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Nearly every Longhorn fan is putting the finishing touches on their Christmas preparations. The last-minute shoppers will head to the mall on Sunday and seemingly park a mile away in search of whatever gifts remain. It is time to get mentally ready for the in-laws to arrive this week and figure out ways to be conveniently away from home for several hours. Some of you will hide the good liquor from friends and family who make Frank The Tank seem like a lightweight drinker. It is time for the little kids to open their presents before returning to their iPads. Give those teenagers their damn money so they can go back into their rooms.
Amid those jokes, I know this is a great week—a time to connect with loved ones, show appreciation, and create special memories. For those who are believers, this week has a deeper meaning. Overall, the majority of us are looking forward to a great holiday.
Another reason Longhorn fans celebrate is because their team is preparing to participate in a playoff game on January 1 for a second-straight season. Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian led this program to the playoffs last season when only four teams were in the field. Sarkisian led his team to a 38-24 victory against Clemson on Saturday in the first 12-team playoff format. Texas has advanced to the quarterfinals and will face Arizona State in Atlanta next week.
We know Texas’ defense has been outstanding this season. The offense has put up enough points to win 12 games so far. In addition, there is something special about this season that is hard to measure through statistics. It is a gift for Longhorn fans.
This team has the gift of handling adversity.
Think about the situations this team has faced throughout 2024.
Let us start with the pressure of joining the SEC. College football observers questioned if Texas could handle the big and bad SEC. Sure, Texas was fresh off a Big 12 Conference Championship, but the Longhorns were moving up to the varsity team. After Texas finished 11-1 and advanced to the conference championship game, those same critics were crying, “But they didn’t beat any good teams.”
Hopefully, Clemson meets their criteria.
There were plenty of injuries that could have derailed this team. Running backs CJ Baxter and Christian Clark sustained season-ending injuries before the first game. Jaydon Blue emerged as the starter, but when he struggled, Quintrevion Wisner took over and is 29 yards away from 1,000 rushing yards.
Longhorns safety Derek Williams sustained a season-ending injury against Oklahoma, and the secondary has played well in his absence.
Texas lost Quinn Ewers for two games, and the Longhorns were 2-0 under Arch Manning.
Backup left tackle Trevor Goosby filled in admirably when Kelvin Banks missed time due to injuries.
Starting receiver Isaiah Bond has not been at 100 percent for multiple weeks, but Matthew Golden has stepped up.
Look at this season.
A win on the road against Michigan, the defending national champions. Some will say that was not a huge win because Michigan finished the season 7-5.
Do they mean the same Michigan team that defeated Ohio State?
Texas defeated Oklahoma, which is always a huge victory.
Texas defeated Texas A&M on the road as both programs renewed their rivalry.
This team has handled its business against every squad not named Georgia this season.
Think about what occurred on Saturday.
Clemson scored on its opening drive. Jake Majors, Cam Williams, and Wisner sustained injuries. Clemson narrowed its deficit to 31-24 at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
This team successfully handled each adversity as it has done throughout the year.
After the game, I asked Sarkisian a non-hypothetical question.
I pointed out the adversity his team went through on Saturday and asked for his thoughts on how they battled through and won.
There was no need for me to rephrase the question.
“I always give the guys a talk the night before a game, and it's ironic when some of the things you talk about come true,” Sarkisian said. “Literally, my talk to the team after some of the Xs and Os that were going to be needed in the game was all about adversity. Going back to the summer when we did our first culture Wednesday, we talked about one of our four H's that everybody wrote down was a hardship in your life that they had to overcome and how we overcome these things, and we talked about individual adversity this season. I talked about Cedric Baxter and Christian Clark and Derek Williams being out for the year. I talked about Kelvin having to miss a game. I talked about Quinn and the injuries he's had to endure this season. We talked a lot. We talked about ourselves, and responding to the first Georgia loss and how we were going to respond to this time around.
“So that literally was the whole talk, and then we did a culture activity where each guy had to write down an adversity that they had endured this season and how they responded to it, and then they had to write a note to another guy in the room that they were proud of how they had responded to adversity this season.
“So, it's ironic that we got faced with the adversity we did tonight, and then the way we responded. They've proven to me time and time again that we do respond, and that's why I said a couple weeks ago, I have no pause that we won't respond. When we get knocked down, we get back up. Proud of them for that tonight.”
Heck, Texas struggled in the red zone before Clemson but scored on four of five opportunities on Saturday.
“I thought we did a nice job early in the game. I really did. I thought that the execution was there. I thought we were moving the line of scrimmage pretty good, and so the run game was helpful... But hey, I think we got better, but I do think we can continue to improve.”
Coach, keep improving through January 20.
We have time.
“I think we've got a group of guys that were here with us a year ago that didn't forget that feeling in New Orleans last year,” Sarkisian said... “Then the focus was on one game. Let's just go win this game, and then we'll regroup and get ready for the next one... I thought our guys did a really good job of that this week.”
