No. 3 Texas vs. No. 16 Clemson final score: Longhorns use big rushing performance to secure 38-24 win over the Tigers

The Tigers had scored 14 straight points to get back into the game early in the fourth quarter before the Longhorns defense came up big with two stops.

For the second straight year, the No. 3 Texas Longhorns are in the College Football Playoff, this time at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium with a first-round matchup against the No. 16 Clemson Tigers in the new 12-team format.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian’s team is a 13.5-point favorite, but Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik is the best passer Texas has faced this season and the Tigers defense is opportunistic, so the Longhorns will have to avoid the turnovers, penalties, and other mistakes that defined the two losses to the Bulldogs and often threatened to derail the season.

Texas has benefitted from a week off following the SEC Championship game loss with redshirt junior quarterback Quinn Ewers, junior left tackle Kelvin Banks, and junior wide receiver Isaiah Bond all dealing with ankle injuries. Ewers and Banks are both healthy now, but Bond was not dressed for pregame warmups.

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First quarter

Texas won the toss and deferred to the second half, sending the kickoff unit for the Longhorns onto the field to start the game. Clemson started on the 25-yard line after the touchback by Will Stone.

A second-pass by Klubnik moved the chains as the Tigers found a hole in the zone defense of the longhorns. The first incompletion by Klubnik came on the next play, a run-pass option he pulled targeting Thorpe Award winner Jahdae Barron, who broke up the pass. A completion on second down set up third and short and Klubnik was able to step out of a sack and scramble past the marker.

Under pressure again, Klubnik completed another pass moving to his left for nine yards before a called running play got enough for the first down. Running up the middle with Mafah Clemson remained on schedule with a seven-yard gain and moved the chains again on a short throw by Klubnik before calling a timeout to avoid a delay of game.

A well-time blitz by Texas junior nickel back Jaylon Guilbeau inflicted the first negative play of the game on a Counter read keeper by Klubnik that lost a yard. Forced into third down when Klubnik gained four yards on a quarterback draw, Clemson scored first on a mesh concept that picked Guilbeau in coverage, resulting in a 22-yard touchdown by Antonio Williams.

The first two plays on offense for Texas went to sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner, a five-yard gain on outside zone and a six-yard gain on a swing pass. Then Ewers found senior tight end Gunnar Helm over the middle for a 13-yard completion and freshman wide receiver Ryan Wing on a hitch, but Ewers ran into a sack on the next play for a 10-yard loss. Wingo picked up the lost yardage to set up 3rd and 10. In four-down territory. Sarkisian called a run to Wisner that took the sideline for 22 yards.

Into the red zone, Wisner picked up two yards on first down and Helm gained six yards on his second reception. With redshirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning in the game, he handed the ball off to junior running back Jaydon Blue on a zone read, but the Longhorns had to go for it on fourth down with Ewers back into the game along with freshman running back Jerrick Gibson, who ran up the middle for four yards. Showing some patience, Wisner scored on a run up the middle to secure a critical red-zone touchdown for Texas, which has struggled in that area over the last two games.

Texas senior jack end Barryn Sorrell made a big play to open the drive, whipping the Clemson right tackle and sacking Klubnik, who had to settle for a check down on second down that only picked up one yard. A screen pass on this down picked up 13 yards, keeping the Tigers offense on the field, but after trying a hard count, the first quarter ended.

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Second quarter

After the punt, the second consecutive run by Wisner broke into the open field, but he stumbled while trying to set up the safety and had to settle for 12 yards. A third run picked up seven yards before Wingo took an end around and broke two tackles before breaking the line of scrimmage and gaining seven yards. Sticking with the run game, Blue found space behind two tight ends, then found the sideline and turned on the afterburners for an untouched, 38-yard touchdown run for the Horns to take a 14-7 lead.

Clemson responded with its own explosive run when Texas sophomore linebacker Liona Lefau didn’t get the benefit of a holding call and redshirt junior safety Michael Taaffe missed a tackle in the hole, allowing Adam Randall to run for 41 yards.

