The Texas Longhorns officially advanced to the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff after a 38-24 victory over the Clemson Tigers on Saturday evening.

Texas entered the game with concerns about its performance against Georgia in the SEC Championship two weeks ago, particularly the offense’s inability to create scoring opportunities on third downs and inside the red zone. The Longhorns made just two field goals on three total red zone attempts and were unsuccessful when it mattered most.

But against Clemson, the Longhorns converted four of five red zone trips into a total of 24 points on the scoreboard and posted a 50% third-down conversion rate.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian attributed the efficiency to his players’ focus on the elements that needed improvement over the past two weeks.

“It was about execution, and execution is in the details, and I thought our guys were very detail-oriented all week and they were detail-oriented tonight in how they played. I think that showed on our third down conversions,” Sarkisian said during the postgame press conference. “Granted, we were pretty aggressive on fourth down, which we always will be, and we didn’t hit that number today like we would have liked, but I was just thinking about execution. There weren’t even that many. Third losses in the first half because we played at a really high level and that’s because our guys were very detail-oriented.”

On the other hand, the Texas defense was able to limit the Tigers to one touchdown and one field goal after making it into the red zone three times, while also allowing just 25% of third downs to be converted.

Clemson snuck in its first touchdown of the afternoon on a 3rd-and-7 on the game’s first drive, making it loud and clear for its first touchdown at Darrell K Royal Texas-Memorial Stadium. It appeared Texas had trouble finding an answer on the following drive, reaching a 4th-and-1 inside the red zone despite sending backup quarterback Arch Manning on third down. But a rush by redshirt freshman running back Jerrick Gibson set up a rushing touchdown for sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner, tying the score at 7-7.

Manning was a key backup to starting quarterback Quinn Ewers on third and fourth downs. In the third quarter, Manning converted a 3rd-and-1 that would ultimately help the Longhorns get back into the red zone and score a field goal on a 4th-and-4.

Sarkisian said that while there are promising aspects to converting to the red zone, there is still a lot of work to be done.

“Honestly, I was kind of annoyed with myself when we got stopped down there at the 5 and settled for the field goal, and I was kind of annoyed when we got the turnover and didn’t score anything there on the field “But hey, I think we’ve gotten better, but I think we can do it
continue to improve,” Sarkisian said.

Texas’ revival inside the red zone allowed them to score the most points since the game against the Texas A&M Aggies, where they scored 28 points from four trips to the red zone.

The Longhorns’ ability to clean up an area that was giving them trouble and ultimately cost them a win in the SEC Championship spoke volumes about their determination to fight their way to the national championship stage. Texas will face the Arizona State Sun Devils in the quarterfinals on January 1, bringing the program one step closer to its season goal.

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