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Clemson touched the playoff for the first time in four years.

And for a while late in the game Saturday, a heroic performance by Cade Klubnik made it feel like the Tigers could touch a monumental comeback victory and a trip to Atlanta for a quarterfinal date against Arizona State.

But Clemson couldn't touch Texas' running backs.

And that tends to be a bit of a problem when you're trying to win this type of game, or any type of game.

It's never a good thing when your top cornerback, Avieon Terrell, gets his hands on receivers when the ball is in the air more than everyone else gets their hands on Longhorn backs when the ball is being moved on the ground.

Stopping the run was a consistent problem for Clemson over the previous 13 games.

But it's been a long time since the Tigers were pushed around to the extent they were by the Longhorns in a 38-24 defeat at Darrell K. Royal--Texas Memorial Stadium.

Defense used to be the chief ingredient to championships and yearly trips to the playoffs.

Now it's the prime reason the 2024 team is headed home.

And nothing else is even close, really.

Texas piled up 292 rushing yards on 48 attempts, and even that total is deceptive because it includes some lost yards by the quarterbacks.

Quintrevion Wisner rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries before getting banged up.

Backup Jaydon Blue ran for 146 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, including a 77-yarder for a score early in the fourth quarter after Clemson trimmed a three-touchdown deficit to 31-24.

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Average yards per carry for Blue: 10.4.

Average yards per carry for Wisner: 7.3.

Yes, ugly. No way around it.

Texas came in sporting arguably the best offensive line in the country. It certainly looked like it, even as two injuries in the second quarter forced them to reshuffle the starting five.

It was just too easy for the Longhorns -- from their first drive, in which they went 75 yards on 12 plays to answer Clemson's touchdown drive on the opening drive of the game, all the way to the big one by Blue in the fourth quarter.

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The mechanics of that dagger by Blue really told the story: Tight end Gunnar Helm washing end TJ Parker out of the play; star left tackle Kelvin Banks reaching Sammy Brown and overwhelming him; and safety Khalil Barnes underestimating Blue's speed and barely getting a hand on him after taking a bad angle.

Off to the races. Again and again and again.

Clemson did a fairly good job of limiting Texas' explosive plays in the passing game.

But there was no real need for the Longhorns to try much of that because they were having so much success with big plays via the ground.

They amassed 216 of their rushing yards on eight plays of 77, 38, 22, 21, 19, 16, 12 and 11 yards.

Texas had 148 rushing yards at halftime, and 116 of those yards came before contact as Clemson found itself in a 28-10 hole.

Klubnik passed for 336 yards on a 26-of-43 clip and tossed three touchdowns against a defense that had allowed just four passing touchdowns all year.

He was clearly the best quarterback on the field while going against old high school rival Quinn Ewers, who threw for 202 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

But all Ewers had to do was hand the ball off.

Or throw the ball up to whichever receiver was covered by Terrell.

With eight minutes left, Clemson was one yard from making it a one-score game again and had two chances.

Klubnik got stuffed on a quarterback keeper right, and then a give to Keith Adams was stifled as well for a turnover on downs.

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Clemson still had a chance to get off the field with Texas taking over at the 2, and then pushed a yard farther back after Blue was brought down for a tackle for loss on first down.

On second down Ewers threw it up for Ryan Wingo and Terrell had a handful of jersey. Easy call. First down.

Texas converted two more third downs on that drive and didn't give the ball up until a fumbled fourth-down snap by Arch Manning set up Clemson at its own 43 with 1:43 on the clock.

There were times in the second half when it appeared Clemson's offense couldn't be stopped. Klubnik was dropping dimes, and targets such as TJ Moore (nine catches, 116 yards), Antonio Williams (4, 66) and Jake Briningstool (4, 69) were making the Longhorns' vaunted pass defense look quite mortal.

But Clemson's rush defense was quite dead, and that ruled the day.

It'll rule the Tigers' trip back home, too.

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