They also have done a great job of handling adversity.
Use that as motivation with the in-laws this week.
Individual Notes
(Provide by UT)
QUINN EWERS, QB
• By earning the starting assignment for Saturday afternoon's contest, Ewers now has 34 career starts at Texas, tied for the sixth most by a Longhorn quarterback in program history. Ewers is now 26-8 in games he started with the 26 wins tied for the fifth most by a UT quarterback.
• With his 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Gunnar Helm in the closing seconds of the second quarter, Ewers extended his consecutive games played with at least one touchdown pass to 25 in a row, joining Colt McCoy (29; 2007-09) as the only Texas quarterbacks to reach the mark.
• Ewers now has 26 passing touchdowns on the season, which is tied for the fifth most by a Texas quarterback in a single season.
• With his 202 passing yards against Clemson, Ewers (8,523) passed Major Applewhite (8,353; 1998-01) for third on the program's career passing yards list.
• Ewers now has 22 career 200-yard passing performances throughout his Texas career.
QUINTREVION WISNER, RB
• Courtesy of his 16-yard rushing touchdown with 7:26 remaining in the first half, Wisner recorded his first career multi-rushing touchdown performance. He had a 3-yard rushing score with 2:04 remaining in the first quarter as well.
• By finishing the game with 110 rushing yards on 15 attempts, Wisner recorded his fourth 100-yard rushing performance this season and third in the last four games.
JAYDON BLUE, RB
• Blue, a junior running back for the Longhorns, set a career high with 146 rushing yards on 14 attempts against Clemson's defense throughout Saturday's game.
• Blue's 77-yard rushing touchdown during the game's fourth quarter was the third-longest carry in a College Football Playoff game behind Notre Dame's Jeremiyah Love (98 in 2024 CFP First Round) and Ohio State's Ezekiel Elliott (85 in 2014 CFP Semifinal).
• Blue's 77-yard rushing touchdown was also the first time a Texas football student-athlete recorded a run between 70-and-79 yards since Jonathon Books went for 70 at Kansas on Nov. 19, 2022.
GUNNAR HELM, TE
• By having two receptions on Texas' first offensive drive of the game, Helm became the seventh tight end in program history to reach the 70 career reception milestone.
• With his 19-yard touchdown reception with 28 seconds before halftime, Helm tied Derek Lewis (1998) for the second most receiving touchdowns by a Longhorn tight end in a single season.
• By finishing with 77 receiving yards and six receptions, Helm broke Texas' single season reception and receiving yards record by a Longhorn tight end. Helm will enter UT's next game with 688 receiving yards on 55 receptions this season.
• Helm will head into Texas' next game with 55 receptions on the season, which is tied for the 24th most receptions in a single season in program history.
JAKE MAJORS, C
• With his start against Clemson on Saturday afternoon, Majors tied the program record for career starts with 55, sharing the mark with Jonathon Scott (OL, 2002-05) and Rodrique Wright (DT, 2002-05).
COLIN SIMMONS, OLB
• Simmons was credited with his first career interception when he caught a batted pass from Barryn Sorrell with 5:55 remaining in the second quarter. Simmons became the 12th different Longhorn defensive student-athlete to record at least one interception this season.
Funniest Things You Will See This Week
It takes a few seconds to click and then is hilarious (bad language alert)
It is clear which player took their offseason workouts seriously
This is for the pickleball players
This is why he did not play sports
Sports On A Dime
1. Sarkisian on his message to the offensive line: “ You know, I always put up what it takes to win each game, and I cover it from a special teams standpoint, an offensive standpoint, a defensive standpoint, and then a team standpoint. One of the first bullet points I put up in this room was run to win, that we needed to run the football to win this game, and we're going to need to run the football to advance in these playoffs, and that's what playoff football is about. We really challenged them on the run game.
“From the opening meeting, getting ready to the ballgame and the intent with which we practiced, I thought we had a good plan. I thought Quinn did a great job. On both Jaydon Blue's touchdowns, those were audibles by Quinn to that run. One, him handling the run game, and then two, that mechanism at the line of scrimmage of getting that check and then blocking it really well to spring him on those two runs.
“There's a lot that goes into the run game. We always say the run game takes all 11, and all 11 did it tonight.”
2. Sarkisian on Ewers’ decision to audible on the first touchdown run: “What was interesting about it, I think it was maybe two days before the game, we gave him that look, and we were anticipating it could be one or another call, and we gave him the look and we were giving it to him early, so he was checking it really early, and I said, they might not give it to you this early, and we had a motion on it. I said you might have to check it after the motion and then check the play.
“Sure enough, it happened tonight. He motioned on Davis and then he saw it and then he checked it and got to the run. That's just time together, time on task, he and I, and him trusting when we tell him certain things like that it might happen that way, him trusting it and then executing it. Kind of a cool moment because that's having a three-year starter who's been in your system is very comfortable doing that type of stuff.”
3. Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik’s response when asked if there was a lot of trash-talking between his Austin friends: “Not until the very end. Not until the very end. Michael dropped that pick at the very end, and he told me he wanted that one. I said he's not good enough to get it. I'm just kidding. He's a really good player. I almost threw a pick to [Andrew] Mukuba, and I told him he still doesn't have the hands. Other than that, there wasn't really much. Those guys are great guys, great football players, great dude, but there wasn't really much talk.”
4. Klubnik on potentially turning pro after this season: “I'm just trying to deal with the emotions of tonight. Yeah, just trying to deal with the emotions of tonight and just trying to deal with I've got to play my last football game with a lot of these guys. I'm not really thinking about me right now. I'm trying to think about all of the relationships I've built over the last three years. That's really what I'm thinking about now.”
5. Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s response when asked to evaluate his group: “Well, starting way back in January, the guys showed up on a mission to get better and improve on what we did last year, and getting to the first game, getting through the first few games, the guys' preparation has been outstanding week in and week out. They show up win or lose with that mindset. We've got to get better, and they have.
“The confidence that we developed early in the season has just grown. Today we put those corners in a lot of one-on-one situations, and they made good plays on some 50/50 balls. I know the guys were frustrated that they could have played it better, and we'll go back to work and we'll improve.”
6. I know who asked this question without seeing the name:
Reporter: Coach, there's a word I want to use, and that's relentless. What did you do at the beginning of the season to really prepare them to just be relentless?
Kwiatkowski: “They've been hearing the same message since we got here four years ago. It's just getting the guys obviously believing, playing hard, playing for each other. We talk about culture around here, and the culture of this team is that: playing for each other. Part of that is playing hard, playing physical, and leaving everything out there on the field.”
7. ICYMI
8. College football observers know Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin is petty. That is one reason Kiffin’s interviews and statements on social media are often entertaining. Nevertheless, Kiffin is probably the wrong person to exert to criticize the College Football Playoff Committee’s team selections. Ole Miss finished 9-3 with losses against Kentucky and Florida. The loss against Florida knocked Ole Miss out of conference championship contention. Kiffin only has himself to blame for not being invited to the playoffs.
9. Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia receiving an extra year of eligibility makes sense. Junior colleges are not NCAA programs and it does not make sense to take away a year of eligibility from a player not in that association.
However, Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger outlined the can of worms that may have been opened with that recent ruling.
“Around college athletics, Wednesday’s ruling generated somewhat panicked reactions as administrators and coaches sought to understand the move.
“Do all former junior college players now have their eligibility extended?
“The NCAA did not provide clarity on the ruling as it relates to other players in a similar position as Pavia. At least for now, there is no change to the eligibility rules that would affect all athletes. The order only applies to Pavia — for now.
“Can all of our junior college guys come back?” asked one athletic administrator. “Well, they’ve got a pretty good argument.”
“In other court cases in the past, the NCAA eventually provided some sort of clarity. In the West Virginia ruling, the association basically changed its transfer rules to adhere to the court’s decision. In the Tennessee NIL case, the organization, for the most part, stopped enforcing or investigating cases related to name, image and likeness.
“Pavia’s lawyer, Ryan Downton of the Texas Trial Group, said the hope is that the ruling “may open the door for other former junior college players to obtain an additional year of eligibility without filing a lawsuit.”
10. SMU coach Rhett Lashlee’s response when asked if this season has redefined a program that was once defined by the death penalty: “I hope it gives you guys something else to write about. And nothing disrespectful to anybody here, you should have been writing about it. We've been revived. That's over. That chapter is closed. We've moved on. It's a part of our past in history just like everybody's got parts of their past in history, but that's what I mean by this team raised the standard and the expectations for SMU football. They made our entire school prude. They made our entire city proud. We got Tim in here, I see him over here like we've got guys recognizing what they did. Look, if we played the way we did in the second quarter today and throw -- if you throw two pick sixes, a pick in the endzone, or, I'm sorry, in the red zone and do some of the things we did, we would have lost to every single team on our conference schedule probably. You know, we somehow miraculously won one doing that. We didn't do that stuff all year, so it's going to be unfortunate that it happened on this stage in this moment, so it has a different feel, but we've proven we belong. We've proven we can play with the big programs in America, and, you know, we've gotten back to the national stage and we've proven we have a long way to go if we want to get to a National Championship again, but hopefully this is a way to close that chapter on that part of our history and say, okay, SMU is back and back in the standard of we're on the national stage, we're playing with the power coverage schools. We're competing and winning with power coverage schools. Now we have to see can we sustain it. Now we have to see can we take out even further over time.”
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas from my family to yours.
For those celebrating Christmas for the first time without a family member or someone you loved, I hope the great memories of them get you through this week.
Happy holidays, OB!
