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Clemson 42, Virginia Tech 35—Final

The third-ranked Clemson Tigers survived a late charge from the No. 23 Virginia Tech Hokies to secure a 42-35 win and the 2016 ACC championship.

Deshaun Watson threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns, adding 85 yards and two scores on the ground to help Clemson win its second straight conference title and effectively lock up a place in the College Football Playoff.

Virginia Tech battled back a 21-point deficit and had a potential game-tying drive, but Cordrea Tankersley's second interception of the night and a Watson run ended the Hokies' upset bid.

Bleacher Report provided scoring updates and highlights throughout the championship tilt. </s> ORLANDO, Fla. – Deshaun Watson bolstered his Heisman Trophy candidacy by passing for three touchdowns and running for two more to lead third-ranked Clemson to a 42-35 victory over No. 19 Virginia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game Saturday night.

Winning consecutive league titles for the first time in 28 years likely will send the Tigers (12-1, No. 3 CFP) back to the four-team College Football Playoff for the second straight year, providing Watson with an opportunity to resolve unfinished business from last January, when his team lost to Alabama in the national championship game.

The Clemson star completed 23 of 34 passes for 288 yards, including TDs of 21 and 10 yards to Jordan Leggett and 15 yards to Hunter Renfrow for a 42-28 lead midway through the fourth quarter. He also rushed for 85 yards on 17 attempts for the Tigers. They've won back-to-back ACC titles for the first time since winning three straight from 1986-88.

Watson's Virginia Tech counterpart, Jerod Evans, was just as impressive. The 6-foot-3, 238-pound ran for two touchdowns and rallied the Hokies from a 21-point deficit to make it close at the end.

The Hokies (9-4, No. 23 CFP) scored on three straight possessions, trimming what was once a 35-14 deficit to seven points on Evans' 5-yard run early in the fourth quarter and Cam Phillips' 26-yard TD reception with just under 6 minutes remaining.

Virginia Tech got the ball back with a chance to force overtime. Evans drove his team to the Clemson 23, where the drive stalled when Tigers cornerback Cordrea Tankersley intercepted a pass on fourth-and-6.

Clemson: It's been a year-long quest to get back to the CFP, and the Tigers survived every test with the exception of a 43-42 loss to Pittsburgh in early November – a game in which the Tigers turned the ball over three times but still came within a fourth-and-1 conversion of winning. Watson was overshadowed early in the season, when ACC player of the year Lamar Jackson was posting gaudy statistics for Louisville, however the Clemson quarterback's performance Saturday night added to the sterling resume he's put together for Heisman Trophy consideration .

Virginia Tech: The Coastal Division winners weren't just happy to be in the title game. Coach Justin Fuente and his players were determined to make the most of the Hokies' first appearance in the title game in five years. And for a half, they kept it close, weathering Clemson scoring on its first three possessions to build a 21-7 lead. Even after being outgained 148 yards to minus-14 while falling behind by three TDs in the first 10 minutes of the third quarter, Evans rallied his team to make a game of it in the fourth quarter.

Clemson LB Dorian O'Daniel was ejected in the opening quarter after being penalized for targeting on a high hit on Virginia Tech RB Sam Rogers, who was dropped for no gain on a pass reception. The call, along with Terrell Edmunds' 20-yard reception on a fake punt play and a 15-yard pass interference penalty against Tankersley, fueled the Hokies' first scoring drive, a 12-play, 77-yard march that McMillian finished his TD run.

Clemson: Awaits official word on a berth and seeding in the CFP, which begins with the national semifinals on Dec. 31.

Virginia Tech: Will travel to a bowl game hoping to finish its season under Fuente with 10 wins for the first time since 2011. Fuente also would become the first coach in school history to win 10 games in his first season leading the Hokies. </s> Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson added another team record to his résumé on Saturday in the ACC Championship game.

The Heisman Trophy candidate completed his first 10 passes against Virginia Tech after completing his final nine against South Carolina. The 19 consecutive completions is a Clemson record, breaking Nealon Greene’s record of 17 from 1997. Green completed his last 13 passes against Virginia and first four against Maryland.

Watson entered the game as the hottest quarterback in the country.

In the month of November, he passed for 1,298 yards and 12 touchdowns while completing 75.5 percent of his passes.

Tigers starting linebacker Dorian O’Daniel was ejected from the game in the first quarter for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Virginia Tech fullback Sam Rogers.

The ejection was the first of the year for Clemson. Fellow linebacker Ben Boulware was called for targeting against Boston College, but after replay the call was overturned.

