Five takeaways from the Texas Longhorns CFP victory over the Clemson Tigers

The Texas Longhorns stayed alive in their quest for a national championship, defeating the Clemson Tigers 38-24 in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday.

Clemson calmed the raucous DKR crowd with a rushing touchdown on the first drive, but Texas quickly regained control and led 28-10 at halftime. While the second half was slow, the Texas defense and running game helped solidify the win with clutch plays throughout.

The Longhorns advance to the quarterfinals, where they will face the Arizona State Sun Devils in a neutral-site game on New Year’s Day in Atlanta. If Texas wants to win this game and continue their path to the playoffs, the Longhorns need to continue to improve on a few things and work on a few more aspects.

Here are the five takeaways from the win:

The Longhorns scored four touchdowns on the ground against Clemson between Quintrevion Wisner and Jaydon Blue.

Whether it was a gut shot or a pitch to the side, the running game was in full swing. The running game combined to average 6.1 yards per carry, and a lot of it had to do with Blue and Wisner. Blue had 146 yards on 14 carries and Wisner had 110 yards on 15 carries.

The offensive line helped create huge gaps all game long and Wisner and Blue took advantage of that. With a 77-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, his longest run of the season, Blue helped Texas score two points in the second half. And Wisner had several big plays, including converting a 3rd-and-10 on Texas’ first drive.

The biggest difference for Texas was getting the running game going. It’s no surprise that the two lowest rushing games of the entire season for Texas were the two games they lost. And while it’s important for the running game to be visible early on, as was the case against Clemson, the second half running game was also phenomenal for Texas in keeping Texas on top.

For now, a big tip for the running game against Clemson.

Ewers finished the game completing 17 of his 24 passes for 202 yards and one touchdown and one interception. Although Ewers gave up the ball again, it was hardly his fault, as the ball bounced right out of DeAndre Moore Jr.’s hands and into the air for the pick. The loss of the ball didn’t mean much and he made up for it on the ensuing drive with a throw over the middle to Gunnar Helm, who scored six points.

Ewers seemed relaxed and gave many great lectures throughout the game. Many incompletions could be blamed on the receiver, including Golden’s dropped pass on fourth-and-2 when Ewers made the right pass.

When the running game is on it makes the job a lot easier, Ewers had plenty of time to throw and had no trouble moving the ball when needed. Texas completed six of its 12 third downs with Ewers.

And now, with a neutral game, Ewers can hopefully keep up. He’s been quite effective so far this season with neutral-site games against Oklahoma and Georgia. Texas fans have to believe in him.

It is a development that will affect Texas. If the Longhorns can’t come out with the same performance as they did in the first half, the championship caliber teams will take advantage.

For example, look at the SEC Championship: Georgia took advantage of lax coverage and won the game in overtime. Clemson was stopped in the end, but with Texas taking a 31-10 lead, the game shouldn’t have dragged on that long.

Looking back at the Texas A&M game where Texas had no points in the second half, they have improved, but when Texas has averaged less than a touchdown in the second half over the last three games, it will be when playing tight playoff giants like Oregon and Georgia.

The Longhorns’ secondary gave up 336 yards, the most passing yards it has given up all season.

Cade Klubnik came through with quick throws that helped Clemson continue to make progress down the field and make long offensive attacks. After Clemson’s first drive, which lasted nearly seven minutes and covered 60 yards through the air, it looked like Texas was going to struggle a bit. But the defense kept them out of the end zone until the third quarter.

After that, Clemson got moving again. In the second half, the Tigers made it a point to target Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad, and for the most part it worked. It was an uncharacteristically poor game from Muhammad, he continued to lose one-on-one but still stopped Clemson every now and then.

However, secondary school helped finish the work. Michael Taaffe had a big tackle on a stop on fourth down to give Texas the ball back late in the fourth. Clemson doesn’t allow many turnovers, so forcing just one shouldn’t be a big deal. The Texas defense is still as strong as most.

After taking care of things against Clemson, the Longhorns now play the Big 12 champion Arizona State Sun Devils. And although they are a very good team, they are probably the weakest team of the top four seeds.

While the only undefeated team left is Oregon, a possible team Texas would face in the semifinals after Arizona State, the Longhorns have plenty of momentum heading into the quarterfinals. Texas won’t play Georgia in the national championship until both teams make it, and teams that could give Texas some problems, like Ohio State and Penn State, are in the same situation.

But Arizona State should be the sole focus for now. The game between the Longhorns and the Sun Devils will take place on the first day of the new year. Kickoff begins at 12:00 p.m. CT on ESPN at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.

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