Watson beats Gamecocks with a torn ACL

Tony Crumpton by Assoc. Editor -

Dabo Swinney talked about various topics in his post game press conference after the South Carolina win including Deshaun Watson Deshaun Watson

Fr. Quarterback

#4 6-3, 204

Gainesville, GA

View Full Profile 's play and the fact that Watson played the entire Palmetto Bowl with a torn ACL.

"Watson is a mental and genetic freak. I don't know what else to say," Swinney said.

On Thursday before Georgia State, Watson worked on a drill and went down. On Friday, they did a MRI and he had a torn ACL.

He said they thought about doing surgery and got many opinions on it. They got back to practice and he looked unbelievable.

Swinney said that Danny Poole and Dr. Bowman did an incredible job. Basically the brace was his ACL. He played the whole game with a torn ACL. The only issue he had today was that the brace was so tight that his calf was going to sleep.

Swinney said that he is going to have surgery after the bowl game. "What an unbelievable performance we just witnessed," Swinney said. "As of now, Watson will play in the bowl game."

Swinney went on to say that he watched him all week in practice and couldn't believe what he was seeing. Former Clemson quarterback Mike Eppley played a whole season with a torn ACL.

Watson didn't have any pain this week. "Hats off to Deshaun for putting in the work and our staff getting him ready to play," Swinney said.

Note - Tajh Boyd played four games in high school with a torn ACL.