CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Let the pizza party begin, Clemson is the 2015 ACC Champions and will play in the College Football Playoff on New Year’s Eve.

The Tigers will find out their destination during a scheduled pizza party on Sunday at Death Valley. The stadium gates are expected to open at 11 a.m. and the College Football Playoff Show will begin at Noon.

“All you daggone media people who wanted to get me fired up about a poll six weeks ago, now is the time to get fired up about a poll,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “I can’t wait to be there (on Sunday) and be apart of it. I probably will not sleep between now and then.”

Clemson (13-0) won its first ACC Championship in four years, and it record tying 15th overall, thanks to some big plays from quarterback Deshaun Watson and running back Wayne Gallman, and its defense. During Friday’s ACC Championship Game Press Conference, Swinney said someone on his team always makes a play when the team needs one the most.

Defensive end Shaq Lawson was the guy on Saturday in the ACC Championship Game. With North Carolina trailing by 12 points and driving with the ball at the Clemson 36, Lawson ran through left tackle Bentley Spain, stripping North Carolina quarterback Marquise Williams of the ball, while Austin Bryant swooped in and recovered it at the 46-yard line.

“There were a lot of big plays,” Swinney said.

Seven plays later, Greg Huegel banged home a 27-yard field goal to seal the 45-37 victory at Bank of America Stadium.

“We preach (stripping) the ball every day,” Lawson said. “It’s always about the ball. “We’ve got balls in our meeting. It’s about getting the ball back…

“We knew we had to get the ball back so I felt like I had to make a play.”

Clemson made a lot of plays on offense, too. The Tigers set ACC Championship records for total yards (608), total plays (98) and first downs (33).

Watson finished the game with an ACC Championship record 420 yards and five total touchdowns. The sophomore was unstoppable all night as he rushed for a career-high 131 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns. He also threw three touchdowns and completed 26 of 42 passes for 289 yards, on his way to being named the game’s Most Valuable Player.

Watson’s performance was one that will make the Heisman Trophy voters think hard about who truly is the best player in the country when they cast their votes on Sunday.

“Deshaun Watson was amazing,” Swinney said.

Running back Wayne Gallman was too. The redshirt sophomore rushed for 187 yards on 28 carries, 170 of those coming in the second half.

“I’m really proud of Wayne. I want him to be the best in the country and I always challenge him,” Swinney said. “I always tell him he has to get better in the passing game and tonight he had 68 receiving yards and a touchdown. I’m really proud of him.”

Clemson’s defense held UNC to 382 total yards, and forced two turnovers. Cornerback Cordrea Tankersley had an interception on the Tar Heels’ first possession of the second half thanks to linebacker B.J. Goodson tipping Marquise Williams’ pass near the line of scrimmage.

Following Tankersley’s interception on his own three-yard line, Watson engineered a 97-yard scoring drive which Gallman capped with a three-yard score with 7:55 to play in the third quarter. That gave Clemson a 28-16 lead at the time.

Watson later threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Scott, who hauled in seven passes for 96 yards. He also had a 42-yard reception in the first quarter to set up Watson’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Gallman on the Tigers’ second possession of the game.

Watson threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Leggett with two seconds left in the first half to give Clemson a 21-16 halftime lead. He led the Tigers on a 10-play, 58-yard drive just before halftime that took 1:54 off the clock.

Watson finished the first half with 290 total yards, the most in one half by any player in ACC Championship Game history. The sophomore threw for 191 yards on 19 of 32 passing, while he ran for 99 yards on 13 carries.

Trailing, 16-14, with 1:56 to play in the half, Watson guided the Tigers down the field in the two-minute offense. After hitting Gallman for a seven-yard gain, he ran off the right side for six yards. He then found Leggett for 13 yards two plays later and then on the next play he connected with Ray Ray McCloud for a 16-yard gain.

On second-and-four from the UNC 17, Watson hit Gallman on a swing pass and the running back ran the ball to the Tar Heels one. Two plays later following a Clemson timeout, Watson found Leggett wide open in the end zone for the touchdown.

Watson completed 7 of 8 passes on that drive for 67 yards on the drive.

Lawson and the Clemson defense harassed Williams a North Carolina offense that was averaging nearly 500 yards a game coming in. The Tigers limited them to 382 total yards — 114 yards below the Tar Heels’ season average.

Williams finished 11 of 33 for 224 yards. Clemson also sacked Williams twice and intercepted him once.