O’Daniel was replaced in the lineup by Jalen Williams. Williams made four tackles in the first half with a tackle for loss and pass breakup.

No one was sure what the crowd for the ACC title game would be like after the game was moved from Charlotte to Orlando, but Clemson fans provided a home-field advantage for the Tigers, despite having to travel to the Sunshine State.

A report from USA Today on Friday afternoon stated that “tens of thousands of free ticket vouchers went out to Disney employees” as the ACC tried to fill up the stadium. But the bottom two levels of the Clemson side of Camping World Stadium were packed, and several thousand Tigers fans were in the upper deck. Clemson had an obvious advantage in terms of the crowd.

Virginia Tech’s first touchdown drive was aided by coach Justin Fuente digging deep into his playbook.

With the Hokies facing a fourth-and-10 late in the first quarter, punter Mitchell Ludwig found Terrell Edmunds for a 20-yard gain on a flip pass that was caught behind the line of scrimmage.

Virginia Tech was flagged for having ineligible receivers down field, but after review it was determined the pass was caught behind the line of scrimmage, so the offensive linemen were allowed to be downfield.

On the next play, Rogers attempted a pass to Isaiah Ford and the Hokies got 15 more yards on a pass interference call.

Clemson tight end Jordan Leggett had three catches for 44 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. In the process, the senior passed Dwayne Allen for the single-season receiving yardage record by a Clemson tight end. As of halftime, Leggett had 632 receiving yards on the year. He is the first Clemson tight end to top 600 receiving yards in a season.

Tigers running back C.J. Fuller had a career-long 27-yard run in the first quarter. </s> The Clemson Tigers have avenged last year’s loss, defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide 35-31 to win the College Football Playoff National Championship. </s> TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — In a sequel as thrilling as the original, Clemson defeated ‘Bama 35-31 to win its 1st college football title since 1981.

Deshaun Watson’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow with 1 second remaining gave Clemson a wild 35-31 win over Alabama in the College Football Playoff national championship game.

Watson completed 36 of 56 passes for 420 yards and three scores in his last college game, as the Tigers (14-1) got their first national title since 1981.

Renfrow caught two scoring passes for Clemson, which rallied from a 14-0 deficit and snapped Alabama’s 26-game winning streak.

Bo Scarbrough ran for two touchdowns for Alabama (14-1), which failed in its quest to be the first 15-win major college team since Penn in 1897. Scarbrough left the game with a leg injury in the second half.

Alabama beat Clemson 45-40 last season in the title game. This sequel was as thrilling as the original.

Clemson put up 511 yards on Alabama’s defense, held the ball for nearly 35 minutes and scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Clemson then recovered an onside kick, and fittingly that gave Watson a chance to kneel down for the game’s final play — then streamed onto the field in celebration. </s> Alabama-Clemson: Part IV. Once again, two powers meet in the National Championship game. Find a prediction and preview below.

The College Football Playoff is in is fifth year. This is the fourth time coach Nick Saban and the Tide and coach Dabo Swinney and the Tigers have played in the CFP. This will be the third time it's for the title, this time dueling at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

Through all the twists and turns during the months-long college football regular season, this matchup always seemed like a potential option.

The two 14-0 teams have barely been tested this season. Those close games (Clemson vs. Syracuse, 'Bama vs. Georgia) stand out because they were so shocking.

With QB Tua Tagovailoa and his 3,671 yards and 41 touchdowns, Alabama has the best offense its had during this incredible run of five national titles going back to the 2009 season. Since 2015, Alabama is 55-3 with loses to Ole Miss, Auburn and Clemson. That's it.

Not that Clemson is that far behind. The Tigers are 54-4 since 2015, losing to Alabama twice, Pitt and Syracuse.

The Tigers have a dynamic quarterback of their own with Trevor Lawrence. The freshman took over the starting job from Kelly Bryant and has passed for almost 3,000 yards with 27 touchdowns.

Despite all the deserved attention Lawrence has received, running back Travis Etienne has been a huge star. Clemson averages more than 250 rush yards per game, with Etienne rushing for 1,572 yards this season. Of Clemson's 537 carries this season, Etienne has accounted for 190 (35 percent). That's a huge change from last season, as Bryant led the Tigers with 173 attempts in 2017.

MORE: These stats tell us who will win the CFP title

When the Tide roughed up Bryant and the Tigers in a 24-6 Sugar Bowl win last season, it was clear Clemson didn't have the firepower to compete. It does now.

