this lead. >> chris: you pointed out, kirk, a defense that sometimes has been susceptible to body blows from opponents deep in games. they don't use a whole lot of secondary, and the linebacker, do they? >> kirk: shaq lawson out of the game. >> chris: williams. cuts it back. takes a shot, but moves the sticks to the tigers' 46. >> kirk: interesting, shaq lawson out on third down. he would be coming from right here, the blindside. they rush three, meaning eight defenders have eyes on it, but he still picks up the first down. >> chris: williams now looking down field and no chance for bug howard to make a play. tankersley was in coverage. tankersley, kirk, he's played 677 snaps coming in. kearse has played almost that many. look, this is the tenth dame in ten weeks. they are just hanging on at this point.

lot of different plays. not only that, chris, but i think the fact that it's been ten straight weeks, the wear and tear, physically and emotionally and everything that's at stake when you're number one, everybody wants to take down number one. >> chris: williams. a big cushion over there. that's an easy pitch and catch. and davis is going to get first down yardage. >> kirk: you just don't see that very often from the corners from clemson. from alexander or tankersley. it's tankersley into the boundary on the short side. he was bailing and backing off adams, and a very simple read and throw for a veteran like marquise williams and davis, both seniors. great chemistry. >> chris: williams pressured. ball's out. tigers have it! as ton bryant, the freshman you mentioned came in and recovered the fumble.

bid for clemson, perhaps. >> kirk: shaq lawson back in the lineup and he just has been doing this all year. this is spap, in, trying to slow him down, and there is that relentless effort. ben boulware blitzes. he gets in, as well. hood cannot slow boulware down. but the combination of two defenders, boulware and lawson. they've been doing it all year for the tigers. and they come up with maybe the play of the year. >> chris: when you're tired and just trying to hang on, go knock the ball out of the quarterback's hands. and now with 6:38 to play, figure to see a heavy dose of wayne gallman. as clemson just tries to get to the finish line here. head home for the pizza party tomorrow. and then the playoff. gallman cuts it back.

big gain down inside the 35. >> kirk: you're right about wayne gallman running the ball. you love to see -- when peake blocks, 19, it's -- watch to the left. watch charone peake block. talk about being unselfish. he's become better known for his blocking as he is as a receiver. the only guy that's been around and played in 2011 on that acc championship team came in with sammy watkins, has been through a lot with some injuries, really put it together this year and having an outstanding senior year. >> chris: i love it when you salute receivers that make blocks on the edge. right? >> kirk: exactly. >> chris: gallman again. just running downhill hard. nine more for the tigers. >> kirk: i don't know if i've seen him run with such this second half. i think he was frustrated with the way the first half went.

second half, the line doing a better job -- i'm telling you, he's just running through arm tackling s e tackles. >> chris: terry allen works with him, the former clemson great, nfl stud, had almost 9,000 rushing yards in his career. tony elliott was the co-offensive coordinator, the running backs coach, but he's calling the plays and really terry alp's played an ed ed an vumental role. he was drafted 241st out of college. willed himself to be a great player. >> kirk: does a lot of work on how to be a great running back, but the humility you carry yourself with, which is exactly how gallman plays the game. how about the speed option? you haveeshawn eshaun watson coming right at you.

gallman and he picks up another 15 yards. >> chris: gallman said, just feed me again. and they do. back to the boundary. earns about four yards. >> kirk: when you talk to the clemson coaches and you watch them, in the past, it's been aboutkins and c.j. spiller and tajh boyd. i think this year, you can really see the confidence that they have in the offensive line and the running game. perimeter. it's about the physicality and running the football with gallman and deshaun watson. what's ironic about that is the concern when this season started with the line. five new starters on this offensive line and they've become a real strength for this team. >> chris: gallman again. picks his way. this is a slow death for carolina, as he gets down near

it will be third and short. >> kirk: this offensive line and this system isn't asked to, you know, get down in a three-point stance and blow people five, seven yards off the ball. old school style of football like you might see with stanford or wisconsin. this is more of just kind of, get a hat on a hat, cover a guy up and let wayne gallman kind of find the hole and he has such great vision and quickness that you don't have to blow people off the ball. just, like i said, cover him up and let him do the right. >> chris: this time it's watson. rolling out, keeping it. he is dropped for a loss. collins, the linebacker was there, and it's fourth down. >> kirk: heck of a play there by collins. >> chris: tried to get watson, his third rushing touchdown. he's also rushed for over 100 yards. 1 22, to compliment gallman.

