An ESPN staffer gave his score predictions (subscription required) for every bowl matchup, including the entire 12-team College Football Playoff.
ESPN Senior Writer Adam Rittenberg weighed in on the CFP first-round matchup between 12th-seeded Clemson (10-3) and No. 5 seed Texas (11-2) in Austin, Texas.
Rittenberg predicts the Longhorns to beat the Tigers, 24-16.
“Coach Dabo Swinney’s Tigers are the rare conference champion playing with house money — a three-loss team that many (including me) wrote off after a 12-point home loss to Louisville,” Rittenberg wrote. “But Clemson won another ACC title and will head to Texas behind quarterback Cade Klubnik, an Austin native who would love nothing more than to end the Longhorns’ season. Texas certainly will need more from its own quarterback, Quinn Ewers, who has more interceptions (three) than touchdown passes (two) in his past two games. How much Arch Manning will we see against a Clemson defense that has fallen off a bit this season?
“Texas ultimately has home field and the best unit: a defense that can stifle Phil Mafah and Clemson’s run game and pressure Klubnik. The Longhorns allow only 12.1 points per game and 4 yards per play. Clemson grabs the early lead before Texas clamps down, as Gunnar Helm hauls in two touchdowns from Ewers.”
The Clemson-Texas showdown at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium is set to kick off at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 21 and will be televised on TNT.
It will be the first-ever meeting between the Tigers and the Longhorns. Texas (959) and Clemson (808) have combined for 1,767 all-time victories, and both rank among the Top 13 in FBS history in victories.
This marks Clemson’s seventh all-time berth in the College Football Playoff – the second-most in the nation in the CFP era (since 2014), trailing only Alabama (eight). Clemson is 6-4 in playoff games under head coach Dabo Swinney, whose six CFP victories are the most of any active coach.
As for the other CFP first-round games, Rittenberg predicts No. 7 seed Notre Dame to beat No. 10 seed Indiana, 31-21, No. 6 Penn State to beat No. 11 SMU, 34-23, and No. 8 Ohio State to beat No. 9 Tennessee, 26-19.
Rittenberg ultimately projects Notre Dame and top-seeded Oregon to face off in the CFP National Championship, and he has the Ducks defeating the Irish, 38-27, to win it all.