Texas’ dominant win over Clemson continues a first-round CFP pattern: Why all the blowouts?

AUSTIN, Texas – Give Clemson – especially quarterback Cade Klubnik – some credit for fighting to give the College Football Playoff at least a glass of competitive fourth-quarter juice Saturday.

The Tigers made it a one-score game early in the fourth and then tried to do it again by driving to the Texas 5-yard line. Things got tense inside Darrell K Royal Stadium.

Then came a telling conclusion.

Three consecutive rushes were stuffed by the Longhorns, who cruised to a 38-24 victory to advance to Arizona State in the quarterfinals.

The third game of the expanded College Football Playoff took place here, following what was already becoming a familiar pattern.

* An incredible atmosphere on campus that enhances the positives of home playoff games, including potentially the quarterfinals in future years.

* A mostly non-competitive result – the Longhorns led by three scores for most of the game before the Tigers started a fight to make it at least interesting.

That followed Penn State’s 38-10 blowout of SMU earlier on Saturday and a 27-17 Notre Dame triumph over Indiana that wasn’t as competitive as the score suggested. Both were physical discrepancies.

In the final game of the first round, Ohio State blew out Tennessee 42-17. The Buckeyes jumped the Vols 21-zip in the first quarter, prompting frustrated fans to turn off their TVs.

If the College Football Playoff committee wants to overreact to the small sample size of the first three playoff games — and college football is an overreaction sport — then there’s a simple lesson.

Watch out for the team that can’t win the streak.

For all the pyrotechnics of the modern offense, all the 7-on-7 influence, the CFP began with three games where one team was able to handle the other.

The Longhorns used a road-grading offensive line that could open gaping holes in Clemson’s defensive front. Conversely, their defensive line practically lived in the Tigers’ backfield, harassing (if not sacking) Klubnik all night.

Texas rushed for 292 yards, including Jayden Blue touchdown runs of 77 and 38 yards. Clemson went for just 76 on the ground.

“I always put up whatever it takes to win every game,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “One of the first bullet points was ‘Run to Win.’ We’ve got to run the football to win this game, and we’ve got to run the football to win in these playoffs.”

Notre Dame outrushed IU, 193-63. Penn State dominated the ground game against SMU 185-58.

That’s not counting defensive line pressure, which in State College contributed to three critical SMU interceptions (two returned for touchdowns). It was the same in South Bend, where Indiana kept scoring despite trailing by three because “our offense didn’t do anything,” Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti said. Ohio State sacked Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava four times and pressured him constantly in the Buckeyes’ blowout victory.

“That’s what I’ll always believe, an O-line/D-line driven program,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said Friday. “Being able to run the ball on offense and being able to stop the run on defense with your guys up front.”

It didn’t take long for social media to erupt into debate about how the selection committee blew it — namely by making at-large bids to IU and SMU (Clemson got in via the ACC’s automatic bid).

It got so bizarre that ESPN basketball commentator at one point Dick Vitale clapped back at Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin on social mediawho had written critically about Indiana and SMU.

“Has (your) Ole Miss (team) ever played a bad game?” Vitale, an 85-year-old currently battling cancer, tweeted. “Watch film of your Kentucky and Florida games.”

At least Kiffin vs. Dickie V more competitive than most of the action on the field.

Strength of schedule. The strength of the record. Quality wins. Loss of quality. Analytics. Data points.

They all come into play when the committee makes its choices, but in the end, who knows if any of it really mattered? Texas didn’t have a win over a team ranked in the final CFP Top 25, lost its conference title game … and advanced. The resumes of Penn State and Notre Dame weren’t much better — the Lions beat No. 20 Illinois and the Irish managed the no. 22 army, but that was it.

What they all had was the ability to block and tackle up front.

It was clear that Texas was going to win this game on their opening drive – despite trailing 7-0 at the time. That’s when Kelvin Banks, Hayden Conner, Jake Majors, DJ Campbell and Cameron Williams took the field and began violently pushing around the Clemson defense.

That allowed Quintrevion Wisner and Blue to burst through gaps for first down after first down. The Longhorns hit the end zone on their first three drives, run-heavy affairs that covered 75, 65 and 87 yards. It was pretty much over.

With its two most recent national championships, Clemson has a much bigger pedigree than IU and SMU and a gifted passer in Klubnik who could keep them alive. Still, the script was pretty much the same. A team could run the ball. The other could not. From the start of the game, it was clear that the Longhorns would be able to bully their way to the result they wanted.

How does a selection committee quantify great line play? That’s the hard part. And there is the intellectual argument that winning – no matter how – is what should actually matter.

Reputation, let alone the eye test, suggests that the three-loss SEC teams left off the field — Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina — would have fared better at the point of attack. Then again, who really knows?

Non-competitive games happen in football – from the NFL playoffs to even the old two-team BCS or four-team playoff. That’s not a cause for panic, even though college football is a nervous pursuit that seems to thrive on knee-jerk reactions.

In this case, it’s pretty obvious – three dominant wins built on dominating the line of scrimmage.