CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- After five lead changes in the first half, Clemson pulled away from North Carolina in the third quarter of a 45-37 win behind the brilliant play of Deshaun Watson, who broke Jameis Winston's ACC Championship Game record with 421 yards of total offense.

But the Tigers' lead evaporated quickly as Larry Fedora's team came storming back in the fourth quarter, scoring 17 straight points in 10 mintues to cut the lead to one score. 

North Carolina apparently recovered the ensuing onside kick, but it was penalized for being offsides.

The UNC sideline was irate and Fedora tried to get the play corrected. A review of the call on television showed that North Carolina was not offsides, but the Tar Heels were forced to re-kick anyway.

"I had a chance to look at it, and they missed it. They were wrong," Fedora said after the game. "That's all I'm going to say about it. They were wrong."

Fedora conceded that getting the call right would not necessarily have changed the eventual outcome, but he believed that given the team's hot fourth quarter run there were good odds that the Tar Heels could march the ball down the field one more time.

"I don't know if we would have gone down and scored, but it was like a minute and eight seconds left on the clock and we should have had the ball at about midfield, and the way we had moved it the last couple series I would have felt pretty good about that," Fedora said.

"It isn't going to change. It doesn't matter one way or the other, so I'm going to have to swallow it like a man and just take it, and that's just the way it is. We came up short. That doesn't take anything away from what Clemson did tonight because they're a dang good football team. They're the No. 1 team in the country and you've got to give them credit, and we'll be pulling for them." 

The ACC released a statement on the offsides call, noting that the play was not reviewable. 

"Offsides is not a reviewable play," said the spokesperson. "Dennis Hennigan [ACC director of officiating] said that mechanically the officials were in the correct position. The rule as it relates to to an onside kick that the 35-yard line is treated as a plane and if any part of a player breaks that plane before the ball is kicked it's offsides. The officials saw a member of the kicking team break the plane before the ball was kicked."

North Carolina was called offsides on this onside try. (Twitter/Inside Carolina)