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College Football Playoff

Saturday, December 21, 2024 | 4 p.m. ET No. 5 Seed Texas 38, No. 12 Seed Clemson 24 DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium | Austin, Texas
TV: TNT and MAX
SCORE BY QUARTERS 1st 2nd 3rd 4th FINAL
CLEM #12 Clemson (10-4) 7 3 7 7 24
TEX #5 Texas (12-2) 7 21 3 7 38


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VIDEO RECAP


 

2024-25 CFP BRACKET


 

Attendance:
101,150
Kickoff Time:
3:11 p.m. ET
End of Game:
6:43 p.m. ET
Game Duration:
3:32


AUSTIN, Texas - Jaydon Blue ran for 146 yards and two touchdowns, the last a 77-yard burst in the fourth quarter, and Texas beat Clemson 38-24 on Saturday in the first round of the expanded College Football Playoff.

Blue's fourth-quarter touchdown came after Clemson rallied from down 31-10 to 31-24 on Cade Klubnik's third touchdown pass.

Texas (12-2) advanced to the Jan. 1 Peach bowl to play Big 12 champion Arizona State.

"You can't win (the championship) if you don't win the first one," Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. "We did that."

Blue also scored on 38-yard cut-and-dash burst in the second quarter. On his second, he dove into the line, shook a tackler, and then outraced three more to the end zone with just 11 minutes left.

Blue missed a game this season with a nagging ankle injury and saw his carries reduced over several games because of fumble problems. He clutched the ball tightly to his chest when a defender tried to rip it away.

"It was a sign of relief after everything I've been going through," Blue said. "I stayed patient, I saw a crease and it was everything (open) from there."

Quintrevion Wisner added 110 yards rushing and two first-half touchdowns for Texas. Quinn Ewers passed for 202 yards and a touchdown.

Klubnik, who grew up in Austin, passed for 336 yards and rallied the Tigers (10-4) in the second half against a Texas defense that had given up just four passing touchdowns all season.

The runner-up in the Southeastern Conference, Texas is the only one of last season's four playoff teams to make the new 12-team field. Clemson won the ACC championship to make the playoff. The Tigers were the No. 12 seed in their first appearance since 2020 and seventh overall.

"It's not easy to get on this stage (again), and they earned it," Sarkisian said. "It think college football got this one right. This idea of a home playoff game with a 12-team format was pretty special."


SCORING SUMMARY

QTR TIME SCORE
(V-H)		 TEAM SCORING PLAY DRIVE
1st 08:14 7-0 Clemson Antonio Williams 22 yd pass from Cade Klubnik (Nolan Hauser kick) 12-75
(06:46)
1st 02:04 7-7 Texas Quintrevion Wisner 3 yd rush (Bert Auburn kick) 12-75
(06:10)
2nd 12:49 7-14 Texas Jaydon Blue 38 yd rush (Bert Auburn kick) 5-65
(02:04)
2nd 07:26 7-21 Texas Quintrevion Wisner 16 yd rush (Bert Auburn kick) 6-82
(02:57)
2nd 01:33 10-21 Clemson Nolan Hauser 32 yd FG 7-40
(01:07)
2nd 00:28 10-28 Texas Gunnar Helm 19 yd pass from Quinn Ewers (Bert Auburn kick) 7-65
(01:05)
3rd 08:10 10-31 Texas Bert Auburn 22 yd FG 14-71
(06:50)
3rd 03:29 17-31 Clemson Jarvis Green 25 yd pass from Cade Klubnik (Nolan Hauser kick) 4-55
(01:05)
4th 11:43 24-31 Clemson T.J. Moore 7 yd pass from Cade Klubnik (Nolan Hauser kick) 10-64
(04:12)
4th 10:48 24-38 Texa Jaydon Blue 77 yd rush (Bert Auburn kick) 2-83
(00:51)


