Longhorns take down Clemson to advance in CFP
AUSTIN, Texas — Jaydon Blue ran for 146 yards and two touchdowns, the last a 77-yard burst in the fourth quarter, and Texas beat Clemson 38-24 on Saturday in the first round of the expanded College Football Playoff.
Blue’s fourth-quarter touchdown came after Clemson rallied from down 31-10 to 31-24 on Cade Klubnik‘s third touchdown pass.
Texas (12-2) advanced to the Jan. 1 Peach bowl to play Big 12 champion Arizona State. The Longhorns opened as 13.5-point favorites, according to ESPN BET.
“You can’t win [the championship] if you don’t win the first one,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “We did that.”
Blue also scored on a 38-yard cut-and-dash burst in the second quarter. On his second, he dove into the line, shook a tackler and then outraced three more to the end zone with just 11 minutes left.
Blue missed a game this season with a nagging ankle injury and saw his carries reduced over several games because of fumble problems. He clutched the ball tightly to his chest when a defender tried to rip it away.
“It was a sign of relief after everything I’ve been going through,” Blue said. “I stayed patient, I saw a crease and it was everything [open] from there.”
Quintrevion Wisner added 110 yards rushing and two first-half touchdowns for Texas. Quinn Ewers passed for 202 yards and a touchdown.
Klubnik, who grew up in Austin, passed for 336 yards and rallied the Tigers (10-4) in the second half against a Texas defense that had given up just four passing touchdowns all season.
The runner-up in the Southeastern Conference, Texas is the only one of last season’s four playoff teams to make the new 12-team field. Clemson won the ACC championship to make the playoff. The Tigers were the No. 12 seed in their first appearance since 2020 and seventh overall.
“It’s not easy to get on this stage [again], and they earned it,” Sarkisian said. “I think college football got this one right. This idea of a home playoff game with a 12-team format was pretty special.”
Clemson: The Tigers had three big fourth-down chances in the fourth quarter. They turned the first one into a touchdown when Klubnik threw to T.J. Moore. But they came up short on the next two. Keith Adams Jr. was stuffed at the Texas 1 and Klubnik’s pass at the Texas 26 was incomplete with just over a minute left.
Texas: The Longhorns had some injury scares that could be worrisome with more games ahead. Wisner, starting offensive tackle Cam Williams and center Jake Majors all left the field in two plays in the second quarter. Sarkisian said the coaching staff opted to keep Wisner and Majors out in the second half. Williams needed help to get off the field and will have tests on his knee overnight.
Clemson will try to defend its ACC title next season and earn its eighth playoff berth.
Texas moves on to face Arizona State in the next round. The Longhorns left the Big 12 before Arizona State joined that league this season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
-
David Hale
The ACC will roll out its new nine-game conference schedule in a modified form for the 2026 football season, the conference announced Tuesday, with a full nine-game slate beginning in 2027.
For the upcoming season, which the ACC is calling a “transition year,” 12 of its 17 schools will play nine conference games, with Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State, North Carolina and Boston College playing just eight. Those five teams each have multiple Power Four opponents already scheduled outside the conference.
Because the ACC has an odd number of teams, one school will play eight league games each season starting in 2027.
Four ACC schools — Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Louisville — have an annual rivalry game against the SEC, and while Louisville AD Josh Heird said his school is eager to play a strong schedule each season, the other three initially balked at the lack of scheduling flexibility that would come with a nine-game conference slate and an annual nonconference game against their SEC rival.
Clemson has also scheduled an annual series against Notre Dame that starts in 2027, meaning that any year in which the Tigers are slated for nine ACC games, they’d be guaranteed at least 11 games vs. Power Four opponents.
Under the ACC’s new nine-game scheduling plan, which was approved in September, each team will be required to play at least 10 games against Power Four competition, meaning one nonconference Power Four game for the schools playing the full nine-game conference slate, and two for any teams playing eight.
The ACC will also adjust its tiebreaker policies for the 2026 season and beyond as a result of the unequal scheduling. The new formula, however, might also address concerns following this year’s five-team tie for second place in the conference that allowed a 7-5 Duke team to reach the championship game, which the Blue Devils ultimately won.
This marks the fourth different scheduling format for the ACC in the past four years. In 2022, the ACC agreed to scrap divisions for the 2023 season. In 2024, Cal, Stanford and SMU joined the league, forcing the ACC to adjust its annual rivalry games to fit the expanded roster of schools. The new nine-game league schedule, the ACC said, will allow for increased flexibility in scheduling and allow schools to face off more frequently.
The ACC remains contractually tied with Notre Dame as well, playing five nonconference games per year against the Fighting Irish.
