AUSTIN, Texas – Clemson’s football season came to an end Saturday night at Royal Texas Stadium in Austin, Texas, and it was obvious why.

The Tigers’ defense, once one of the best in the country, allowed 494 yards and allowed big play after big play in Texas’ 38-24 victory in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

The Longhorns (12-2) ran for 292 total yards. However, 216 of those yards came on explosive plays, including runs of 22, 38, 16, 19, 77 and 21 yards.

Texas also had passes of 43, 21, 19 and 16 yards. The Longhorns finished the game with 12 explosive plays. Their offensive performance was a microcosm of Clemson’s defensive season.

The question now is what the Tigers will do with their defense in the offseason. It’s no secret that there needs to be change.

“We’re not worried about it,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “We had a great year and won the championship. I have to improve in all areas. Have an excellent staff.

“All these guys work really hard and well together, but we have to improve everywhere. If we want to get to the top. Good enough to make the playoffs, good enough to win the league, not good enough to win it all.”

Defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin says they still have a lot of self-scouting to do, but wouldn’t comment on whether there would be any changes to his defensive staff.

“In January we will do our end-of-year self-scout review and look at any issues and issues and how teams have attacked us throughout the year,” he said. “You can just see trends and so on and so on and so forth. This is the next step, so to speak.

“Obviously there will be no recruiting until mid-January before we can go out. Just evaluate all this with the personnel, the division by areas, fronts, personnel groupings, etc. and just give a thorough assessment. Then lay out the plan for February and show how we will get better and address that plan.”

As for his own experiences and what he’s learned in his third year as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator, he says it’s definitely a year where he learned a lot.

“Yes, every year is a life in itself. Every team is different. It’s just an incredible experience being with these guys every day and just being there,” he said. “It was a lot of fun, a lot of hard days, but it was just an incredible experience and I learned a lot.” And super proud of these guys.”