When Deshaun Watson decided to come to Clemson he declared that as long as he was the quarterback of the Tigers, South Carolina would not win the heated Palmetto State rivalry.
The Gamecocks had won five consecutive games against Clemson heading into Watson's freshman season, but thanks in part to his heroics and toughness, the Tigers ended the streak that November.
Watson tore his ACL against Georgia Tech on Nov. 15, 2014 and played with it torn two weeks later, leading the Tigers to a 35-17 victory against South Carolina. He recently spoke about that game and more on "The Bakari Sellers podcast."
"I kind of go back, it was Georgia Tech. I tweaked my knee a little bit and they told me I tore it," Watson said. "So those two weeks I was like, 'Man, I can't play against South Carolina.' I promised coach (Dabo) Swinney, as long as I'm here I'm not losing to the Gamecocks."
Watson and Cole Stoudt split time at QB that season, with Watson completing 68% of his passes and throwing for 14 touchdowns and two interceptions. Stoudt struggled with turnovers that year and completed 63% of his passes with nine touchdowns and 10 picks.
Stoudt was 3-for-11 passing for 19 yards, with no touchdowns and three interceptions after Watson got hurt against Georgia Tech. Still, Watson said that wasn't the reason he really wanted to play two weeks later against South Carolina.
"It was nothing against the quarterback Cole or anything like that," Watson told Sellers. "But it was just like 'Man, I've gotta be out there.' I knew I had the energy to rally the guys together. I told coach Swinney and the doctors. We had a meeting and it was like, 'Man, if you can go out there and make plays and (we) brace you up and just protect yourself you can play."
Watson did enough in practice to convince the coaching staff to let him give it a shot.
He ended up completing 14 of 19 passes for 269 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the win. The victory helped Clemson start a streak of its own against South Carolina, as the Tigers have won six consecutive games in the series.
"That whole week I went with the 2s. They were watching me. I was running the ball, juking, spinning, everything," Watson recalled. "That Saturday they were like, 'All right, well you're going to start. But we're not going to say anything right until (game time). So it was cool."
