The Longhorns made it more dramatic than it needed to be, but came away with a win.
The No. 5 Texas Longhorns made it more dramatic than it needed to be but came away with a relatively comfortable 38-24 win over the Clemson Tigers to open up the College Football Playoff at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. It was a seemingly topsy-turvy game from Texas, with the offense leading the charge and having to make up for some defensive struggles, while also overcoming their own offensive struggles.
The ground game can lead the offense
Texas took advantage of a Clemson defense that struggles to stop the run and pressed the advantage as often as they could. Jaydon Blue took advantage of his speed and ability to find the edge, putting together a career day with 146 yards and two touchdowns — rushing for 10.4 yards per carry. Quintrevion Wisner wasn’t too far behind, carrying the ball 15 times for 110 yards and two touchdowns, inching closer to hitting a 1,000-yard season.
Perhaps most important was the team’s ability to put the game away on the ground, both with a big response score and a game-killing drive. In the fourth quarter, after Clemson put together a long scoring drive to close the gap to one score, Jaydon Blue took an outside zone carry behind Kelvin Banks Jr. 77 yards to put the lead back to two scores. On the next drive, Texas took the ball over with 7:42 left on the clock and ran the ball eight times to bleed nearly six minutes off of the clock.
Texas can be exposed through the air
Cade Klubnik, a probable NFL Draft pick, is the best quarterback Texas has played this year and it showed in the game against Clemson. The Austin native racked up 336 yards and three touchdowns, nearly doubling the defense’s touchdown total in one game. Clemson connected on eight passes of 15 yards or more in this one, including two touchdowns of 22 and 25 yards.
The Tigers had six players that finished with more than two receptions, with freshman TJ Moore turning in a game-high 116 yards and a touchdown on 12 targets — just 16 of his yards came after the catch. It’s the highest passing total allowed for the Longhorns this season and the first time they’ve given up more than 215 yards through the air since last year’s CFP opener against Washington.
The Longhorns need to get out of their own way
Texas had a chance to put this game away in the first half, forcing Klubnik into a rare interception and taking the ball over at the Clemson 23 with a 21-7 lead. The Longhorns were unable to move the ball, giving it back to the Tigers after gaining just eight yards on four plays. On the Longhorn’s next drive, a Quinn Ewers pass slipped through the hands of an open receiver turning a surefire first down into a turnover that could have been much worse. Adding injury to insult, Texas lost center Jake Majors after the fifth-year starter was on the receiving end of a blindside block following the interception.
Texas rebounded and took a 28-10 lead into halftime thanks to a long drive to close out the half, but could put up just three points in the third quarter — a Bert Auburn field goal on the opening drive — to keep Clemson in the game.
Regardless of the struggles, Texas won and advanced, setting up a matchup against the Arizona State Sun Devils, who got a week off after winning the Big 12.