Clemson struggled to put away Boston College on Saturday -- perhaps looking ahead to next week's huge showdown with Florida State -- but made enough big plays to win, 24-14.
BC led 14-10 going into the fourth quarter, but the Tigers turned it on, scoring twice in a little more than a minute to pull out the win.
Clemson senior quarterback Tajh Boyd threw for 334 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a score that gave Clemson the lead for good early in the fourth quarter.
The 48-yard TD pass went to star wide receiver Sammy Watkins in the second quarter; Watkins finished with seven receptions for 101 yards and scored for the third consecutive game. It was Watkins' third consecutive 100-yard game -- he has four 100-yard games this season -- and the seven receptions were the second-most he's made in a game this season.
Boyd completed 30 of his 44 passes. The 30 completions were the most he's had this season and tied for the second-most in his career. He did a nice job spreading the ball around, completing passes to nine receivers and completed five passes of at least 19 yards. But too often the Tigers bogged down, committing two turnovers and going just 4 of 17 on third down. They also missed a short field goal and failed on another because the holder dropped the ball.
Clemson's defense scored the clinching TD on a fumble return by defensive end Vic Beasley and held Boston College to 286 total yards. Beasley led the nation with eight sacks coming in and got to BC quarterback Chase Rettig in the fourth quarter. It was the fifth consecutive game Clemson held its opponent to 14 or fewer points.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.