The ground game and the money downs made the difference for the Longhorns.
The No. 3 Texas Longhorns may have had to sweat it out more than they would have once hoped, but coming away with an opening-round win over the No. 16 Clemson Tigers to advance to the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff is a reason to celebrate regardless. For what feels like the first time this year, the Texas offense had to step up when its defense struggled, taking on a Clemson passing attack that pushed the ball downfield better than any opponent all year.
Cade Klubnik: 26-43, 336 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT
For most of the season, the Texas defense has been unimpeachable against the pass, but Austin Westlake product Cade Klubnik turned in one of his best performances for his first time playing in front of the hometown crowd. The CFP opener marked his second-best performance of the year, behind the Week 2 matchup against Appalachian State. Klubnik seemingly liked the right side of the field and especially the deep ball, connecting on four passes of 15 yards or more on the right side for 112 of his 336 yards.
Texas fans haven’t seen a performance like that from the secondary all season, as this outing set the season-worst performance for the defense by 125 yards. The last time the Longhorns allowed more than 300 yards was the CFP opener a year ago. Clemson also did a better job finding the end zone through the air than any other opponent, nearly doubling the Longhorns’ season total in just one game. Klubnik is one of just two quarterbacks to throw for more than one touchdown against Texas, joining Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia in that exclusive club.
Third-down conversions: Texas – 6/12 Clemson – 3/12
It was far from all bad for the Texas defense, which did a great job of putting the Tigers behind the chains and getting them off the field. It marked a season-low conversion percentage for Garrett Riley’s offense, which failed to go over 30 percent on the money down for the first time. After converting twice on their opening drive, the Tigers went without another third-down conversion until the third quarter, the drive that ended with Texas stonewalling them on the goal line. Eight of Clemson’s 12 attempts were five yards or longer, three coming at a distance of nine yards or more. Texas put them in an unfavorable position despite their relative success on first down — the Tigers somehow ended up with 66 percent of their attempts coming in at five or more yards despite averaging more than 5.5 yards on first downs.
Conversely, the Clemson defense allowed their third-consecutive opponent to go over 50 yards after opening the year with just two of their 11 opponents to go over 40 percent. Texas’s average distance to go on third downs came in at 4.6 yards, with seven of their 12 attempts coming in at four yards or less, thanks to averaging 6.8 yards per rush on first down. They continued that ground success on money downs, converting four of their six on the ground for an average of 6.3 yards per carry.
Texas rushing: 292 yards, 4 TDs
Texas fans have been waiting for the “Jaydon Blue Game,” which came at the perfect time, lifting the Longhorns to victory. When the Tigers were looking to regain momentum and close the game, Blue took advantage of the zone blocking behind All-American tackle Kelvin Banks and took the ball 77 yards for a score to extend the lead back to two scores. The junior speedster finished the game with a career-high 146 yards and two touchdowns for a 10.4 yards per carry average. Even if you remove the 77-yard burst, he would have finished the game averaging 5.38 yards per carry, a solid outing in and of itself.
Not to be too far outshined, Quintrevion Wisner, the team’s leading rusher, turned in 110 yards and two scores of his own, his first game with multiple rushing touchdowns. That outing gives Texas its second-ever pair of 100-yard rushers in a postseason game — the first coming in the 1966 Bluebonnet Bowl — and the first century pair since Bijan Robinson and Jonathon Brooks managed it against Kansas in 2022. Wisner’s game total puts him just 23 yards shy of 1,000 yards on the season and making him likely to keep Sarkisian’s streak of 1,000-yard rusher alive.
The Longhorns have now earned themselves a much-needed break as they await their second-round matchup against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on January 1.