Texas' Steve Sarkisian reveals 3-word message that fueled win over Clemson in CFP
12/22/2024 12:34 PM
Coming off of an SEC Championship Game appearance in which they only ran the ball for 31 yards in a 22-19 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, the game plan for the Texas Longhorns in their opening game of the College Football Playoff against the Clemson Tigers was simple, and could be summed up in just three words:
Actually, that’s the wrong ‘run’ related three-word message. Apparently I’ve got Tom Hanks on the brain. Let me try that again:
“Run to win,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said after the Longhorns’ 38-24 win over Clemson, per Dave Wilson of ESPN.com. “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. That’s what playoff football’s about.”
The four winners in the opening round of the College Football Playoff — Texas, Notre Dame, Penn State and Ohio State — out-rushed their opponents by an average 120 yards per game, proving Sarkisian’s point. And no team was more dominant on the ground this weekend than the Longhorns were.
Behind a combined 256 yards rushing and four touchdowns from Jaydon Blue and Quintrevion Wisner, the Longhorns out-rushed Clemson by a staggering 216 yards on Saturday afternoon. In this effort, Blue and Wisner became the first duo of backs to finish a postseason game with at least 110 yards rushing, two rushing touchdowns and multiple receptions in the last 25 years.
After the game, Blue explained that this had been a point of emphasis since Texas’ loss in the SEC Championship Game.
“Going back to the SEC championship, we didn’t run the ball well at all,” Blue said. “[Sarkisian] just stayed on us in practice. The O-line, running backs, the whole offense took that in, and we were more physical in practice. He really made a big emphasis on us running the ball.”
Replicating this success against Arizona State in the Peach Bowl may be easier said than done.
Led by Cam Skattebo, a tank of a running back who rushed for over 1,500 yards and finished 5th in the Heisman Trophy vote, the Sun Devils out-rushed their opponents by an average of 81 yards per game on their way to a conference title in their first season in the Big 12.
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