Clemson defense hinders Marquise Williams' success in ACC Championship loss

CHARLOTTE — Marquise Williams dashed around in the North Carolina pocket.

He dodged one Clemson defender, then turned around and saw a second charging toward him. Another quick step, and he avoided a sack again. He was looking for someone to throw to. Anyone.

He saw redshirt first-year tight end Brandon Fritts standing in the end zone, without an orange jersey anywhere close to him. But the throw was rushed. The ball never found its way into Fritts’ hands. It felt to the ground, just a bit short.

The Tar Heels’ opening drive foreshadowed the rest of Saturday's ACC Championship game — which the No. 1 Tigers won 45-37 — as the redshirt senior quarterback struggled to find the time he needed for plays to develop downfield.

“Those are guys who get after you,” Williams said after the game. “They were big and physical and fast. ... They played one heck of a game tonight.”

Clemson’s front seven was headlined by junior defensive end Shaq Lawson, who is a finalist for the Rotary Lombardi Award (given to the nation’s top defensive lineman or linebacker) and also leads the country with 22.5 tackles for loss.

“Defensively, I challenged Shaq,” said Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. “I said, ‘Hey, if you’re a Lombardi finalist, play like that.’"

“He had a sack, a caused fumble, tackle for a loss. Just a big game for No. 90.”

Lawson finished with six tackles — including a sack for a 10-yard loss, two tackles for a combined loss of 14 yards, a forced fumble and two quarterback hurries.

Lawson said UNC’s offensive line posed a challenge entering the game, but also admitted to one advantage no other team in the ACC has to prepare for a player like Williams: Deshaun Watson.

“I remember when Deshaun first came in and it was always hard to tackle him and get him on the ground,” Lawson said of his team’s starting quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate. “It helped us out a lot (practicing against him).

“We knew what we were prepared for because we had seen him last year.”

Maybe more importantly though, was the fact that Lawson managed to take Williams to the ground right from the start. To let him know he was there, and that he was coming for him. Every play.

“I feel like the first play when I got the big hit on him, I knew he felt it a lot, so I knew we had to do that all game,” Lawson said. “We couldn’t have him comfortable in the pocket.”

Williams denied that Lawson or any other Clemson pass rusher got into his head.

“(I was connected) the whole game,” he said. “Just (at) times things were a little clustered, but I tried to handle it well.”

Try as he might, Williams managed to connect on just 11 of his 33 passing attempts for 224 yards.

“I thought the first half we were dominant defensively,” Swinney said. “We missed (Williams) a couple times, had him hemmed up. He’s a really good football player ... But I think (Shaq) did a great job of leading our front seven out there and came up with some huge plays, like great players do.”

Williams has been great for the Tar Heels more often than not this season, routinely throwing the football downfield and watching as his receivers dodged and darted through the opposing team’s defense.

But on Saturday night, it was Williams who found himself dodging and darting — desperately trying to avoid Lawson and the Clemson defensive front.

And more often than not, he watched as the football flew out of his hands and fell to the ground.

@CarlosACollazo

sports@dailytarheel.com