Clemson’s Watson thankful for another shot at a happy homecoming

Georgia native Deshaun Watson is thankful for another opportunity to have a happy homecoming.

Clemson’s star quarterback will again take the field about an hour from his hometown of Gainesville, Ga., when the Tigers face Georgia Tech on Thursday night in Atlanta.

Clemson is looking for its first win at Georgia Tech since 2003, while Watson is hoping to move past one of the worst memories of his college football career.

A couple of years ago when the teams met in Atlanta, Watson played less than a quarter before injuring his knee on a 7-yard run. He left the game with Clemson leading 3-0 and driving, but the Tigers went on to lose 28-6 for their fifth consecutive road loss against the Yellow Jackets.

“I have flashbacks about that play,” Watson said Monday. “I just remember pretty much that whole morning from warmups to getting ready to play, coming back from a hand injury and being excited to play and then that first quarter going down. Of course it’s going to pop up in my mind, but it won’t be anything too serious.”

Even though he was held out for the remainder of the contest, he thought X-rays and an MRI would reveal no structural damage. Instead, they showed a torn ACL.

“It was hard to really imagine because I felt fine. I was walking normal. The swelling was done. It was just one of those weird things that kind of happened,” he said.

Without Watson, the 19^th-ranked Tigers fell apart. Backup quarterback Cole Stoudt went 3 for 11 for 19 yards and threw three interceptions, with two being returned for touchdowns.

Watson didn’t see any of it.

“I was in the back. I was just devastated and wasn’t in the mood to watch the game. I was just shocked by what they were saying about my knee,” he said. “It’s tough because you want to be out there with the guys. You put in all the work over the summer and over the course of the week just preparing for the game and the moment, and then you get knocked out.”

Tigers running back Wayne Gallman said the energy on Clemson’s sideline disappeared when Watson went down. Clemson’s explosive offense was held to 190 yards and six points.

“It really seemed like the life kind of sucked out of the stadium,” Gallman said. “For me, I really tried to take a hold of the offense and try to get everybody riled up, but it just wasn’t there.”

Watson expects to have plenty of friends and family members at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Thursday, and is hoping for a much better outcome than two years ago.

While he still has flashbacks to the injury, that won’t be on his mind when the game kicks off.

“We can’t live in the past. We’ve got to worry about the present and what we’re doing now,” Watson said.

This story was originally published September 19, 2016 at 7:39 PM with the headline "Clemson’s Watson thankful for another shot at a happy homecoming."