FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Oklahoma’s scheme to stop Deshaun Watson in the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday is to keep the Clemson quarterback in the pocket. Watson says that’s okay, he understands they have to scheme and try to contain him, but he still has a job to do.

“I didn’t throw for 3,500 yards for no reason, and they weren’t always outside the pocket,” Watson said.

No Watson has been equally as impressive in the pocket as he has been outside the pocket. But teams have to pick their poison and when No. 4 Oklahoma plays the top-ranked Tigers at 4 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, it sounds as if the Sooners like their chances better when Watson stays in the pocket.

The Sooners seem to feel Watson is more a running back who just happens to play quarterback.

“I would definitely say that he’s in his own man. He’s really shown that he’s in his own man. He’s great at what he does, especially at the sophomore level,” Oklahoma defensive end Charles Tapper said. “The closest guy to him is Baker (Mayfield). I feel like Baker is a little different, but this guy, Deshaun Watson, he’s like a running back at the quarterback position.”

That might be a mistake to think like that. The last team that thought Watson was a running back playing quarterback was Boston College. The nation’s No. 1-ranked defense forced Watson to stay in the pocket and brought all kinds of blitzes while trying to confuse him with many different looks.

The end result, Watson threw for a season-high 420 yards, while completing 24-of-41 passes. Granted he did throw a couple of interceptions early on, but he bounced back to throw three touchdowns, including a 51-yard scoring pass to Artavis Scott to put the game away.

“Either way I feel like I’m pretty dangerous, and that’s just the confidence I have in myself and my teammates,” Watson said.

After the Tigers 34-17 victory, Boston College defenders felt as if Watson knew where they were coming from the entire game and nothing rattled him. Clemson co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott says it’s because Watson has “a sixth sense.”

He says Watson’s ability to make quick decisions, and the right ones, is uncanny. He said typically when coaches review film they see 65 to 70 percent decisions that are correct from a good quarterback. He said Watson, however, usually grades around 98 percent.

“I think we knew really early on that not only does he have great physical talents, but his mental strength and decision making is going to be a huge advantage,” Scott said. “But Deshaun will tell you, as every competitor, he hasn’t reached his ceiling. I mean, I think he’s obviously an elite talent, one of these guys that as coaches you may not coach another guy like that, but I think he still has things that he wants to work on and improve on. But we’re obviously very pleased with where he is.”

And it doesn’t matter if he is running around and creating plays with his feet or just sitting in the pocket and throwing bombs downfield. Deshaun Watson is comfortable either way.

“You know, it’s on them. They’re going to have a scheme and try to contain me, but I’ve still got a job to do,” Watson said. “Either way, if I’m outside the pocket or in the pocket, I’ve got to do my job. We just have to see what happens. They have their strategy and we have ours.”