Saturday’s games
North Carolina at Virginia Tech, noon, ESPN
Georgia Tech at Miami, 12:30 p.m., WUPA
Syracuse at N.C. State, 12:30 p.m.
Chattanooga at Florida State, 3 p.m., FSSO
Wake Forest at Clemson, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2
Duke at Virginia, 3:30 p.m.
Louisville at Pittsburgh, 3:45 p.m., ESPN News
Boston College vs. Notre Dame (at Boston), 7:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network
Deshaun Watson is making a late run for the Heisman Trophy.
Clemson’s quarterback moved from fifth to second behind Alabama’s Derrick Henry in USA’s Today Heisman Trophy survey this week, thanks in part to his increased productivity with his legs.
Watson (Gainesville) has led the top-ranked Tigers (10-0) in rushing the past two games — surpassing 100 yards in each — and has 594 yards and five touchdowns on the ground this season.
“Early in the year, we weren’t as aggressive in running him and just knew that he’d get a certain number of carries on his own, just in scrambles,” co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott told the media. “He wants to run the ball.”
Watson had ACL surgery in December, which caused him to miss Clemson’s bowl win over Oklahoma, but also gave him an earlier start on his rehab. That better prepared him for his sophomore season, in which he’s completing 70.1 percent of his attempts for 2,593 yards and 23 touchdowns.
The Tigers are No. 1 in the CFP rankings with Wake Forest (3-7), South Carolina (3-7) and the ACC Championship game remaining.
“I don’t have to vouch for him, just watch the games. He vouches for himself,” coach Dabo Swinney told reporters. “You make a statement by how you play the game. I think he’s the best quarterback in the country and maybe the best player in the country. But that’s my opinion. … He doesn’t need to win the Heisman Trophy for me to love him. I don’t care what anyone else says.”
LSU’s Leonard Fournette leads the FBS in rushing with 1,474 yards and 17 touchdowns, just ahead of Henry, who has 1,458 yards and 19 scores.
Quarterbacks, though, have won the Heisman in 13 of the past 15 years, including five in row. Mark Ingram (Alabama, 2009) and Reggie Bush (USC, 2005) are the only running backs to win since 1999.
If Watson lifts the 45-pound bronze trophy Dec. 12, he will become the second winner from Georgia in the past six years, joining Auburn’s Cam Newton (Westlake) in 2010.
“We’re all witnessing one of the best players to play at Clemson,” Scott said. “How he finishes up here this year and the rest of his career will really tell the true tale of his ability. He’s very special, and we’re going to go offensively how he goes right now.”
Misery loves company: Virginia is 3-7 and has lost three games by seven points or less. The Cavaliers will miss a bowl for the fourth consecutive season.
Duke has lost three consecutive games since starting 6-1, but has qualified for its third consecutive bowl.
That doesn’t make losing any easier for coach David Cutcliffe.
“We are well aware that it has been frustrating — not frustrating — it’s been difficult to deal with three loses in a row,” he told reporters. “We all have theories. We all look. We all judge. … I expect results. I expect results immediately because they’re all correctable things.”
The return of quarterback Thomas Sirk would help Duke, which plays the Cavaliers on Saturday. He was injured in the loss to North Carolina and missed last week’s loss to Pittsburgh.
On the verge: The NCAA record for career punt returns for touchdowns is eight.
North Carolina junior Ryan Switzer has seven after scoring on a 78-yard return in a victory over Miami.
Wes Welker (Texas Tech in 2000-03) and Antonio Perkins (Oklahoma in 2001-04) hold the mark.
Switzer has returned two for touchdowns this season and had another negated against Duke when the officials thought he made an “invalid signal.”
He didn’t return any for scores last season — one was called back — after tying the NCAA record with five returns for touchdowns as a freshman in 2013.
Record breaker: Tyler Boyd is Pittsburgh's career leader in receptions and yardage, despite being a junior.
He has 232 career catches for 3,135 yards to lead active ACC players in those categories.
Boyd is tied for fifth all-time with former Clemson receiver Aaron Kelly in career catches in the ACC, 50 behind Jamison Crowder and Conner Vernon, the conference’s all-time leading receivers with 282 each.
Good hands: Virginia's Taquan Mizzell is 14 receptions away from setting the ACC single-season record by a running back, set by Boston College's Andre Callender with 76 in 2007.
He has 63 catches this season, tied for fourth-most all-time with former Virginia running back Alvin Pearman.
He said it: "That's something where he'll come to me if he wants to play. I don't think he's 100 percent right now, and he's not going to go out there if he's not. But he's getting closer, so we'll see. I don't know (if he'll play in the bowl game). I have no idea. Possibly." — Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi on All-America running back James Conner's possible return from a MCL injury.
Etc.: Boston College ranks No. 1 in the FBS in total defense (236.5 yards per game) and 128th, or last, in total offense (276.6 yards). … Johnell Barnes, Duke's second-leading receiver with 34 catches and 411 yards, was one of three players dismissed from the program this week. … North Carolina has punted 26 times this season, third fewest in the nation behind Navy (25) and Georgia Southern (23). … N.C. State defensive end Mike Rose leads the ACC and ranks fourth nationally with 10.5 sacks. … Florida State has three receivers with at least 40 catches for the third consecutive season. Travis Rudolph has 47 for 641 yards, Kermit Whitfield has 46 for 599 and Jesus Wilson has 43 for 512. … Louisville (6-4) has won six of its past seven games to gain bowl eligibility for the 16th time in the past 18 seasons. … Virginia Tech's Isaiah Ford has eight touchdown catches, one from the single-season school record held by Antonio Freeman and Andre Davis.
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