The Longhorns responded, though, when junior Jack end Ethan Burke sacked his old high school teammate for a loss of 10 yards to force the Tigers into 3rd and 16 with Clemson using its second timeout of the half before the play, an incompletion forced by Barron and the second stop of the day for the Texas defense.

Ewers opened the drive with a completion to senior wide receiver Silas Bolden for nine yards. Blue moved the chains with a short run before Ewers delivered a rare strike on a post route, finding junior wide receiver Matthew Golden, who held onto the ball through contact for a 43-yard gain.

Wisner picked up six yards on consecutive runs and the third broke with two offensive linemen pulling to create the same for Wisner, who took it 16 yards for the touchdown and a 21-7 lead.

Klubnik opened the drive with a quarterback draw for six yards, but attempting a run from a Wildcat formation backfired when Texas freshman edge Colin Simmons got into the backfield. On 3rd and 7, Klubnik stepped up in the pocket and had his pass deflect by Sorrell and intercepted by Simmons, the first of his career.

Two runs by Blue set up 3rd and 1, but Gibson was stuffed on the I formation run and a toss to Blue was stretched out well by the Clemson defense and stopped, a big play by the Tigers defense.

A big hit by Texas sophomore safety Jelani McDonald limited a screen to a short gain and a throw by Kubnik to the sideline under pressure was initially ruled incomplete, which stood on review. Facing 3rd and 7, Klubnik had Texas edge Trey Moore in his face quickly and his pass batted down by senior defensive tackle Vernon Broughton.

Bolden had to catch the punt in some traffic and had trouble controlling it, but was able to fall on the football. A misdirection screen to Wisner was not only blown up for a six-yard loss, it also resulted in injuries to Wisner and junior right tackle Cam Williams.

On the next play, Texas sophomore wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. had the pass from Ewers go through his hands and intercepted. Clemson returned it for a touchdown, but the touchdown was negated when Texas redshirt senior center Jake Majors was injured on an illegal blindside block. The absolute disaster of a sequence came after the Longhorns started the drive with the two leading running backs combining for 129 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries.

A glance-route run-pass option picked up 18 yards and Klubnik gained six yards on a draw prior to the two-minute warning, after which Klubnik completed another pass for a first down. Clemson tricked to call a trick-play throwback that nearly resulted in an interception by Lefau with nothing but open field in front of him. Another draw for Klubnik made the third down more manageable as Texas called its first timeout of the first half with 1:43 remaining. Strong coverage created enough time for the Longhorns to pressure Klubnik, who delivered an inaccurate pass on the move to force the field-goal unit on the field. It was good from 32 yards to narrow the deficit to 21-10.

With redshirt freshman Trevor Goosby in at right tackle and senior Hayden Conner at center replacing Majors and junior Cole Hutson in at guard for Conner, Ewers had a miscommunication with Wingo on the first play of the drive that was nearly intercepted. Going back to the screen game was more successful for Sarkisian, though, as Blue picked up 21 yards, then ran for seven more. After a forced throw against good coverage, Ewers scrambled for 11 yards and completed a pass to Moore to get into the red zone with 33 seconds remaining. A coverage bust by Clemson allowed Helm to run free in the end zone and Ewers delivered a strike for a 19-yard touchdown and a 28-10 lead.

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Third quarter

Golden wasn’t able to hold onto a good throw from Ewers on a glance route run-pass option, but Texas was able to move the chains with Wisner back in the game and running for seven yards on second down before Moore picked up the first down on a six-yard completion by Ewers, who connected with Helm on the next play for nine yards. Wisner wasn’t able to secure another fresh set of downs on 2nd and 1 as Manning entered the game and was trying to attempt his first pass in his sub package, but ended up scrambling for the first down instead.

Under pressure, Ewers took a big hit on a screen pass that Helm had to corral with one hand, gaining 14 yards on the play. Ewers slid in the backfield when he pulled a run-pass option, but didn’t have a receiver open. When Wisner was tackled for a one-yard gain on the next play, Texas was facing 3rd and 13. Ewers took a shot to Golden, who was well defended, but picked up a flag trying to work back for the football.

