No. 5 seed Texas and No. 12 seed Clemson are set to clash in a captivating first-round matchup in the College Football Playoff on Saturday afternoon in Austin, Texas.
The winner will advance to the CFP quarterfinals, with fourth seed Arizona State awaiting in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on Jan. 1. Texas opened as a 10 1/2-point favorite in the first-ever meeting between the storied programs, the largest favorite of any first-round game.
The Longhorns (11-2) look to rebound from a 22-19 overtime loss to then-No. 5 Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship. The Tigers (10-3) earned the final spot in the CFP with a last-second 34-31 win over then-No. 8 SMU in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship.
Texas battled to the end and beyond in the loss to Georgia, dominating the first half despite quarterback Quinn Ewers playing with a sprained right ankle and with left tackle Kelvin Banks (who won the Outland Trophy as college football’s best interior lineman) on the shelf, also with an ankle injury.
Both are expected to be healthy for Saturday’s game. Ewers was asked Monday about his health and his role as the focal point of the Longhorns’ offense.
“I feel good. It was good to get some time off,” Ewers explained. “I just try to get the ball to the playmakers and let them go to work at the end of the day. It sounds like a simple answer, but that’s how simple it is.”
Both of Texas’ losses this season have been to Georgia, and the two setbacks cost the Longhorns the chance to capture a SEC championship in their first year in the vaunted league.
“To come off two weeks after the SEC championship, this game is pretty exciting,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “One of the concerns always for us as coaches is that long layoff. How do you keep your team sharp and how do you keep them competitive, yet in the same token heal and get healthy?”
The Tigers used their considerable big-game experience, the arm and legs of quarterback Cade Klubnik and a 56-yard final-play field goal from freshman kicker Nolan Hauser to advance to the CFP.
Clemson battled through a campaign in which it was routed by Georgia in the season opener and lost at home to Louisville and South Carolina.
To advance, the Tigers will have to play their best in what’s sure to be an unfriendly venue.
“It’s hard when you have everything against you, but it’s fun too,” said Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, a two-time national champion. “This is as good as it gets. Somebody asked me today, ‘What it’s going to be like?’ I said, ‘Well, it’s going to be like a normal road game, times a million.'”
Klubnik has completed 63.7 percent of his throws this season, racking up 3,303 yards and 33 touchdowns to just five interceptions. He’s added another 458 yards and seven TDs on the ground.
The Tigers’ junior signal-caller is from Austin and he was a prep star at Austin Westlake, the school that also produced quarterbacks Drew Brees and Nick Foles. Klubnik and Ewers went head-to-head in a high school state championship game, with Klubnik leading Westlake to the victory.
Ewers, who led Texas to the four-team CFP a year ago, threw for 2,665 yards and 25 TDs this season.
Swinney said Tuesday that Clemson running back Phil Mafah (1,106 rushing yards, eight rushing TDs in 2024) will play against the Longhorns despite a shoulder injury that will require surgery after the season.
“Mafah’s going to give us everything he’s got,” Swinney said. “He’s a guy we have to have play well for sure.”
–Field Level Media
