The Texas Longhorns have advanced to the quarterfinals of the college football playoff after holding off a stubborn Clemson Tigers team 38-24. There were a lot of great moments for the Horns. But there were also some big mistakes that frayed the nerves of UT fans everywhere.
Texas QB Quinn Ewers had an efficient game with few mistakes. His one interception game from a ball that hit DeAndre Moore Jr. in the hands and bounced off to Clemson DB R.J. Mickens. But Texas coach Steve Sarkisian went into the game with the intention of leaning on the running game.
The rushing attach has been key to keeping the offense rolling in the later stages of the season when Ewers was struggling some. But, like they did in the first meeting, Georgia shut it down. Sark understands a solid running game makes his offense balanced.
After the game, TNT’s Taylor McGregor spoke with Sark on the field. She asked him about the two great plays by Texas safety Michael Taaffe at the end of the game. “He made two good plays in a row right there. He almost got the interception and then that play right there on the crossing route. But hey, they made it hard on us. Cade (Klubnick) had a heck of a game. Heck of a goal line stand right there, earlier in the fourth quarter and then making that stop on fourth down.” Sark said.
McGregor then asked Sark about the emphasis on the running game. “Well, we committed to it. That’s probably halfway my fault before this. But we committed to it. I thought we blocked things really well. The runners trusted it and they were hitting it,” Sark said.
When McGregor asked Sark about Ewers game he said, “Well, he made a lot of plays for us when they were ‘on time’ and he made a couple plays for us ‘off schedule,’ which were critical for us as well. I thought he managed the game beautifully. Had some bad luck again on the interception, unfortunately.”
And finally, she asked Sarkisian about the atmosphere of a home playoff game. He said, “I mean it’s amazing. You know, this is great for college football. I watched those other games last night and earlier today and for us to have this environment today, I think it’s amazing for college football.”
Laura Rutledge then caught up with Ewers, who she asked about the meaning of winning a playoff game in front of the home crowd and advancing. “It’s an unbelievable feeling. I’m just so proud of this team and how we come to work every single week. You, we dealt with some adversity in the SEC Championship Game and I think we came out here showed everybody that we earned the right to be here and we deserve to be here,” Ewers said.
Rutledge asked the junior about dealing with the adversity in the game, with injuries to his offensive line and to Quintrevion Wisner and how the running game helped. Quinn said, “Yeah, we knew if we wanted to be in a good position to win this game we had to be able run the ball. We harped on it all week. And I’m just so proud of how our front five guys, and some tight ends, just put in the work the past ten days and really, really too heart to running the football.”
She told Ewers TNT was told he wouldn’t wear his ankle brace during the game and asked the Southlake product why he decided to wear it in the game. Ewers replied, “I feel good. I feel great. I just did it … I mean, it’s not going to hurt. I just decided to put it on.”
Finally, Rutledge asked Ewers about playing Arizona State in the Peach Bowl and advancing in the CFP. “Yeah, man it’s everything. Again, it’s just a testament to how hard we work every single day. I’m so proud of how our defense is playing. I’m so proud of how all these guys are playing and like you said, we get to play more ball,” he said.