CLEMSON STARTERS

POS. NO. OFFENSE
WR 0 Antonio Williams
WR 1 T.J. Moore
WR 12 Bryant Wesco Jr.
QB 2 Cade Klubnik
LB 53 Joseph Roberto II
OL 64 Walker Park
RB 7 Phil Mafah
OL 71 Tristan Leigh
OL 74 Marcus Tate
OL 78 Blake Miller
TE 9 Jake Briningstool
POS. NO. DEFENSE
LB 0 Barrett Carter
CB 10 Jeadyn Lukus
DL 11 Peter Woods
DE 15 Jahiem Lawson
LB 17 Wade Woodaz
S 18 Kylon Griffin
CB 20 Avieon Terrell
DE 3 T.J. Parker
LB 47 Sammy Brown
DT 55 Payton Page
S 9 R.J. Mickens

CLEMSON RESERVES

19 - DeMonte Capehart, 19 - Keith Adams Jr., 20 - Clark Sanderson, 21 - Jarvis Green, 23 - Ashton Hampton, 25 - Ricardo Jones, 38 - Robert Gunn III, 39 - Aidan Swanson, 44 - Banks Pope, 44 - Cade Denhoff, 45 - Philip Florenzo, 45 - Vic Burley, 58 - Holden Caspersen, 7 - Khalil Barnes, 8 - Tré Williams, 8 - Adam Randall, 81 - Nolan Hauser, 88 - Clay Swinney, 90 - Stephiylan Green, 99 - A.J. Hoffler.

TEXAS STARTERS

POS. NO. OFFENSE
WR 0 DeAndre Moore Jr.
WR 2 Matthew Golden
RB 26 Quintrevion Wisner
QB 3 Quinn Ewers
WR 5 Ryan Wingo
OL 52 DJ Campbell
OL 56 Cameron Williams
OL 65 Jake Majors
OL 76 Hayden Conner
OL 78 Kelvin Banks Jr.
TE 85 Gunnar Helm
POS. NO. DEFENSE
LB 0 Anthony Hill Jr.
DB 16 Michael Taaffe
LB 18 Liona Lefau
DB 3 Jaylon Guilbeau
DB 4 Andrew Mukuba
DL 45 Vernon Broughton
DB 5 Malik Muhammad
DB 7 Jahdae Barron
DL 8 Trey Moore
DL 88 Barryn Sorrell
DL 95 Alfred Collins

TEXAS RESERVES

11 - Colin Simmons, 11 - Silas Bolden, 15 - Will Stone, 15 - Bill Norton, 16 - Arch Manning, 21 - Ryan Niblett, 23 - Jordon Johnson-Rubell, 23 - Jaydon Blue, 24 - Warren Roberson, 25 - Jelani McDonald, 26 - Ty'Anthony Smith, 33 - David Gbenda, 37 - Morice Blackwell Jr., 39 - Michael Kern, 45 - Bert Auburn, 54 - Cole Hutson, 58 - Lance St. Louis, 6 - Kobe Black, 67 - Malik Agbo, 74 - Trevor Goosby, 75 - Jaydon Chatman, 81 - Juan Davis, 83 - Spencer Shannon, 9 - Gavin Holmes, 9 - Jerrick Gibson, 91 - Ethan Burke, 92 - Colton Vasek, 99 - Jermayne Lole.


 
 
Playoff First Round
 
TEAM STATISTICS CLEM TEX
First downs 20 26
Rushing 4 13
Passing 15 10
Penalty 1 3
Rushes-Yards 24-76 48-292
Passing Yards 336 202
Passes Comp-Att-Int 26-43-1 17-24-1
Total Offense
(Plays-Yards)		 67-412 72-494
Punt Returns-Yards 1-9 1-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards 2-33 1-17
Punts (Number-Avg) 4-35.5 1-42.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-0
Sacks By
(Number-Yards)		 2-14 3-29
Penalties-Yards 5-65 2-10
3rd Down Conversions 3-of-12 6-of-12
4th Down Conversions 1-of-3 1-of-4
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: Clemson - Adam Randall, 4-44; Keith Adams Jr., 3-11; Phil Mafah, 2-9; Jarvis Green, 2-7; Cade Klubnik, 13-5.

