Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian is widely regarded as one of the best offensive minds in the sport and is highly regarded for his ability to scheme up plays that lead to long touchdowns.
For the first offensive play of his team’s College Football Playoff first-round game against the Clemson Tigers however, Sarkisian didn’t dial up anything fancy. There was no multilayered screen play nor a complicated, slow-developing run play.
Instead, he called a simple zone play right behind left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. The Outland Trophy winner, the best interior lineman in the country, was a welcome return to the starting lineup. Banks injured his ankle in the first half of the win over the Texas A&M Aggies last month and missed the SEC championship two weeks ago against the Georgia Bulldogs.
Running back Quintrevion Wisner gained just five yards on the play, the first on a march to the end zone to tie the game early in the first quarter, but it didn’t really matter. Sarkisian and his program wanted to send a message about their rushing offense that mustered just 60 combined yards in their two losses this season.
This Texas team can still run the ball when it matters. It can still rip off big runs. It can still get what it needs behind that surprisingly deep offensive line and a patched-up running back room.
In the wake of a 38–24 win over the bid-stealing ACC champion Tigers on Saturday, such a commitment to the ground game underscored why the Longhorns have such a high floor when it comes to this 12-team tournament. If Texas keeps rushing like it did against Clemson—48 times for a season-high 292 yards—then the question becomes not just if it can beat the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Peach Bowl quarterfinal on New Year’s Day, but how much further will it keep playing after that?
“Our offense is better when we can run it because then the balance can really kick in for us to be able to run it, to throw it, to screen it, to RPO,” Sarkisian said. “Naturally when we can run it effectively, teams have to prepare for a lot when they’re getting ready to play us.”
It’s a time-honored formula to win games, one Sarkisian no doubt had instilled into him when he was a young assistant under Pete Carroll. It was a lesson he relearned during a stint as an NFL assistant. It was likely drilled into him some more by Nick Saban when serving as the Alabama Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator prior to departing for the 40 Acres four years ago.
If Texas can run, it can win. If it can run well, it can dominate.
Just ask Clemson, which had given up only 14 rushing touchdowns coming into its latest playoff appearance. On Saturday, though, Wisner (110 yards) scored twice before banging his knee and was held out for precautionary reasons.
While running back depth has been tested as a result of several season-ending injuries, that turned out to not be an issue during a largely one-sided affair. Speedy backup Jaydon Blue contributed 146 yards and two touchdowns, including a backbreaking 77-yarder just two plays after Clemson cut the lead to one score.
“I always put what it takes to win each game,” Sarkisian said. “One of the first bullet points I put up in this room was, run to win. We needed to run the football to win this game, and we’re going to need to run the football to advance in these playoffs.”
It helps that the Longhorns defense is capable of complementing what the offense does so well. They bottled up Tigers star tailback Phil Mafah to just nine yards on two carries and, aside from allowing a 41-yard scamper by wide receiver Adam Randall on a surprise play, kept Clemson in check with just 3.2 yards per carry.
Though opposing quarterback Cade Klubnik heated up down the stretch to finish with 336 yards and three touchdowns, the Texas defense picked him off once and forced constant pressure, finishing with three sacks, seven tackles for loss and only 4-of-15 on third and fourth down.
More impressively, the Longhorns stood tall on the goal line when it felt like the game was hanging in the balance with just over eight minutes left—stoning Clemson on four straight plays from inside the 5-yard line.
“The guys’ preparation has been outstanding week in and week out,” defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski said. “The confidence that we developed earlier in the season has just grown. Today we put those corners in a lot of one-on-one situations and they made big plays on some 50–50 balls.”
If there is any limitation to Texas’s ceiling, it will center on the quarterback.
Though Quinn Ewers completed his first eight passes, he finished with only 202 yards and threw an interception that was only saved by a penalty from becoming a pick-six. He made several nice throws down the field, but also misconnected on an easy pass to convert a fourth down late in the third quarter and connected just twice on throws in the final frame. He seemed to be much more mobile than in recent games after dealing with a lingering ankle injury. His play was solid, but unspectacular.
Backup Arch Manning entered on a handful of designed runs (zero yards on three carries) that included a fumble on a fourth-down sneak attempt that gave the ball back to Clemson late.
Time will be on Sarkisian’s side in trying to wring the most out of the position. Maybe just as important is the favorable path the team will enjoy: the Longhorns not only get the weakest of the four teams that received a bye, but also a potential semifinal berth right up the road in the Cotton Bowl.
“Last year was a four-team playoff. This year, it got expanded to 12 and we were the only team of those four teams that made it back into the playoff. It’s not easy to get on this stage and they earned it,” Sarkisian said. “We all know what the end goal that we have and that we want, but that can’t happen unless we focus on what’s right in front of us.”
For now, that is Arizona State to kick off 2025 in an enticing quarterfinal of the last two Big 12 champions. Beyond that, if the Longhorns’ running game continues to click like it did in a comfortable CFP victory that showed what the team is capable of, more is there for the taking.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Texas Sends Message With Dominant Ground Game in CFP Win Over Clemson.
