After a 22-19 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game, where Texas struggled with just 31 rushing yards, the Longhorns’ strategy for their opening College Football Playoff game against the Clemson Tigers was clear, and could be summed up in three words:
Actually, that’s not the right ‘run’ related three-word phrase. I must have Tom Hanks on the mind. Let me start over:
“Run to win,” said Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian after the Longhorns’ 38-24 victory over Clemson, according to Dave Wilson of ESPN.com. “We needed to run the football to win this game, and we’ll need to run the football to advance in these playoffs. That’s what playoff football’s all about.”
The four winners in the College Football Playoff’s opening round — Texas, Notre Dame, Penn State, and Ohio State — averaged 120 more rushing yards than their opponents, proving Sarkisian’s point. And no team was more dominant on the ground than the Longhorns.
Behind Jaydon Blue and Quintrevion Wisner’s combined 256 rushing yards and four touchdowns, the Longhorns out-rushed Clemson by an eye-popping 216 yards. This effort made Blue and Wisner the first duo of backs in 25 years to record at least 110 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, and multiple receptions in a postseason game.
After the win, Blue revealed this focus on the ground game began after Texas’ SEC Championship loss.
“After the SEC Championship, we didn’t run the ball well at all,” Blue said. “[Sarkisian] really stayed on us in practice. The O-line, the running backs, the whole offense took that in, and we were more physical in practice. He made running the ball a huge priority.”
Repeating this performance against Arizona State in the Peach Bowl may prove challenging.
Led by Cam Skattebo, a powerful running back who rushed for over 1,500 yards and finished 5th in the Heisman Trophy voting, the Sun Devils out-rushed their opponents by 81 yards per game on their way to a conference title in their first Big 12 season.
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