the offense on the field here. >> kirk: go up by 15 and get a touchdown and a two-point conversion. >> chris: swinney is going to let the play clock wind down and then see if he spends a time-out. looks like they'll take the delay. kick the field goal. opportunity has no slow season. no off-days, or downtime. opportunity is everything you make of it. this winter, take advantage of our season's best offers on the latest generation of cadillacs. the 2016 cadillac srx.

from around $339 per month, >> chris: so, they took a delay of game to move it back and now greg huegel, who missed earlier -- early from 47 with this 27-yarder and the reliable kicker knocks it right through. so, clemson, get ready, fire up the pizza ovens and get ready for the playoff, up by 15. opportunity has no slow season. no off-days, or downtime. opportunity is everything you make of it. this winter, take advantage of our season's best offers on the latest generation of cadillacs. the 2016 cadillac srx. get this low-mileage lease from around $339 per month, or purchase with 0% apr financing. with t-mobile and the incredible iphone 6s you can reach more people in more places than before. whether you're at home in

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>> chris: like to watch the postgame trophy ceremony, you can follow it on espn3. 2:14 to play. tar heels will get the ball back down 15 after the chip shot field goal. touchdown would have erased any hope. but there's still a two-score game game, in theory. saw a very satisfied looking deshaun watson. 26 of 42, 289. three touchdowns. one pick. and has a runner, carried it 22 times for 1 22 and a couple more touchdowns. so, he's up to 40 touchdowns, responsible for this season. actually 41. let's not slight him.

way. espn has you covered. 9:00 a.m. start time for "nfl insiders" to give you all the news. then, at 10:00, "sunday nfl countdown." look at the panthers' own cam newton wearing a microphone in soundtracks and that all leads into the college football playoff selection show at noon overen oh on espn. so, the game clock has been reset to 2:19. and lakip to kick it off. don't want a big return so they just boot it on the ground. eventually picked up at the 25. and romar morris is knocked

our lgv- v-10 moments of this championship saturday. there's a flag late after the return. let's check out that first and then we'll show you some of the memorable moments from today. >> referee: unsportsmanlike conduct on number 24. this is 24's first unsportsmanlike conduct. mistake. herschel walker's single season s.e.c. rushing record fell today. a monster afternoon for derrick henry. alabama secures the s.e.c. stanford beat uscf the second time. they win the pac-12. but they needed a clemson loss to make a case. >> kirk: yeah. probably -- well, they are headed to the rose bowl now. >> chris: how about that penalty? a dead ball sets the heels up at midfield and now williams scampered for five. that's just inexcusable.

tonight for clemson. >> kirk: it's a freshman, mark fields who is from charlotte. hadn't been playing a lot and dabo swinney again. he's been working a few of the players over. that's all you can do as a coach and then get in the film room and hope they learn. even his teammates are trying to calm him down. field is a freshman. only chance he gets is special teams. >> chris: williams pressured. jump ball. over the head on the receiver there. alexander was in coverage. they're not showing a lot of urgency for being down 15 in the last two minutes here. >> kirk: they better find somebody to help bentley spain. 90 in orange, he's a handful, as we've seen all year. shaq lawson, again, gets the pressure and gets in from the blindside to affect marquise williams. >> chris: need six on that third down. they pick up the pressure this time and williams delivers but

who was open across the middle. it's fourth down. ford wrapup follows the game and this is it for carolina to keep any hope alive. got to get the six yards. >> kirk: and again, they've got to -- i don't know if they're going to chip with the tight end to help. got to do something to slow down the pressure from the blindside of williams. >> chris: do you blitz? keep coming off the quarterback? >> kirk: it's been effective. but right here is the guy they have to watch. >> chris: they rush only four. williams has room. has a first down and a lot more. weaving down into the red zone. 1:30 to play and the heels are threatening. >> kirk: wow. interesting. boulware blitzed, but they played man-to-man under and they lost the quarterback. and because of that speed, he picks up huge yards. >> chris: the chains weren't even set and the heels are

for the end zone. working on alexander over there was davis. second down. >> kirk: the chains aren't set. balls are being snapped. >> chris: those guys over there were hustling as they could and the heels are ready to go. >> kirk: they're not slowing down for anything. that ball gets by, they're ready to roll. >> chris: there's urgency now. davis has to come off the field. >> kirk: they have all three time-outs. if they can score without using one one, it can be interesting. >> chris: williams delivers short. catch made. switzer escapes and scores, and hold on! the heels cut into the lead. >> kirk: go back to the un unsportsmanlike penalty on the kickoff. gave them great field goal range. gave them life. and how about switzer?

