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The first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff is right around the corner, and it is time to start diving into some of the matchups. In this article, we will preview the matchup between the ACC Champion Clemson Tigers and the Texas Longhorns while recapping each team’s regular season. Without further ado, let’s get into it.
The Clemson Tigers, led by head coach Dabo Swinney, finished the season with a 10-3 record and an ACC Championship win over SMU. They won 34-31 after grabbing a big lead early in the game.
Junior quarterback Cade Klubnik leads the Clemson offense and had a great season. He threw for a whopping 33 touchdown passes compared to just 5 interceptions while also throwing for over 3,300 yards. Klubnik ranked first in the nation in interception percentage at just over 1%, which is a bonkers stat. He also added 7 more touchdowns on the ground.
The run game for Clemson is also a solid one and is led by Phil Mafah. The senior running back ran for over 1,100 yards, 8 touchdowns and averages 5.2 yards per carry. Mafah is a big, physical RB, listed at 230 lbs, which could play a big factor in this game against a solid Texas defense.
We also cannot sleep on wide receiver Antonio Williams, who is the alpha WR for this Clemson squad. He caught 71 passes from Klubnik for 838 yards and 10 touchdowns. It will be interesting to see how he stacks up against a great Longhorn secondary.
Texas is coming off its first regular season in the SEC, and it went well. They finished the season 11-2, making it to the SEC Conference Championship, where they ultimately lost to Georgia 22-19. The Longhorns’ only two losses came from playing those Bulldogs.
They are led into this College Football Playoff game by QB Quinn Ewers. He had a solid season, but it was not the season we all thought he would put up. He threw 22 touchdowns compared to 9 interceptions and 2,665 yards. To be fair to Quinn, he did miss some time earlier in the season due to injury, which led to us seeing our first glimpses of Arch Manning.
As for the rest of the weapons on offense, you have RBs Quinshon Judkins and Jaydon Blue, who share a solid portion of the backfield. They have combined for 9 rushing touchdowns this year. In the passing game, they like to spread the ball around. WR Matthew Golden, TE Gunnar Helm and WR Isaiah Bond all had over 500 yards on the season and combined for 18 touchdowns.
The Texas defense is the biggest reason why they are only a two-loss team. They allowed the fewest points per game and yards per play while also allowing the second-fewest yards per game and points per play. They are just an elite defense, which could make for a long day for the Clemson offense.
This game is interesting, with Clemson sneaking in as the 12-seed. Clemson played one SEC team, Georgia, in Week 1, which didn’t go well, as they lost 34-3. Klubnik had his worst game of the season, throwing for just 142 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception.
Unfortunately for Clemson and their fans, this Texas defense has had a better season than Georgia, especially the pass defense. The Longhorns pass defense ranks first in yards per pass allowed at just 5.2 and yards per game at 143.1 while playing in the SEC.
If Clemson is going to keep this game close, they need to focus on the ground game with Phil Mafah. Texas is still tough on the ground, allowing 106 yards per game, which is 13th-best, but it might be the way to attack them.
However, we expect this to be a long day for the Clemson offense, especially Cade Klubnik. That is why our pick is on Cade Klubnik throwing for fewer than 200 yards in a Clemson loss.
Dylan has had a love for sports since he was a kid. Four years ago, he decided to dive into the sports content-creating industry specializing in Fantasy Football, NFL and NBA. He has since had his work published on sites that include Fantasy Alarm, Fansided, and Fantasy Six Pack.