There were WAY more than the eyes of just Texas on Austin on Saturday, especially after two dud games in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
And Clemson gave home-team Texas a tussle, but even when the Tigers cut it to 31-24, it never really felt like the Longhorns were in trouble.
Coach Steve Sarkisian and those Longhorns advanced to the second round of the CFP with a 38-24 win over Clemson here at Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Clemson (10-4) scored first, but the Longhorns scored often in the win, and Texas (12-2) will take on Big 12 champion Arizona State on Jan. 1 in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta, in round two.
Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik, an Austin native, threw for 336 yards and almost made a good Texas defense look poor, especially the secondary.
But Texas was up to the challenge. Running back Jaydon Blue had 146 yards and two touchdowns, one of them a fourth-quarter score that served as insurance for the ‘Horns in the win.
Klubnik had just thrown a touchdown pass to cut it to 31-24, and then Blue, on Texas’ next series, answered, giving the Longhorns a 38-24 lead with 11 minutes left and pretty much finishing the contest.
Klubnik finished 26-of-43 for those 336 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. His counterpart for Texas (and for a UIL Texas state championship game a few years back), Quinn Ewers, went 17-of-24 for 202 yards, an interception and a touchdown pass to Gunnar Helm. Helm had six catches for 77 yards and the score. Klubnik’s TD passes were to three different receivers: T.J. Moore, who had nine catches for 116 yards; Antonio Williams, and Jarvis Green.
In addition to Blue’s performance, Texas also had a big game from Quintrevion Wisner, who had one more carry (15) than Blue, and finished with 110 yards and also scored twice.
Texas’ defense held Clemson to 76 rushing yards. Anthony Hill, Jr. led Texas in tackles (nine), Ethan Burke had a sack, as did Barryn Sorrell and Bill Norton, and Colin Simmons was the player who intercepted Klubnik.
Now the Longhorns will have to deal with the threat of a different sort: Arizona State running back Cam “Scat” Scattebo, who had 170 yards against Iowa State in a Big 12 title-game win, and has 22 touchdowns this season, 19 on the ground.
That’ll be in the Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Jan. 1, a 1 p.m. Eastern / noon Central kickoff.