Teams with a nine-game ACC slate in 2026
California
-
Home: Clemson, Pitt, Stanford, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
-
Away: NC State, SMU, Syracuse, Virginia
Duke
-
Home: Boston College, Clemson, North Carolina, Stanford
-
Away: Georgia Tech, Miami, NC State, Virginia, Wake Forest
Louisville
-
Home: Florida State, Pitt, SMU, Stanford, Wake Forest
-
Away: Georgia Tech, North Carolina, NC State, Syracuse
Miami
-
Home: Boston College, Duke, Florida State, Pitt, Virginia Tech
-
Away: Clemson, North Carolina, Stanford, Wake Forest
NC State
-
Home: California, Duke, Louisville, Syracuse, Wake Forest
-
Away: Florida State, North Carolina, Stanford, Virginia (in Brazil)
Pitt
-
Home: Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Syracuse
-
Away: Boston College, California, Louisville, Miami, Virginia Tech
SMU
-
Home: Boston College, California, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
-
Away: Florida State, Louisville, Stanford, Syracuse
Stanford
-
Home: Georgia Tech, Miami, NC State, SMU
-
Away: California, Duke, Louisville, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Syracuse
-
Home: California, Clemson, Louisville, SMU
-
Away: Boston College, North Carolina, NC State, Pitt, Virginia
Virginia
-
Home: California, Duke, North Carolina, NC State (in Brazil), Syracuse
-
Away: Florida State, SMU, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Virginia Tech
-
Home: Georgia Tech, Pitt, Stanford, Virginia
-
Away: Boston College, California, Clemson, Miami, SMU
Wake Forest
-
Home: Duke, Miami, Stanford, Virginia
-
Away: California, Georgia Tech, Louisville, NC State, SMU
Teams with an eight-game ACC schedule in 2026
Boston College
-
Home: Florida State, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech
-
Away: Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, SMU
Clemson
-
Home: Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia Tech
-
Away: California, Duke, Florida State, Syracuse
Florida State
-
Home: Clemson, NC State, SMU, Virginia
-
Away: Boston College, Louisville, Miami, Pitt
Georgia Tech
-
Home: Boston College, Duke, Louisville, Wake Forest
-
Away: Clemson, Pitt, Virginia Tech, Stanford
North Carolina
-
Home: Louisville, Miami, NC State, Syracuse
-
Away: Clemson, Duke, Pitt, Virginia
LUBBOCK, Texas — Big 12 champion Texas Tech, which has a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff, has extended the contracts of all three of its coordinators and the team’s general manager through the 2028 season.
The school announced the extensions Tuesday night for offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich, defensive coordinator Shiel Wood, associate head coach and special teams coordinator Kenny Perry, and GM James Blanchard.
“I appreciate (athletic director) Kirby Hocutt and our administration for proactively investing in the future of our football program,” head coach Joey McGuire said. “Our expectation is to compete annually for championships with this staff and the resources we have in place here at Texas Tech.”
Those new contracts for the assistants come two weeks after McGuire got an extension through the 2032 season and a significant pay raise.
Fourth-ranked Texas Tech (12-1) will play in the Orange Bowl CFP quarterfinal game on New Year’s Day against Oregon or James Madison.
Jeremiyah Love, the star Notre Dame running back and Heisman Trophy finalist, made it official Tuesday night and declared for the 2026 NFL draft.
Love made the announcement on social media, thanking his family, Fighting Irish coaches and teammates, among others, and saying he “could not have picked a better place for me to grow into the man I am today.”
Love is widely expected to be the top running back selected in next year’s draft.
The 6-foot, 214-pounder is projected to go No. 3 in Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest Big Board for ESPN, and Field Yates has him going 14th to the Kansas City Chiefs in his latest mock draft.
Love scored 21 all-purpose touchdowns in 2025, passing Jerome Bettis (1991) for the most in a season in Notre Dame history. The junior also ended the regular season fourth nationally with 1,372 rushing yards and third with 18 rushing touchdowns, averaging 6.89 yards per carry.
He finished third in Heisman voting behind winner Fernando Mendoza, the quarterback of No. 1 Indiana, and Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia. And he was Notre Dame’s first winner of the Doak Walker Award, given to the top running back in college football.
Love’s junior season already has ended because Notre Dame (10-2) didn’t make the College Football Playoff and opted against playing in a bowl.
As a sophomore, Love rushed for 1,125 yards and 17 touchdowns on 163 carries, helping Notre Dame reach the CFP championship game, which it lost 34-23 to Ohio State. He had 28 catches for 237 yards and two touchdowns that season.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment3 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024