AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Jaydon Blue had the biggest run in the biggest game of the season so far for Texas. He had to fight through a nagging ankle injury and fumble problems to do it.
Blue ran for 146 yards, dashing 77 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to help the Longhorns beat Clemson 38-24 on Saturday in the first round of the expanded College Football Playoff.
Blue was first thrust into the starting role when training camp injuries knocked out C.J. Baxter and Christian Clark for the season. Blue missed a game with the ankle injury, then saw his carries reduced over several games because of fumble problems.
Texas (12-2), the No. 5 seed, advanced to the Jan. 1 Peach bowl to play Big 12 champion and No. 4 seed 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 already had a 38-yard touchdown earlier in the game. The second one came after Clemson had rallied from down 31-10 to within 31-24 on Cade Klubnik's third touchdown pass.
Blue scored on 38-yard cut-and-dash burst in the second quarter. On the second touchdown, he dove into the line, shook a tackler, and then outraced three more to the end zone with just 11 minutes left.
He clutched the ball tightly to his chest when a defender tried to rip it away.
“It was a sigh 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.”
Sarkisian said Blue never lost the trust of the team.
“Our staff, his teammates, believed in him," Sarkisian said. “I just gave him a big hug and told him how proud I was.”
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.
“We just got ourselves in too big a hole in the first half. Everything was uphill.” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “We just put it in Cade’s hands and let it rip."
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.”
Clemson: The Tigers had three big fourth-down chances in the fourth quarter. They turned the first one into a touchdown when Klubnik threw to T.J. Moore. But they came up short on the next two. Keith Adams Jr. was stuffed at the Texas 1 and Klubnik pass at the Texas 26 was incomplete with just over a minute left.
“We've got big people,” Sarkisian said. “And they know how to play a physical brand of football.”
Texas: The Longhorns had some injury scares that could be worrisome with more games ahead. Wisner, starting offensive tackle Cam Williams and center Jake Majors all left the field in two plays in the second quarter. Sarkisian said the coaching staff opted to keep Wisner and Majors out in the second half. Williams needed help to get off the field and will have tests on his knee overnight.
Texas tight end Gunnar Helm caught six passes for 77 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown that saw him reach high and still get his feet down in the end zone. He has 55 catches on the season, breaking the previous school record for tight ends. The record was 54, set last season by J.T. Sanders.
Clemson will try to defend its ACC title next season and earn its eighth playoff berth.
Texas moves on to face Arizona State in the next round. The Longhorns left the Big 12 before Arizona State joined that league this season.
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