ESPN Analyst Weighs in on ‘Really Gutsy’ Clemson CFP Performance

Clemson showed plenty of heart and fight against Texas, but the Tigers ultimately fell short in Saturday’s 38-24 loss to the Longhorns in the College Football Playoff first-round matchup at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.

Clemson (10-4), the No. 12 seed, chopped a 21-point deficit down to one touchdown early in the fourth quarter. However, fifth-seeded Texas (12-2) held off a pair of potential scoring drives late to hold on for the victory.

The Tigers saw two fourth-quarter drives stall as they attempted to cut into the lead again, including a fourth-down stop on the 1-yard line. Texas ran 48 times for 292 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 6.1 yards per carry, and scored on a 77-yard touchdown run two plays after Clemson cut the lead to 31-24.

On his Always College Football show, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy talked about Texas holding off a good Clemson team and gave his takeaways from the game.

“It could’ve been a little more convincing, if I’m going to be honest with you,” McElroy said. “There was a moment there – I mean you’re sitting there, you’re watching it, they’re up 31-10. Texas is in cruise control. Clemson can’t stop the run. Well next thing you know, they’re sitting there a couple failed fourth-down attempts later, a short field goal, and next thing you know, Cade Klubnik catches fire and all of a sudden it’s 31-24.

“So, it was a little bit chaotic there in the back half, but it never really felt – at least I never felt – like this game was going to go in favor of Clemson. It’s just how bad would it look for the Clemson Tigers in this one.”

Despite the defeat, Clemson piled up the most passing yards (336), yards of total offense (412) and highest yards-per-play average (6.1) surrendered by Texas this season.

Clemson junior quarterback Cade Klubnik, playing in his hometown, completed 26-of-43 passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. The 300-yard game marked Klubnik’s fourth of the season and the seventh of his career.

McElroy says the Tigers should be proud of their performance even though they came out on the wrong end of the outcome against the Longhorns.

“I’ve got a ton of respect for Cade Klubnik. I thought he played his heart out. I got a ton of respect for their program in general,” McElroy said. “They are not anywhere near a hundred percent, Clemson’s not. You can tell Phil Mafah is not at a hundred percent. They have a couple guys on defense that are beat up. They don’t have crazy depth. They went toe-to-toe and they gave it the best they had. They just don’t have the personnel that Texas does and they don’t have the depth that Texas does.

“So, good performance. By far I think the best performance of any team in a losing effort this weekend. So, I think Clemson should hold their heads high because they just went toe-to-toe with one of the most complete teams in the country and they didn’t back down one ounce and took advantage of some of the mistakes that team afforded them.”

McElroy added that it was a “really gutsy” showing from Dabo Swinney’s “championship-level” program.

McElroy credited Swinney’s Tigers for being “prepared for the moment” in what was Clemson’s seventh College Football Playoff appearance – contrary to Indiana and SMU, both of which made their first playoff appearances and got dominated by Notre Dame and Penn State, respectively.

“It was, I thought, a really gutsy performance from Clemson I might add,” McElroy said. “I think it’s easy to get lost in the conversation of well, ACC-SEC, all this conference superiority conversation. I don’t really care about any of that. But I’ll tell you what I learned, alright. Indiana and SMU, clearly the first time they’ve played on a stage like this, and it showed. They wet the bed badly. First time they’ve played on a stage like this, and they just looked completely shellshocked and they played their way out of the game in about two seconds.

“Clemson’s a championship-level program. Now, it doesn’t mean they’re going to go and win championships here in the modern day. I’m not predicting that. But you can see, while watching that team and their performance — albeit there being a pretty significant gap in personnel, talent, depth, what have you — that team rises to the occasion, where the other two teams collapsed upon themselves like a dying star. So, credit to the culture and credit to the type of program that Dabo Swinney’s built because they were prepared for the moment unlike the other two that looked awful in their performances.”

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