and if it’s a pass play, the receivers get open and make competitive plays.”