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Texas is flawed? Who isn’t? The Longhorns are also good enough to win it all
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If you were looking for flaws in Texas’ victory over Clemson, you found them.
You saw a team that sometimes looked a bit too herky-jerky in the passing game even though it has a decorated starting quarterback with talented pass-catchers and an elite schemer. You saw a team that showed vulnerability defending the pass against what was the best quarterback Texas faced all season. You saw a team that got a bit too cute on 4th down at times and struggled to turn a comfortable lead into an insurmountable lead.
Texas is flawed. Big whoop. Welcome to the 2024 season. Who in this sport lacks flaws? It’s a year in which there was 1 FBS unbeaten. The 2-seed is a 2-loss Georgia team that nearly suffered loss No. 3 to unranked Georgia Tech. The 3-seed is a Mountain West team whose best win was against UNLV. The 4-seed is a 2-loss Arizona State team that was picked to finish last in the Big 12 upon arrival.
The 12-team Playoff isn’t a beauty contest. Texas showed in a 38-24 CFP first-round win against Clemson that it can overcome those imperfections.
Dare I say, it showed against Clemson why it can overcome those imperfections en route to a national title.
Calm down, Georgia fans. I didn’t say that “Texas will beat Georgia in matchup No. 3.” We’ve got a long way to go before that’s even a thought because they’re on the opposite side of the bracket.
The task for Texas will be the same as it was Saturday. That is, can you find a way to play to your strengths during a day 60-minute window against elite competition? That answer, despite the lack of wins vs. current CFP Top 25 teams entering the Playoff, should be a clear “yes.”
A lesser team would’ve collapsed with offensive line injuries to center Jake Majors and right tackle Cam Williams, who went down on the same play as Tre Wisner. Mind you, that was after it entered the Playoff with Outland Trophy winner Kelvin Banks Jr. working his way back from an ankle injury that he suffered against Texas A&M.
(Steve Sarkisian offered up a somewhat promising report that both Majors and Wisner could’ve played down the stretch but were held out as a precaution.)
Instead, Texas shuffled pieces up front — redshirt freshman Trevor Goosby stepped up tremendously at right tackle — and paved the way for 306 sack-adjusted rushing yards, 77 of which came on a back-breaking run by Jaydon Blue after Clemson made it a 1-score game with 11:43 to play in the 4th quarter. Blue got the glory, but the seas parted on the right side of that Clemson defensive front.
That was the story of the night. Blue and Wisner combined for 256 yards on 29 carries with 2 scores apiece. They made it easy to forget that Texas suffered season-ending injuries to CJ Baxter and Christian Clark in fall camp. In August, it was fair to wonder if backfield depth could be a deterrent to a Texas national title. Now, it’s fair to wonder if it can be the backbone of a title run.
Now is the part where I mention that even Oregon, which Texas would only face if both teams reached the semifinals, is only No. 55 in FBS in yards/rush allowed and allowed 3 teams to hit 200 rushing yards, including … Purdue?
That’s nitpicking the No. 1 seed, but isn’t that what we’ve done with Texas all year?
We searched for flaws because that’s what we do with title-hopeful teams. Go ask Georgia what it’s like to hear reports of its demise every time it surrenders a 20-yard run. Texas finally earned the right to be in that conversation. It was a 2023 Playoff team that retained both play-callers, its starting quarterback and a roster that ranked No. 36 in percentage of returning production. Add in the favorable schedule and yeah, many have looked at Texas with an eyebrow raised all year.
Granted, that wasn’t true for everyone. Vegas had Texas with +360 odds to win a national title, which was tied with Oregon for the best odds. For what it’s worth, Texas opened as nearly a 2-touchdown favorite via DraftKings in the quarterfinals against Arizona State. The Longhorns will return to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where Georgia rallied back and won the rematch to claim the SEC Championship.
The vast majority of Texas skepticism can be attributed to Georgia. Credit the Dawgs for dominating that heralded Texas offensive line in both matchups. They also forced key turnovers of Ewers that helped overcome a quiet offensive start against the Texas defense.
Speaking of Ewers, 2 things can be true at the same time. One is that he’s had moments in which it’s been fair to question the zip on his fastball. Maybe the oblique injury he suffered in September is lingering, or perhaps the ankle injury that he suffered against Kentucky in November played a part in that. Whatever the case, it didn’t prevent him from “managing the game well,” as Sarkisian said afterward.
Ewers’ lone interception Saturday was an on-target throw that was bobbled. It initially looked like a pick-6, but an illegal blindside block on the return — it was the play that knocked out Majors — called off the touchdown and Clemson eventually settled for a field goal instead of a touchdown. Ewers connected with Matthew Golden on a rare downfield shot for 43 yards early in the game, and as always, safety blanket Gunnar Helm showed up big with 6 catches for 71 yards and a score. Ewers also stepped up in the pocket and scrambled for a 3rd-down conversion with an 11-yard run.
That’s a positive, as was him getting sacked just twice against that loaded Clemson defensive front.
But again, this is Texas. You always have to wonder about the negatives. On Saturday, that negative was as clear as ever. Klubnik threw 3 touchdown passes against a Texas defense that allowed 4 in 13 games and became the first quarterback to throw for 205 yards against Texas all season; he finished with 336 through the air. Clemson’s wide receivers challenged that All-American Texas secondary in a way that might’ve made some wonder if that unit has a potential problem.
Of course, the game ended with former walk-on-turned-All-American safety Michael Taaffe dropping the hammer well short of the line to gain for Clemson on 4th down. That was the only ending Texas cared about.
If you’ve been realistic about the resurgence of Texas under Sarkisian, you might consider a 12-win season a success. After all, the Longhorns just hit that mark for the 5th time in program history and the 2nd time in as many seasons. “Texas is back” jokes aside, this year was about establishing that 2023 wasn’t a one-off and that the Longhorns deserved to be viewed through a title-contending lens in their first season in the SEC. Mission accomplished on that front.
On the other front (winning a national title), stay tuned. Flaws aside, Texas is worthy of that attention.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