Wisner looked healthy on a well-blocked 19-yard gain, then picked up three tough yards down to the goal line. Manning checked back into the game on 2nd and goal, but couldn’t find any space on a called quarterback run. Texas tried a Jumbo package on third down that was blown up in the backfield and had to settle for a short field goal by Bert Auburn to end the 14-play, 71-yard drive that took 6:50 off the clock and stretched the lead to 31-10.

Klubnik completed back-to-back passes to star the drive, then had to escape sacks by two players and tried to throw the ball away as he was stumbling to the ground, fumbling instead for a 14-yard loss.

On 3rd and 15, Klubnik had to scramble under pressure again, airmailing a pass into a dangerous spot on the field that was nearly intercepted by senior safety Andrew Mukuba, who had the ball go through his hands on a leaping play.

After the punt by Clemson, Wisner ran for a short gain and Ewers delivered a well-placed throw to Wingo on a deep shot, but the pass was broken up and the third-down screen pass was blown up by the Tigers to force the first punt by the Longhorns.

Klubnik hit a big play when Texas sophomore cornerback Manny Muhammad misread a throw that went for 28 yards and a coverage bust up the seam produced a 25-yard touchdown pass to the running back to narrow the deficit to 31-17.

Motioning into an empty formation, Ewers hit Helm over the middle for 16 yards, then took another deep shot intended for Golden and picked up another pass-interference penalty to move into Clemson territory. Blue picked up eight yards on a run to set up second and short, but Goosby was flagged for a false start, the first penalty on Texas in the game. Blue was stopped short on third down and the Horns went for it, but Ewers delivered the pass behind Golden on a mesh concept and Golden couldn’t secure the reception.

Klubnik found another chunk play in the passing game on second down, picking up 12 yards before an incompletion ended the third quarter.

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Fourth quarter

Klubnik continued to find holes in the Texas zone defense with an 18-yard completion to start the fourth quarter and then finding a seam up the middle on a quarterback draw to move into the red zone.

Following a throwaway from Klubnik, Clemson faced a 3rd and 3 and called another quarterback draw, but the Texas defense dropped him for a three-yard loss, setting up a difficult fourth down. The Longhorns gave Klubnik too long and he was able to find a wide-open receiver in the end zone to cut the Texas lead to seven points at 31-24.

Texas compounded the burgeoning defensive issues when Golden brought the kickoff out of the end zone, but only returned the ball to the 17-yard line. After Ewers completed a six-yard pass to Golden, Blue solved the field-position issue by ripping off a 77-yard touchdown run to push the lead back to two scores at 38-24. Sarkisian called his favorite running play — outside zone — and Banks lead the way with a second-level block and Blue did the race, out-running the Clemson defense.

Needing to convert a third down, Clemson was able to beat Muhammad in coverage on a fade route for 29 yards. Klubnik made another big-time throw two plays later on the same route against Muhammad, who was able to avoid giving up a touchdown on the next play, but Simmons was flagged for hitting Klubnik late.

Good coverage from Texas senior cornerback Gavin Holmes forced an incompletion before Klubnik picked up some tough yardage on a quarterback draw for four yards down to the 1-yard line.

The Tigers called a timeout and then tried to run a quarterback sweep with Klubnik, who was hit for no gain, forcing Clemson to convert another fourth down near the goal line. In a diamond formation, the Tigers tried to run up the middle, but the Horns got too much penetration and secured the critical stop.

Blue was nearly stopped in the backfield on the ensuing play, so Texas went to the air and drew a pass-interference penalty and subsequently converted a 3rd and 9 with a 10-yard completion to Blue. A 21-yard run by Gibson moved the chains again on third down, but the Longhorns weren’t able to ice the Tigers when Manning fumbled the snap on a 4th and 1.

So the Texas defense needed to get another stop. Clemson was able to move the football, but Taaffe came up with a big hit on fourth down to force an incompletion and end the game in victory formation.

Texas advances to play No. 4 seed Arizona State in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on New Year’s Day.