COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Clemson defensive coordinator Kevin Steele couldn’t apologize enough for the way his unit played against Maryland.
Fortunately for Steele, his postgame rant included this line: “The good thing about it is, it didn’t cost us the game. We won.”
Tajh Boyd threw four touchdown passes, freshman Sammy Watkins scored three TDs and No. 8 Clemson rallied from an 18-point deficit against Maryland to remain unbeaten with a 56-45 victory Saturday night.
The Tigers (7-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed 28-10 late in the first half and 35-17 in the third quarter before storming back behind Boyd, who went 26-for-38 for 270 yards as the catalyst of an offense that amassed 576 yards.
The defense, however, yielded 468 yards and had no answer for sophomore quarterback C.J. Brown, who ran for 162 yards and a touchdown and threw three scoring passes in his first college start.
“That’s on me,” Steele said. “I take full responsibility for it and I’ll get it fixed.”
As much as he and the Tigers would like to forget this game, that would be too easy and not at all beneficial.
“Occasionally, you’ve got one that looks so ugly you don’t ever want to remember it,” Steele said. “But you’ve got to remember it, because if you don’t study it and get better, it will bite you again.”
Watkins scored on an 89-yard kickoff return that put Clemson up 49-45 with 7:24 left. Watkins returned an earlier kickoff 70 yards, and his 345 all-purpose yards set a school record.
Andre Ellington rushed for a career-high 212 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigers, who have scored at least 35 points in all but one game this season.
“We overcame some big, big mistakes,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “We’re 4-0 in the ACC, and that’s a good place to be.”
Maryland (2-4, 1-2) provided Clemson with an enormous scare. Terrapins first-year coach Randy Edsall waited until just before the game to pick Brown as his starter over Danny O’Brien. Brown did everything but win the game. In addition to his rushing total, he completed 17-of-35 passes for 177 yards.