and another mental error cost dabo swinney. they had this game put away. >> chris: weiler for the p.a.t. to make it an eight-point game. knocks it through. that took only 1:01 to cover the 49 yards. to cassidy hubbarth with an update that will interest everybody who is thinking about the playoff. cassidy? >> crazy update for the big ten championship game. michigan state was stopped on first down and second down. l.j. scott looks to be stopped on third down, but finds a way in, capping off a 22-point, 82-yard drive. over 9:04. it's 16-13, michigan state with under 20 to play. back to you guys. >> chris: 22-play drive? >> kirk: think about that. with so much at stake. 17 runs out of the 22 plays. how about mark dantonio?

an option play with connor cook. >> chris: so, now having those three time-outs, do you kick it deep and play defense? the tigers are expecting an onsides kick. >> kirk: you have to kick an onsides kick. >> chris: they tried a couple. weiler has not succeeded this year. but all of a sudden, you're right, this game looked to be completely over. they got the stop and forced the field goal attempt. >> kirk: clemson at times tonight their own worst enemy. >> chris: got a couple kickers in there, so, who is going to end up booting it? there's deception right here. gets the hop -- it was mission handled. ball is still bouncing around and the heels have it at midfield! a flag did come in. >> kirk: i think it's offsides on north carolina. >> referee: offsides, kicking

five-yard penalty. rekick. >> chris: it was freeman jones, the kicker who came in there and booted it. but they going to have to rekick it now. >> kirk: i want to see where this offsides is. because i didn't see it. >> chris: i didn't, either. another look -- >> kirk: 30 is the closest, but he's not offsides. nobody's offsides unless it was on the other side. unless it was from the other side. >> that shot doesn't show, to me, doesn't show anybody offside. >> kirk: nobody's offsides. flag will come from the bottom. nobody's offsides. it looked like hunter crawford, the linebacker -- dave, is that reviewable reviewable? >> that is not a reviewable play. >> kirk: wow. >> 30 is the closest, but i have to agree with you.

>> kirk: crawford, 30, the linebacker. >> chris: neither did fedora. wow. >> kirk: oh, my god. >> chris: that took a hop. it looked like it was mishandled by the tigers. recovered at the 50 and the heels with three time-outs -- >> kirk: oh, my gosh. >> chris: would have been in business. the same look on this onsides kick. this time, it's weiler. and this one's fielded, the hit made, it didn't go ten yards but the ball came out! a scramble now back at the 30. orange ball. can you read the lip of the officials and clemson has recovered, but not without >> kirk: wow. that's a shame. >> chris: those guys got a running start on the previous attempt. and maybe the official just an anticipated it was going to be offsides.

they go to the other side. boy, great hit there by the linebacker, schoettmer. ball is loose and now, it's just -- i thought elijah hood might get on top of it. switzer's right there. >> chris: renfrow is going to get credited. it didn't go ten, but it was played. you can hit the guy there. >> kirk: i want to go back to the first one, chris. i still -- maybe we're missing something. let's check again. there's nobody offsides. >> chris: not even really within a yard. >> referee: time-out -- >> chris: that call, not reviewable, would have given north carolina the football at the 50 down eight. >> kirk: with three time-outs. >> chris: instead, clemson now will have 1:08 to just bleed out

challenge from carolina on this ruling of a clemson recovery. hasn't been the easiest year for acc officials. that's for sure. a lot of funny stuff. this had been a very well-officiated game until this moment. so, dave, they'll challenge and look at the ruling of a clemson recovery, but isn't this tough to overturn with replay? >> very much so. you have to look for two things. a recovery in the immediate and continuing action of the play. nobody stopped playing. and you have to be able to see a clear recovery. it has to be clear. >> chris: here's what they'll check. kirk, schoettmer delivered a big shot and that knocked the ball loose. and then the scramble is on and renfro, number 13 there for the tigers reached around and got the ball. >> kirk: yep. you know, michigan state now -- >> this will stay. >> kirk: michigan state now in indianapolis, they are win. they beat iowa, like you said. we know about oklahoma.

