It is finally time for the first ever 12-team College Football Playoff and it is only fitting that the Clemson Tigers are involved. After all, this is the seventh time that the Tigers have participated in the playoff in its eleven years of existence.
However, unlike in so many of those previous appearances, the Tigers are not playing the role of Goliath today but rather that of David. In fact, few people around the nation give head coach Dabo Swinney and his team a shot at pulling off the upset this evening.
That won't matter to the Tigers, though. In fact, they are confident in their ability to prevail despite playing in Austin as they have adopted an "us against the world" mindset.
“They know. We are the 12th seed,” Swinney said this week. “We are just happy to have a chance. We are in there. Anything can happen, so they know there are probably not going to be many people to give us an opportunity to win.
"So that's their mentality. They believe in themselves and that's all that matters."
Certainly, it will take Clemson's best effort to keep their season alive. If that is going to happen, here's what the Tigers need to do.
Clemson must make the most of red-zone opportunities
At times this season, especially against good teams, the Tigers have not made the most of their red-zone chances. Today, every red-zone trip needs to result in a touchdown because points might be tough to come by against a stingy Texas defense.
In the loss to South Carolina, for instance, the Tigers had two critical red-zone possessions end with no points as they turned the ball over on downs at the USC 11 in the first quarter and threw an interception from the Gamecocks' 18 on their final drive of the game as they tried to get in position to tie or win the game.
This year, Clemson was No. 51 nationally in red-zone scoring percentage by converting on 86.7% of their ventures inside the opponent's 20. However, to beat Texas, that percentage needs to be 100 because points will likely be at a premium.
The Clemson rushing attack must be productive
Almost every preview of this game seems to be putting Clemson's success solely on the shoulders of QB Cade Klubnik. The belief is that if the Tiers are going to win, it will be because the Austin native will have a heroic day in his hometown.
The reality is that Klubnik likely won't win this game by himself, though. He is going to need some help from a suddenly struggling Clemson ground game.
With star RB Phil Mafah playing through a shoulder injury that Swinney has said will require offseason surgery, the Tigers' once-potent ground attack has been slowed in recent games. Against SMU, Clemson managed only 64 yards on the ground. The week prior, against South Carolina, the Tigers got only 77 yards from their running backs. What's more, against Pitt, Clemson managed only 58 yards rushing as a team with 50 of those coming on the game-winning TD run by Klubnik in the final minute.
Texas is No. 12 nationally against the run giving up just 106.7 yards per game. However, that doesn't mean Clemson can turn away from the ground attack because a one-dimensional offensive attack won't be good enough to beat the Longhorns.
Clemson must make Texas one-dimensional
On the other side of the equation, Clemson must figure out a way to make Texas one-dimensional. Ideally, the Tigers need to be able to make the Longhorns QB Quinn Ewers beat them with his arm.
Ewers is an inconsistent passer. This year, he's completed 66.2% of his passes but at times, he's looked pedestrian against good defenses.
In the SEC Championship Game loss to Georgia, he completed just 58.7% of his passes and he was picked off twice. That came only one game after he completed just 60.7% of his passes in an uninspiring offensive show in a win over Texas A&M. And back in October, when Texas lost at home to Georgia, he completed only 58.1% of his passes.
In fact, Ewers hasn't completed over 64.1% of his passes in a game since November 9th. Some of that has been due to the fact that he's played through a sprained ankle but some of that has simply been less-than-stellar play on his part.
Today, Clemson must take the ground game away from Texas, as that's been what the Horns have turned to as their primary means of moving the ball since Ewers' ankle injury. That would make Ewers have to win the game by throwing the ball and that's likely Clemson's best shot at pulling off the upset.