Tigers hold off Hokies to clinch ACC title, playoff berth

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ORLANDO, FL (WIS) - Four goals down. One to go.

Behind three touchdown passes and two rushing touchdowns from MVP Deshaun Watson, the Tigers secured their second straight ACC title with a 42-35 win over Virginia Tech.

"I'm proud of our team," said Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney. "I'm happy for our seniors, happy for our fans. This is special. This is our fourth appearance and our third title and they're all special. Every one of them has kind of its own story and its own journey, but this one here -- back-to-back, 28 years -- there's a reason it's been that long it's hard to do."

Clemson wasted little time getting on the board. The Tigers used just over three minutes during their first drive to put the first points of the night on the board. Deshaun Watson's 3-yard touchdown run capped the 75-yard series pushing Clemson ahead 7-0.

The Tigers added to their lead midway through the first. This time, their 9-play possession ended with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Watson to tight end Jordan Leggett making it a 14-0 game with 5:57 left in the first quarter.

The Hokies responded in the final moments of the period. Virginia Tech put together an 11-play, 75-yard drive using over five minutes to get on the board with a 1-yard touchdown run from Travon McMillian. That cut the Clemson lead to 14-7.

Swinney's team again made it a two-possession game in the second quarter. Watson connected with Leggett for the second time in the half on a 10-yard pass extending the Tigers lead to 21-7.

Watson was 23-of-34 passing for 288 with three touchdowns. Leggett had four catches for 57 yards.

"He's been unbelievably consistent," said Swinney. "This is a guy that, since October, November, and now in December, ain't nobody been better than this guy right here. This is championship football time and we're here and we're able to finish the night and he's a big reason why."

Virginia Tech again keeps it close. After a 22-yard Clemson punt, quarterback Jerod Evans orchestrated a 5-play, 70-yard drive that was capped with his 11-yard touchdown run cutting the lead to 21-14.

Evans was 8-of-13 passing for 100 yards at the half.

"He did some good things,"said Hokies head coach Justin Fuente. "He kind of settled down a little bit. We hit on a couple runs, and we felt like if we could ever get a little drive going. It's just hard to walk out there when that defense is fresh and just march the ball down the field. It's not going to happen very often. And if we could ever sustain a few drives and get them moving around a little bit, we felt like we could do a little bit, and we did that at times, and Jerod got into a nice rhythm there at the end made some big plays."

The Tigers went up 14 again in the second half. Using their ground attack, Clemson marched 89 yards to paydirt as Wayne Gallman rushed in from eight yards out to give his team a 28-14 lead.

Clemson would take their largest lead of the night later in the quarter. A 2-yard run by Deshaun Watson helped the Tigers go up 35-21 with 4:45 to go in the third.

Still, Virginia Tech would not go away. McMillian added his second rushing touchdown of the night on a 27-yard run cutting the lead to 35-21.

The Hokies made their final charge in the fourth quarter. After the two teams exchanged touchdowns in the final quarter, Jerod Evans threw his only touchdown of the game to Cam Phillips. That 26-yard pass made it 42-35.

Virginia Tech needed one last play to keep themselves in contention for the ACC title, but Cordrea Tankersley would have none of it. The senior defensive back came up with his second interception of the night.

"On fourth down, we just talked about 'Hey, it's the last play, man. We need one play,'" said Swinney. "'One play. Rise up.' Really, I thought it was the play by Clelin (Ferrell) early that kind of set the tempo. That quarterback is a load, man. He's a hard guy to tackle. But we were at our best when we needed to be."

The interception also makes Tankersley just the second player in ACC Championship Game history to record two interceptions.

The Tigers move to 12-1 on the year. The win clinches back-to-back ACC titles for the first time in 28 years. Clemson awaits the final College Football Playoff rankings, which will be announced Sunday at noon.