ORLANDO, Fla. -- They call it the Heisman Trophy moment. It’s an indelible flash voters draw upon on and TV producers lead highlight packages with as the trophy presentation nears.

Deshaun Watson received his ceremony invite Monday. What is his moment? The question was posed Saturday night to coach Dabo Swinney, who had just clinched back-to-back ACC titles and the No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff but wanted to spend part of his opening remarks talking about the player flanked to his right.

Earlier that evening, Watson completed 23 of 34 passes with 288 yards and three touchdowns. In November, he led FBS quarterbacks with 1,784 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Swinney picked an 11-yard rush in the ACC championship game as the Heisman moment.

“Right there at the end of the game when you’ve got to have the first down, he went and got it and put us in victory formation,” Swinney said. “That’s about as good as it gets right there.”

That rush picked up a first down and allowed the Tigers to run out the clock on a 42-35 win against No. 23 Virginia Tech.

The reality is if Watson wins the Heisman Trophy, it will be because of his arm. A dizzying list of big throws totaled 3,914 passing yards and 37 touchdowns this season.

If Clemson wins the national title, however, it could be because of his legs. With the No. 2 Tigers now in the postseason and scheduled to play No. 3 Ohio State in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl, expect an offense that breaks their 2016 mold.

Expect an offense unafraid of calling Watson’s number on designed runs time after time.

“He always starts running in big games,” Virginia Tech defensive end Ken Ekanem said.

And that poses a real problem for defenses, Alabama included. The Crimson Tide had no success corralling Watson in last season’s national championship. And as for Ohio State, the most rushing yards they allowed to a quarterback this season came against Penn State.

Against the Hokies, there were 17 designed rushes for Watson. To go up two scores early in the second half, Watson ran the ball on four of the drive’s nine plays. On their next possession, he ran it on three of four plays. The game-clinching touchdown came after the Hokies crashed the line to stop Watson’s feet, which left Hunter Renfrow wide open on the run-pass option.

Virginia Tech linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka said they planned for Watson to use his legs more and made halftime adjustments against it too, but Watson still ran for two scores and 85 yards, 69 of which came in the second half.

“It gives us another option on the field,” receiver Deon Cain said. “With his abilities, we need him to use his feet plus his arm, and that makes our offense expand. His feet made a big difference in the game.”

Clemson coaches opted not to use Watson’s legs on designed rushes in 2016 as much as they did in 2015. Last season, 20 percent of Watson’s total plays were designed runs. This fall, that number was at 13 percent entering the Virginia Tech game.

Against the Hokies, there were 17 Watson rushes on his 51 plays, or 33 percent.

“He really had to come to work with his legs tonight,” Swinney said.

If the 17 designed rushes sounds like a lot, it’s because it is. But it falls in line with how Watson’s legs have been used before in the postseason and close games. He has two career 100-yard rushing games on just designed runs alone, and they came in the 2015 semifinal and ACC championship. (He ran on close to 33 percent of his plays in those games, too.) That year, there were nine games in which he had at least nine designed runs. They were all postseason games or ones decided by two scores or fewer.

He’s only hit nine designed carries five times this season, but among them were the games against Virginia Tech, Florida State, Louisville and NC State. Average margin of victory in those games? Six points.

Watson said Clemson treats every game like a “one-week season,” but the Tigers couldn’t afford to treat it as such when it came to Watson’s legs. Using his legs would run him down in September and October.

Now the playoff is here, and Watson is running toward a championship.