Huddled around the television after Saturday’s win over Buffalo, Boston College’s defensive backs already were locked in on their next opponent.

They watched Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson sling a pair of touchdown passes deep downfield to Deon Cain in the second quarter. They watched Watson, a 2015 Heisman Trophy finalist, throw for three more touchdowns and rally his team in the fourth quarter.

They watched the Louisville defense attempt — and ultimately fail — to contain Watson and the Tigers’ receivers. They watched undefeated Clemson knock off the then third-ranked Cardinals, 42-36.

“Obviously you can’t see everything in the broadcast version as opposed to on film,’’ said BC sophomore safety Will Harris. “But we knew that there were things that we do differently than Louisville, certain things that Clemson excels in and they try to base their offense off of, so it was good to watch that game and kind of get a judgment off of how they come out against a higher-ranked team.’’

BC’s secondary will be tested Friday night when No. 3 Clemson comes to Alumni Stadium. The Eagles have to find a way to slow down Watson and his receiving corps if they want a shot at their first Atlantic Coast Conference win in more than a year.

And the defensive backs are taking it personally.

During Saturday’s postgame press conference, senior captain John Johnson, who has played safety and corner for the Eagles, said Friday night’s game “will fall in the hands of the DBs.’’

“Honestly, we go about every game like that,’’ Harris said. “We take it as a personal challenge. We get in the film room, we look at who are their guys, who are their guys they always go to, who are their best receivers. We take that head-on.

“We’re confident in our technique, in our training, in our ability to go out there and match up with those guys.’’

Last season, BC suffered a 34-17 loss to Clemson in Death Valley. The Eagles held their own against the team that went on to make an appearance in the national championship, trailing by just 7 points after two quarters.

But the Tigers pulled away after halftime on two deep balls from Watson.

The Eagles’ secondary is determined to avoid getting burned by the long ball this time around.

“I’m sure there’s a bit of personal pride there, unit pride,’’ BC coach Steve Addazio said. “Well, Clemson is going to challenge them. Clemson’s deal is they’re going to throw the ball vertically down the field X number of times. We see it every year. That’s not a new phenomenon.’’

Addazio also said the rest of the BC defense needs to be ready to help out the cornerbacks on Friday when Watson looks down the field.

“We can’t just always put the corners on islands like that,’’ the coach said. “So this year we’ve been able to mix that up a little bit and not constantly put them on islands.

“And you’ve got to be tough mentally because you get beat deep or something in front of the world to see, it’s not an easy thing.’’

Johnson said watching film from last year’s game and identifying the mistakes made will be crucial in getting ready for Friday’s matchup.

“The week of preparation is what matters the most,’’ added Johnson. “I think we’re attacking the game plan and I think that we’re finishing on the receivers here at practice so it’ll translate to the game.

“We can’t be OK with guys catching the ball at practice.’’

As good as Watson has been for the Tigers, the junior is far from perfect. He has thrown the second-most interceptions in the ACC this season, with seven, and he was picked off twice by the Eagles last year.

Even with the interceptions, Watson is still part of the discussion for this year’s Heisman. He has completed 110 of 181 passes through five games and has thrown for 14 touchdowns. Watson has only been sacked twice.

“It’s hard to say shut him down,’’ Johnson said. “But we’re definitely going to try to slow him down just by staying on top of our game plan and that allows us to play as fast as we can and I think that’ll be good enough to beat them.’’

Emily McCarthy can be reached at emily.mccarthy@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @emilymccahthy.