looks like clemson after how this gets settled here with this challenge. now, it comes down to, how do you rank these top four? iowa's now out. you got michigan state in. >> referee: after further review, the ruling on the field is confirmed. >> kirk: and now it looks like -- >> chris: confirmed it is clemson bag with 1:08. dabo swinney was adamant. he felt like if they beat the number ten ranked team on a neutral field that, having been number one in every set of rankings, he furmly expected to keep that top seed. >> kirk: i can't imagine the committee, with him being undefeated, with the teams they had to play, notre dame, florida state, north carolina. >> chris: watson makes a couple of guys miss. needs to protect the ball more than gain yards. the heels will spend a time-out.

against teams that won eight games or more. they've looked very good. these last six, seven, eight -- >> chris: the eye test versus the resume. >> kirk: exactly. that's what jeff long and the committee, when they get into the room tonight and in the morning, those are the things they're going to have to talk about. not just about the resume. we get caught up in the resume, but it's not just the resume. >> chris: but it is just about the order. because we know the four teams. that's a lock. have there's no suspension, like last year. so, we know the four teams, or at least we think we do. >> kirk: the suspension is, who is going to play who and where? that's still interesting. >> chris: i've wondered from the start, because of the fluidity of the rankings near the end of the process last year, whether or not they might move some teams around as gallman fights for a yard. you know, they would never say that match-up manipulate is part

start moving teams, moving clem sop down clemson down, moving alabama up, not having the big ten team in that fourth spot, they could be accused of trying to adjust the match-ups for whatever reason. >> kirk: after watching all the games today and what was at stake coming in with michigan state and iowa being a 4-5 game, with the way that game unfolded, i don't want to asoup anything. but i think i would speculate that the michigan state winning, beating iowa, will probably be at four. so, i think it's really more about, where do they -- how do they deal with clemson, oklahoma and alabama? what order are those three teams? >> chris: be hard to imagine moving oklahoma up. i guess the bigger question would be, do they flip alabama over clemson? or, if you keep clemson at number one, they would be placed in the orange bowl on new year's eve against the number four

top seed being, giving geographic preference. watson dives down at the 20 and that will do it. not without some drama and a little controversy at the end with that phantom offsides call. but it looks like the player of the year in the acc is going to be the quarterback of the acc champions. dr. pepper unrivaled player of the game, not much suspension there. 421 total yards, five touchdowns responsible for. victory formation as the tigers are going to win their 16th in a row. next stop, new year's eve and the playoff for the champions of the acc.

swinney. disappointment again for marquise williams. losses book-ending the tar heels season here in charlotte. and the quarterback just 11 of 33 33. >> kirk: class, larry fedora. >> chris: now, heather, once again with dabo swinney. it's become a familiar ritual. >> heather: a bit of a tradition for the two of us. >> yes! >> heather: congratulations, coach. you told me that last year you had to watch this one on tv and it was the ultimate frustration. you vowed it would be you this year. how good does it feel to make that, fulfill that goal? >> it feels great. this division, you know, we've lost one game the last two years and hadn't been able to make it to the championship. you have to go undefeated to get to our championship.

13-0, you know, in 1992 when i was playing, that was good enough for the national championship, not anymore. all it does is get us a chance to go play for it. but man, what a great game. all about. gracious. i'm glad that's over. i'm glad that's over. great effort on their part. just -- our team has had heart and guts all year long. win. play. we got the best player in this conference and the best player in the country in deshawn watt sop. i think he moved that again tonight. but at the end of the game, our offensive line took the game over. i don't know what we ran for, it was a bunch. we ran a ton of plays. had some mistakes and then our defense, you know, had a couple of big turnovers, none bigger than that last one right there at the end to give us the ball back. what a great win. happy for the tiger nation. 13-0 and we're looking forward to a pizza party tomorrow in death valley, baby. >> heather: you made a promise, you are going to have to keep

coach, you talk about being undefeated. you are number one in the nation. now, you're acc champs. what are you the most proud of? >> i'm just proud of our team and our staff for coming together, you know? you don't accomplish things like this without a great belief in one another. and a love for one another. and these guys, you know, i told them -- i told them tonight, they already had won this game. they won it, you know, from january until right now. tonight was just go take care of business. but a group of winners and listen, man, i'm just -- i am just fortunate to be part of it. the good lord has planted me here in clemson and given me an opportunity to lead these young men and i'm thankful for that. it's been a special season but we ain't done yet. we still got a little more in us but this was a lot of fun tonight. >> heather: so, i'm going to give you the chance to make your case to the committee on where you should be ranked tomorrow. >> well, we got three top ten wins. anybody else got that? i don't think so.

