Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson led the Tigers to their first win over Florida State since 2011 Saturday, 23-13, in a home win that did three things for CU:
1) Validated its No. 1 ranking in the College Football Playoff rankings;
2) Clinched the ACC's Atlantic Division and a place in the ACC title game/p>
3) Dashed any hope FSU had of reaching the CFP for the second year in a row.
Watson completed 28 of 42 passes for 297 yards and a touchdown, and when he wasn't confounding the FSU defense through the air, he was doing it on the ground. Watson was also Clemson's leading rusher with 107 yards on 16 carries, giving him 404 total yards in the biggest game of his young career.
The performance overcame a 21-carry, 194-yard day from FSU's own star sophomore, running back Dalvin Cook. Cook broke a 75-yard touchdown run on his first carry and ran for another 36 on his second carry, but Clemson's defense managed to do a better job containing him thereafter.
Clemson (9-0) will finish the regular season with three games that shouldn't be as challenging as the one the Seminoles provided, with Syracuse, Wake Forest and South Carolina remaining on the slate.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
