There will be some college football action Saturday but Texas football will not be playing.
The Longhorns have some time to recover physically and mentally after a taxing loss to Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship. Their next game will be Dec. 21 against Clemson in the first round of the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian appreciates the extended layover, though he would have loved the extra week of rest the first-round bye would’ve brought.
“I would love to get as healthy as we can get, but nobody’s going to be 100% healthy at this point of the season,” Sarkisian said last Monday. “Everybody’s got bumps and bruises.”
More:Texas football film study: Where does blame lie for Longhorns’ 2nd loss to Georgia?
Texas faced Georgia without its starting left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., who was dealing with a left ankle injury. Banks was selected to the All-SEC first team this past week and is projected to be a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft. The Longhorns will also hope to get wide receiver Isaiah Bond and quarterback Quinn Ewers as close to fully healthy as possible.
No. Texas is the fifth seed in the College Football Playoff and will face Clemson, the 12th seed, in the first round. The winner will face Arizona State in the quarterfinals at the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Day. If Texas wins, it will play a semifinal on Jan. 10 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas with a chance to head to the national title game on Jan. 20, 2025, in Atlanta.
Clemson is led by quarterback Cade Klubnik, who has some history with the Austin area. A Westlake alumnus, Klubnik defeated Ewers and Southlake Carroll in the state finals of the 2021 UIL Texas high school football playoffs.
More:Texas vs Clemson: QB Cade Klubnik is from Austin. Why didn’t he go to Texas?
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