Improvement in Red Zone Sends Texas Longhorns Soaring Over Clemson

The Longhorns were able to convert all but one red zone trip into a scoring opportunity in their win over the Clemson Tigers on Saturday.

Texas Longhorns running back Jaydon Blue (23) runs the ball in for a touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Texas Longhorns play the Clemson Tigers in the first round of the College Football Playoffs at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, Dec. 21, 2024. / Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Texas Longhorns have officially advanced to the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff after a 38-24 victory over the Clemson Tigers on Saturday night in a tight matchup defined by capitalizing on red zone trips.

Texas entered the game with concern surrounding its performance against Georgia in the SEC Championship two weeks ago, most notably the offense's inability to create scoring opportunities on third downs and inside the red zone. The Longhorns garnered just two field goals from three total red zone attempts, failing to find success when it mattered most.

But against Clemson, the Longhorns turned four out of five red zone trips into a total of 24 points on the scoreboard and churned out a 50% third-down conversion rating.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian accredited the efficiency to his players' focus on the elements that needed to be improved over the past two weeks.

"It was about execution, and execution lies in the details, and I thought our guys were really detail-oriented all week, and they were detail-oriented the way they played tonight. I think that showed up on our 3rd down conversions," Sarkisian said during post-game press conference. "Granted, we were pretty aggressive on 4th down, which we're always going to be, and we didn't hit that number the way we would have liked today, but I just thought the execution. There weren't even that many 3rd downs in the first half because we were executing at a really high level, and that's because our guys were really detail-oriented."

On the other side, the Texas defense was able to hold the Tigers to one touchdown and one field goal after making it into the red zone three times while also allowing just 25% of third downs to be converted.

Clemson snuck in the first touchdown of the afternoon on the game's first drive on a 3rd-and-7, making its initial introduction at Darrell K Royal Texas-Memorial Stadium loud and clear. Texas looked as if it was struggling to answer on the following drive, reaching a 4th-and-1 inside the red zone despite sending in backup quarterback Arch Manning on third down. But a rush from redshirt freshman running back Jerrick Gibson set up a rushing touchdown for sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner to tie the score 7-7.

Manning has stood as a key replacement for starting quarterback Quinn Ewers on third and fourth downs. During the third quarter, Manning converted a 3rd-and-1 that would ultimately help the Longhorns find the red zone once again and kick a field goal on a 4th-and-4.

Sarkisian said that although there were promising aspects of being able to convert in the red area, there is still much to work on.

"I was, quite frankly, kicking myself when we got stopped down there inside the 5 and settled for the field goal, and I was kind of kicking myself when we got the turnover and didn't come away with anything with points there on the 4th down. But hey, I think we got better, but I do think we can
continue to improve," Sarkisian said.

Texas' revival inside the red zone saw the most points gained since its matchup against the Texas A&M Aggies, where they turned four red zone trips into 28 points.

The Longhorns' ability to clean up an area that plagued them and ultimately cost them an SEC Championship win spoke volumes about their determination to win their way to the national championship stage. Texas will take on the Arizona State Sun Devils in the quarterfinals on Jan. 1 as the program takes one step closer to achieving its season-long goal.

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