With a minute left in the game, Clemson junior quarterback Cade Klubnik threw to receiver T.J. Moore, trying to put one more touchdown on the board.
But running up from Moore’s blindside was Klubnik’s former teammate, Texas junior defensive back Michael Taaffe, who slammed into Moore and knocked the ball out of his hands, stopping Clemson’s final attempt to score.
“It’s our job as a defense to hold our standard and not let anybody get in our paint,” Taaffe said.
Lining up in victory formation a few plays later, No. 5 seed Texas defeated the No. 12 seed Clemson 38-24 and moved on in the College Football Playoff bracket to play Arizona State University in the Peach Bowl. After the win, Klubnik and Taaffe embraced each other on the field.
“We were definitely sharing words back and forth, so that was fun,” Taaffe said. “But then at the end of the game, it’s all love. He’s a great guy. He had a great game. … He helped us get ready for next Saturday for sure.”
The Longhorns cleaned up their game since the Southeastern Conference Championship, finding the run game early and getting some key stops in the fourth quarter.
“I’m really proud of this group because nobody hung their head coming out of Atlanta,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “It was (like) ‘Okay, let’s go on to the next mission. Let’s go win three more games,’ and you can’t win three until you win the first one. We were able to do that.”
The game started quickly with touchdowns on the first two drives of the play.
Klubnik didn’t seem fazed in front of his hometown, going 6-7 for 60 yards and ending the drive with a 22-yard touchdown pass.
However, Texas didn’t wait long to respond, quickly making their way downfield to tie up the game.
With short passes up the middle, Texas junior quarterback Quinn Ewers moved the chains. While Clemson took advantage of a break in the offensive line around the 40-yard line and sacked Ewers for a loss of 10 yards, the Longhorns were able to recover with a pass to freshman wide receiver Ryan Wingo and a 22-yard rush to the right by sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner.
It was Wisner who got the first touchdown of Texas’ game, running through the middle for three yards.
Then in the second quarter, after a 38-yard rushing touchdown by junior running back Jaydon Blue on the second drive of the game, Wisner scored on the third.
Senior tight end Gunnar Helm also scored a touchdown, breaking the Texas single-season record for receiving touchdowns by a tight end.
The first half ended 28-10, with Texas dominating through their run game by out-rushing Clemson 148-65 in the first half.
However, when the two teams came back from halftime, Klubnik started to find his targets again in the backfield, throwing for 336 yards.
The Tigers closed the gap that the Longhorns had created in the first half. Although the Texas defense wasn’t at its strongest, it stopped Clemson when it needed to. Similar to the Texas A&M game, the Texas defense had a huge stop at the one-yard line, preventing the touchdown on third and fourth downs.
The defense will get another opportunity to prove themselves as Texas takes on Arizona State in Atlanta on Jan. 1, taking on the next game in search of a national title.
“We’re going to respect our opponent and we’re going to get ready for the challenge,” Taaffe said. “We’re going to be ready to go. We’re going to go get it.”