Sirhornsalot
**The Official Horn Sports Landscaper and Landscap
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College Football Playoffs, Rd 1
Texas vs Clemson
Saturday, Dec. 21 at 3 pm
DKR Texas Memorial Stadium
TV: TNT. Game will be streamed on MAX
Texas gets the luxury of hosting a game in the first round and the college football playoff round one brings to Austin a pretty unfamiliar foe – the Clemson Tigers.
Clemson has enjoyed many years of success under Head Coach Dabo Swinney. But in the last two to three years, some of the shine has worn off of the program. There are a varieity of reasons why and some are due to Dabo himself.
So what kind of team is Clemson? They began the season ranked #14 and then lost their opener to Georgia 34-3. Clemson then won six straight and were ranked #10 until a loss to Louisville at home, 33-21. on Nov. 12. Clemson won their next three and were ranked at #12 when they faced and lost to #15 South Carolina, 17-14.
Their best win of the season was their conference championship game where they squeaked by #8 SMU on a last second field goal 34-31.
Two of their three losses were to ranked opponents. Outside of Georgia and SMU, Clemson really didn't have a difficult schedule. And the bottom line is, at 10-3, if they hadn't won that conference championship, they would not be here now.
They are led offensively by QB Cccade Klubnik who passed for 3,300 yards this season with a 63.7 completion rate. He's thrown 33 TDs against only 5 INTS.
RB Phil Mafah is their leading rusher with 1,106 yards on 214 carries on the season. He averaged 5.2 yards per carry with 8 TDs. However, he is dealing with a shoulder injury and his status is still unknown.
Klubnik's favorite passing target has been WR Antonio Williams, a sophomore who had 71 receptions for 838 yards and 10 TDs. He averaged 11.8 yards a catch.
So you can see, the stats look sexy. However, one must also consider the competition that they faced to gain those stats.
Both Texas and Clemson possess explosive offenses.
However, it is defense that truly separates these two teams. Texas is #1 in defense whereas Clemson is #123.
Advantage Texas
All six members of USA TODAY’s panel — Paul Myerberg, Dan Wolken, Eddie Timanus, Scooby Axson, Jordan Mendoza and Erick Smith — picked the Longhorns to win.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg has shared his picks for every bowl game this postseason, including the 12-team College Football Playoff. For Clemson’s first-round matchup against Texas, he’s predicting a 24-16 win for the Longhorns.
Texas vs Clemson
Saturday, Dec. 21 at 3 pm
DKR Texas Memorial Stadium
TV: TNT. Game will be streamed on MAX
Texas gets the luxury of hosting a game in the first round and the college football playoff round one brings to Austin a pretty unfamiliar foe – the Clemson Tigers.
Clemson has enjoyed many years of success under Head Coach Dabo Swinney. But in the last two to three years, some of the shine has worn off of the program. There are a varieity of reasons why and some are due to Dabo himself.
So what kind of team is Clemson? They began the season ranked #14 and then lost their opener to Georgia 34-3. Clemson then won six straight and were ranked #10 until a loss to Louisville at home, 33-21. on Nov. 12. Clemson won their next three and were ranked at #12 when they faced and lost to #15 South Carolina, 17-14.
Their best win of the season was their conference championship game where they squeaked by #8 SMU on a last second field goal 34-31.
Two of their three losses were to ranked opponents. Outside of Georgia and SMU, Clemson really didn't have a difficult schedule. And the bottom line is, at 10-3, if they hadn't won that conference championship, they would not be here now.
They are led offensively by QB Cccade Klubnik who passed for 3,300 yards this season with a 63.7 completion rate. He's thrown 33 TDs against only 5 INTS.
RB Phil Mafah is their leading rusher with 1,106 yards on 214 carries on the season. He averaged 5.2 yards per carry with 8 TDs. However, he is dealing with a shoulder injury and his status is still unknown.
Klubnik's favorite passing target has been WR Antonio Williams, a sophomore who had 71 receptions for 838 yards and 10 TDs. He averaged 11.8 yards a catch.
So you can see, the stats look sexy. However, one must also consider the competition that they faced to gain those stats.
Both Texas and Clemson possess explosive offenses.
However, it is defense that truly separates these two teams. Texas is #1 in defense whereas Clemson is #123.
Advantage Texas
All six members of USA TODAY’s panel — Paul Myerberg, Dan Wolken, Eddie Timanus, Scooby Axson, Jordan Mendoza and Erick Smith — picked the Longhorns to win.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg has shared his picks for every bowl game this postseason, including the 12-team College Football Playoff. For Clemson’s first-round matchup against Texas, he’s predicting a 24-16 win for the Longhorns.
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