Texas - Jaydon Blue, 14-146, 2 TD; Quintrevion Wisner, 15-110, 2 TD; Jerrick Gibson, 9-35; Ryan Wingo, 1-7; Arch Manning, 3-0; Quinn Ewers, 4- -3.
Passing: Clemson - Cade Klubnik, 26-43-1, 336, 3 TD.

Texas - Quinn Ewers, 17-24-1, 202, 1 TD.
Receiving: Clemson - T.J. Moore, 9-116, 1 TD; Jake Briningstool, 4-69; Antonio Williams, 4-66, 1 TD; Bryant Wesco Jr., 3-30; Jarvis Green, 2-35, 1 TD; Phil Mafah, 2-15; Keith Adams Jr., 1-4; Adam Randall, 1-1; Clark Sanderson, 0-0.

Texas - Gunnar Helm, 6-77, 1 TD; Matthew Golden, 2-49; Jaydon Blue, 2-31; Ryan Wingo, 2-23; DeAndre Moore Jr., 2-13; Quintrevion Wisner, 2-0; Silas Bolden, 1-9.
Punting: Clemson - Aidan Swanson, 4-142, 35.5.

Texas - Michael Kern, 1-42, 42.0.
Returns: Clemson - Punt: Antonio Williams, 1-9; Kickoff: Adam Randall, 2-33; Intercept: R.J. Mickens, 1-6.

Texas - Punt: Silas Bolden, 1-0; Kickoff: Matthew Golden, 1-17; Intercept: Colin Simmons, 1- -2.
Field Goals: Clemson - Nolan Hauser, 1-1 (32 Good).

Texas - Bert Auburn, 1-1 (22 Good).
Tackles:
(Solo-Assist-Total, Sacks-Yds, TFL-Yds)		 Clemson - Sammy Brown (6-4-10, 0, 1-1); R.J. Mickens (5-3-8, 0, 0.5-1); Wade Woodaz (2-6-8, 0, 1-6); Payton Page (4-3-7, 0, 0); Avieon Terrell (5-1-6, 0, 0); Barrett Carter (3-3-6, 0, 0); Peter Woods (3-2-5, 0, 0.5-1); Khalil Barnes (3-2-5, 0, 0); DeMonte Capehart (1-4-5, 0, 0.5-0); Ashton Hampton (1-3-4, 0, 0); T.J. Parker (2-1-3, 0, 0.5-1); Tré Williams (2-0-2, 2-14, 2-14); Vic Burley (0-2-2, 0, 0); Cade Denhoff (1-0-1, 0, 0); Jeadyn Lukus (1-0-1, 0, 0); Adam Randall (1-0-1, 0, 0); Ricardo Jones (1-0-1, 0, 0); Jahiem Lawson (0-1-1, 0, 0); A.J. Hoffler (0-1-1, 0, 0); Stephiylan Green (0-0-0, 0, 0).

Texas - Anthony Hill Jr. (7-2-9, 0, 0); Malik Muhammad (5-0-5, 0, 0); Liona Lefau (3-2-5, 0, 0); Jaylon Guilbeau (4-0-4, 0, 1-1); Ethan Burke (3-1-4, 1-10, 1.5-12); Alfred Collins (2-2-4, 0, 0.5-1); Jahdae Barron (3-0-3, 0, 0); Jelani McDonald (2-1-3, 0, 0); Andrew Mukuba (1-2-3, 0, 0); Barryn Sorrell (1-2-3, 1-5 1.5-5); Morice Blackwell Jr. (2-0-2, 0, 0); Michael Taaffe (1-1-2, 0, 0); Trey Moore (1-1-2, 0, 0); Bill Norton (1-1-2, 1-14 1.5-15); Ty'Anthony Smith (1-0-1, 0, 0); Ryan Niblett (1-0-1, 0, 0); Gavin Holmes (1-0-1, 0, 0); Colin Simmons (0-1-1, 0, 0.5-1); Vernon Broughton (0-1-1, 0, 0.5-2); David Gbenda (0-1-1, 0, 0).