can't do no better than winning them all. nobody made it easy on us, either. that ought to be an easy decision for them. we'll look forward to figure ing out who we're going to go play and we'll give our players off next week, got a lot of recruiting to go do, as the acc champs for the 15th time, and we'll keep rolling. >> heather: all right, coach, congratulations. enjoy that pizza party. let's go over to tom rinaldi with deshaun watson. >> tom: thank you. deshaun, on the field before the game, your coach said, it's a championship, so, it's simple. get the ball in number 4's hands. what does your coach's faith mean to you? >> it means a lot. he trusts in me to lead this team, lead this offense, you know, to get the big wins and that's the reason why i play this game. for moments like this. and times like this and that's the reason why i committed here. >> tom: how do you describe the journey from committing to all the other schools that came after you in the interim, to the knee injury, to taking this team over to winning a conference

>> just been a blessing. you know, when i committed tee, i knew it was the right choice and when i came here and had the injuries, you know, i really didn't know what was going on but i kept faith in god and i knew he was going to take me on the right path and this time last year i was getting ready for surgeriry and god is amazing, and just give him all the glory. >> tom: you said that it was a lifelong dream from the time you were a little boy to win a heisman trophy. you've never been to new york city. what do you think it will mean to have the chance very likely here to bring your mom to new york with you? >> it would be a blessing. never been to new york city. and my mom never been to new york city. you know, as far as she's been is probably boston when we went to boston college last year. it one a blessing. i'm going to embrace it if you have the opportunity to go and just enjoy it. >> tom: finally, how do you like your pizza? >> pepperoni. large pepperoni with a sprite, since we don't play tomorrow, i'm going to get a sprite on the side.

arrange that. congratulations. chris? >> chris: tom, thank you. dabo made that promise and i think you can see the emotion in deshaun's voice. you saw the shot of his mom, and she can head to the pizza party with perhaps 20,000 fans. looking for 2,500 pizzas. 156 gatorade coolers worth of sauce and push-ups to burn off the calories. >> kirk: and one sprite for the heisman trophy quarterback. >> chris: you saw pride, you saw relief in swinney. that thing got interesting at the end and carolina fans, so much to focus on in this game, they're going to remember that the phantom offside call that would have set them up at the 50 yard line, eight points down with three time-outs and 1:11. >> kirk: clemson wins the game. they finished the season undefeated and they're onto the, into the top four, probably as a one seed. but there's a lot for them to learn from. they allowed north carolina to

cases, some of the just sloppy play. mistakes on offense. some penalty ies at crucial times that kept north carolina in the game and kept giving carolina some life but at the end of the day, they win. you put an exclamation point on this season and you move on and get ready for the postseason. >> chris: no need to lobby for the top seed. if we beat north carolina, it is a third top ten one, it's a third win over a ten-win team, which no clemson team has ever done. do you think the committee will say, that's more than good enough to keep clemson on the top line? >> kirk: yeah, i think if you throw the eye test in, i think both oklahoma and alabama have really impressed me, anyway, in these last five, six weeks. but it's very hard to argue with what clemson has achieved this year on the field and the results on the field, which was that he just talked about, beating the likes of notre dame and florida state and now here in north carolina and that's very impressive. >> chris: there is only one 13-0 fbs team with iowa falling just

state. unbeaten. so, not much suspension. no suspension, really, about the four playoff teams but intrigue in the order which would set up match-ups. >> kirk: that's right. we know the four teams. now just a matter of who will be seeded where and where will these teams end up playing. people can make their plane ticket reservations yet. >> chris: next stop, new year's eve for the tigers. seed. well, exhale and get ready for tomorrow at noon eastern time on espn, we'll have the reveal of those semifinal match-ups. this game was produced by bill bonnell. and we thank our final ement e al talented crew. we'll see you next time from one of those semifinals on new year's eve. for kirk, tom and heather, chris fowler saying good night from charlotte. the ford wrapup show is coming up next. trophy presentation over on espn3.

thanks, chris.