At the same time, Alabama is even better offensively — and it has Hurts waiting if needed.

The last two title game showdowns between these two have been decided by 5 and 4 points. It wouldn't be surprising if this year's game was even closer.

MORE: How Alabama and Clemson match up statistically

The two biggest names in college football are battling again. Alabama is No. 1, the favorite, the defending national champion and has the (arguably) best quarterback in the country.

But something seems off.

After looking unbeatable for much of the season, Alabama barely beat Georgia thanks to Jalen Hurst heroics. The Tide raced out to a 28-0 lead against Oklahoma, only for the Sooners to get to within 11 points three times in the second half. Sure, Alabama always found an answer against OU. But Clemson isn't Oklahoma.

Huge, undefeated favorites have gone down before. Underdog Ohio State shocked Miami to win the 2002 national title. Texas beat Southern California in a classic Rose Bowl in the 2005 season. Both times, the winners were undefeated but still strong underdogs. Clemson fits that mold. </s> Clemson (11-1) takes on Virginia Tech (9-3) at 8 p.m. Saturday in the ACC Championship Game at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. The game is on ABC. </s> Clemson players and coaches have said throughout the 2016 season that this year feels completely different from 2015, but with 13 games complete the Tigers are back in a familiar place.

No. 3 Clemson (12-1, 7-1) topped Virginia Tech (9-4, 6-2) 42-35 Saturday night in the ACC Championship game to clinch its second consecutive ACC title and second consecutive College Football Playoff berth.

The Tigers held off a furious Virginia Tech rally from down 21 points late in the third quarter to win back-to-back ACC titles for the first time in 28 years.

“I’m so proud of our guys. We certainly made some mistakes and things like that, but we had some huge drives,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said. “It’s been 28 years since we’ve been back-to-back champions and we wanted to change that tonight and we got that done.”

Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson was named the game’s MVP for the second straight year after accounting for 373 total yards and five touchdowns. He likely locked up another invitation to New York for the Heisman ceremony in the process.

Watson passed for 288 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 85 yards and two scores. His only turnover came on an interception on a tipped pass.

Watson and the Tigers appeared to have the game in hand leading 35-14 late in the third quarter before the Hokies stormed back.

Virginia Tech cut the lead to 42-35 with 5:43 remaining and got the ball back with four minutes left down a score but drove to the Clemson 25 before Cordrea Tankersley’s second interception of the game wrapped up the win.

The Hokies had three straight touchdown drives with minimal resistance before Clemson’s defense got a stop when it needed it the most.

Clemson tight end Jordan Leggett caught a pair of first-half touchdowns and finished with four catches for 49 yards. He has 637 yards on the year, which is a Clemson record for a tight end.

Tigers receiver Hunter Renfrow caught only two passes but they were big ones.

With Clemson leading 35-28 midway through the fourth quarter, the Tigers were facing a second-and-19 when Watson found Renfrow over the middle for a diving grab.

Later in the drive, Watson found Renfrow for a 15-yard touchdown catch on a run-pass option where Renfrow did most of his damage after the catch.

Virginia Tech quarterback Jerod Evans kept the Hokies in the game with 264 passing yards and a touchdown and two rushing touchdowns.

His favorite target was Cam Phillips, who caught 12 passes for 92 yards and the score.

Kendall Joseph led Clemson in tackles with 11, while fellow linebacker Ben Boulware added 10. Clemson’s third starting linebacker, Dorian O’Daniel, was ejected from the game in the first quarter for targeting.

Clemson will find out its playoff destination and opponent during the College Football Playoff selection show Sunday afternoon.

“We’re proud that we’re 12-1. We’ve earned an opportunity to go play in the playoff,” Swinney said. “I think we’ve got a heck of a football team. We’re going to be a tough out for somebody.” </s> Trevor Lawrence passed for 347 yards and three touchdowns and No. 2 Clemson rolled No. 1 Alabama 44-16 on Monday night in the College Football Playoff national championship game.

In the fourth consecutive playoff meeting between the Tigers and Tide, Clemson evened the series and beat 'Bama for the national title for the second time in three seasons. Clemson is the first team in the AP poll era, dating back to 1936, to finish 15-0.

Coach Nick Saban and the Tide (14-1) were looking for a sixth national championship in 10 years, trying to add to an already unprecedented run in the sport. Instead, Clemson crushed Alabama, becoming the first opponent to beat the Tide by more than 14 points since Saban became coach in 2007.
Clemson defeats Virginia Tech, 42-35, to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title.