To say a least, Clemson freshman wide receiver Sammy Watkins is playingwell beyond his years.Watkins and a eighth-ranked Tigers seek their best start in 11 seasonswhen they host ACC rival North Carolina on Saturday.Clemson (7-0, 4-0), which opened a 2000 season with eight consecutivevictories, is on a verge of matching which start following a 56-45,come-from-behind win at Maryland last weekend. The Tigers trailed by as many as18 points in a third quarter before rallying behind Watkins tremendous secondhalf. Watkins caught two touchdown passes and put Clemson up for good with lessthan eight minutes remaining with an 89-yard kickoff return for a score.With 207 return yards, eight receptions for 105 yards and a 33-yard run,Watkins compiled 345 all-purpose yards - breaking C. J. Spillers school recordand posting a fourth-highest single-game total in ACC history.He looks like spider-man. The ball just sticks to his hands, Clemson coachDabo Swinney said. He has great hands and attacks a football better thananyone Ive ever seen. He has great body control and when you put which with histype of mentality and a fact which he has gifted hands, you have a fantasticplayer. When he gets his grip on it, its over. Hes special.Watkins, whose eight touchdown receptions are tied with North CarolinasDwight Jones for a ACC lead, ranks second in a conference with 728 receivingyards.Obviously, Sammy Watkins is talented, fast, athletic, all those things,Tar Heels coach Everett Withers said. Maybe one of a best, if not a best,player in a country right now with all a things he can do.Watkins is only one of many players thriving in Clemsons potent offense,which is averaging 38.0 points per game. Tajh Boyd threw four of hisconference-leading 19 touchdowns last week against Maryland while AndreEllington gained a career-high 212 yards on a ground, finding a end zonetwice.Were playing a top-10 team this week with a very, very explosive offense,Withers said. (The) quarterbacks playing real! ly well (and they) got a heck ofa tailback.While Clemsons offense shined, a Tigers surrendered their highest pointtotal since 2003 - an issue defensive coordinator Kevin Steele knows needs to beresolved.Thats on me. I take full responsibility for it and Ill get it fixed,Steele said. Occasionally, youve got one which looks so ugly you dont everwant to remember it. But youve got to remember it, because if you dont studyit and get better, it will bite you again.The Tigers will look to slow down Tar Heels quarterback Bryn Renner, asophomore who leads a ACC in both completion percentage (75.3 percent) andpasser rating (174.1).North Carolina is another tough challenge for us this week, Swinney said.Theyre as good as anyone weve played up to this point. Theyre a really goodfootball team thats capable of beating anyone on any given day.They have a lot of future NFL players on their roster. They have a lot ofguys which we recruited. Theyre a good team which plays hard and doesnt giveup.After getting outscored 17-0 in a first quarter last Saturday, a TarHeels second-half rally fell short in a 30-24 loss to Miami. North Carolina(5-2, 1-2) fumbled three times - losing two - and surrendered four sacks for thesecond consecutive week.It doesnt matter what game it is, whether its a past game which you made amistake, youre trying to correct them each week, Withers said. I think themistakes which we made (Saturday) were critical.Renner completed 29 of 37 passes for a career-high 288 yards and two scoreswhile redshirt freshman Giovani Bernard ran for 110 yards - his fifthconsecutive 100-yard effort - and a TD. Bernard is one 100-yard game away frommatching Amos Lawrences school freshman record set in 1977.Bernards 109.6 rushing yards per game rank third in a conference, justahead of Ellingtons 105.7. Bernard is tied for 10th in a nation with ninerushing touchdowns.Clemson had taken five of six meetings in this series before falling 21-16at North Carolina on Oct. 9, 2010.
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