AUSTIN, Texas – Give credit to Clemson – especially quarterback Cade Klubnik – for fighting to give the College Football Playoff at least a shot of competitiveness in the fourth quarter on Saturday.

The Tigers managed to make it a one-score game early in the fourth and then tried again by driving to the Texas 5-yard line. Things got exciting at Darrell K Royal Stadium.

Then came a telling conclusion.

Three straight rushes were fended off by the Longhorns, who were on their way to a 38-24 win to advance to the quarterfinals against Arizona State.

The third game of the expanded College Football Playoff took place here and followed an already familiar pattern.

* An incredible atmosphere on campus that reinforces the positive aspects of home playoff games, including potentially quarterfinal games in future years.

* A largely uncompetitive result – the Longhorns led by three points most of the game before the Tigers put up some fights to at least make it interesting.

That followed Penn State’s 38-10 win over SMU the previous Saturday and a 27-17 Notre Dame triumph over Indiana that wasn’t nearly as competitive as the score suggested. Both were physical disagreements.

Maybe Tennessee can salvage opening weekend at Ohio State.

If the College Football Playoff committee wants to overreact to the small sample size of the first three playoff games — and college football is a sport of overreaction — then there is a simple lesson.

Beware of the team that can’t win the line of scrimmage.

For all the pyrotechnics of modern offense and 7-on-7 influence, the CFP began with three games in which one team was able to manipulate the other.

The Longhorns utilized a road-paving offensive line that was able to open gaping holes in the Clemson defensive front. Conversely, their defensive line was effectively in the Tigers’ backfield, harassing (if not sacking) Klubnik all night long.

Texas rushed for 292 yards, including Jayden Blue’s touchdown runs of 77 and 38 yards. Clemson scored just 76 points from the floor.

“I always do my best to win every game,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “One of the first points was ‘run to win’. We have to run the football to win this game and we have to run the football to win in these playoffs.”

Notre Dame defeated IU 193-63. Penn State dominated the ground game against SMU 185-58.

That doesn’t include defensive line pressure, which contributed to three critical SMU interceptions in State College (two returned for touchdowns). It was the same in South Bend, where Indiana continued to punt despite being down three points because “our offense wasn’t doing anything,” Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti said.

“That’s what I will always believe in, an O-line/D-line driven program,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said Friday. “Being able to run the ball on offense and being able to stop the run on defense while the guys are up front.”

It didn’t take long for a debate to erupt on social media about how the selection committee screwed up — namely, by making at-large offers to IU and SMU (Clemson got in via the ACC’s automatic offer).

It got so bizarre that at one point on social media, ESPN basketball commentator Dick Vitale clapped Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin for posting critically about Indiana and SMU.

“Has (your) Ole Miss (team) ever had a bad game?” Vitale, an 85-year-old currently battling cancer, chirped. “Watch the film of your games in Kentucky and Florida.”

At least Kiffin vs. Dickie V was more competitive than most of the action on the field.

Strength of schedule. Record strength. Quality wins. Quality losses. Analytics. Data points.

They all come into play when the committee makes its decisions, but who knows if any of them actually matter in the end? Texas didn’t get a win over a team ranked in the final CFP Top 25, lost its conference title game… and advanced. Penn State and Notre Dame’s records weren’t much better – the Lions beat No. 20 Illinois and the Irish beat No. 22 Army, but that was it.

What they all had was the ability to block and attack up front.

It was clear that Texas would win this game in its opener – even though it was down 7-0 at the time. At this point, Kelvin Banks, Hayden Conner, Jake Majors, DJ Campbell and Cameron Williams entered the field and began violently bypassing the Clemson defense.

This allowed Quintrevion Wisner and Blue to score one first down after the other through the holes. The Longhorns reached the end zone on their first three drives, which were run-heavy attacks of 75, 65 and 87 yards. Basically it was over.

With its last two national championships, Clemson has a much greater track record than IU and SMU and has a gifted passer in Klubnik who could keep them alive. Still, the script was mostly the same. A team could run the ball. The other couldn’t. It was clear from the start of the game that the Longhorns would be able to get the result they wanted.

How does a selection committee quantify good line play? That’s the hard part. And there is the intellectual argument that winning, no matter how, should really matter.

Reputation, not to mention the eye test, suggests that the SEC teams with three losses that weren’t on the field – Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina – would have done better on offense. On the other hand, who really knows?

There are non-competitive games in football – from the NFL playoffs to the old two-team BCS playoffs or the four-team playoffs. There’s no need to panic, even though college football is a nervous affair that seems to thrive on reflexive movements.

In this case, it’s pretty obvious – three dominant wins based on dominating the line of scrimmage.