Credit Quinn Ewers for making the right check on Jaydon Blue's touchdown runs

Jaydon Blue deserves a lot of credit for his two touchdown runs, one in the second quarter from 38 yards away that made it 14-7 Texas and the other a pivotal 77-yard dash to the end zone in the fourth quarter that put the score at its final 38-24 margin.

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Both runs were extremely similar and may have even been the same play. Blue runs to the side of the formation with two tight ends in Gunnar Helm and Juan Davis and races upfield on each play. For the first one, just enough of a block from Matthew Golden provides all the room Blue needs on the sideline to find the end zone.

For the second score, it’s the same thing against arguably the same defense just run to the left. Davis, Helm, and Kelvin Banks do their jobs, Blue escapes a tackle, then is off to the races for a 77-yarder.

But there’s someone Blue should be thanking outside of his linemen and blockers.

Quinn Ewers.

“On both Jaydon Blue’s touchdowns, those were audibles by Quinn to that run,” Sarkisian said postgame. “One, him handling the run game, and then two, that mechanism at the line of scrimmage of getting that check and then blocking it really well to spring him on those two runs. There’s a lot that goes into the run game. We always say the run game takes all 11, and all 11 did it tonight.”

Ewers was ready to make that decision thanks to what he saw in practice during the week. Clemson got into a single-high look against Texas’ two-tight end set and Ewers noticed how the Tigers defended Davis’ motion. At that point, he recalled what Sarkisian had thrown at him in practice just a few days before the game.

“We gave him that look, and we were anticipating it could be one or another call, and we gave him the look and we were giving it to him early, so he was checking it really early, and I said, they might not give it to you this early, and we had a motion on it,” Sarkisian said. “I said, you might have to check it after the motion and then check the play. Sure enough, it happened tonight.”

Not only did it happen once, but twice. And it was part of why Blue ended up with a career-high 146 yards.

“Yeah, it’s a great feeling anytime you’re able to get the offense into the correct play call for certain looks,” Ewers said. “I think it’s just a testament to the coaches giving us those looks in practice and it being kind of easy to see and easy to be able to check.”

The plays were important for Blue as well. A season’s worth of frustration was taken out on those two runs, specifically the 77-yarder that looked a lot like his long run against Texas Tech in 2023 in the final game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium of that campaign.

Additionally, the run game operated with efficiency all night thanks to Blue, Quintrevion Wisner, and Jerrick Gibson. Texas rushed for 292 yards, with Blue notching two touchdowns and Wisner also finding the end zone twice.

Texas’ performance against Clemson was an about face from the last outing. The Longhorns rushed for a paltry 31 yards against Georgia in the SEC Championship. Even when adjusted for sacks, Texas only got to 58 yards on the ground. For the run game to right itself against the ACC Champion was something Sarkisian emphasized throughout the preparation process for the Longhorns’ first-round College Football Playoff game.

“One of the first bullet points I put up in this room was run to win, that we needed to run the football to win this game, and we’re going to need to run the football to advance in these playoffs, and that’s what playoff football is about,” Sarkisian said. “We really challenged them on the run game.”

As Sarkisian explained, he believes it takes all 11 on the field to ensure the run game works properly. Though those two plays were the only checks Sarkisian acknowledged, Ewers was constantly communicating at the line of scrimmage especially as Texas elected to huddle often versus Clemson. There probably were plenty more.

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Blue, Banks, Davis, Helm, and others did the dirty work, but the guy who handed the ball off made sure his 10 teammates were doing the proper dirty work on two key occasions. Ewers’ line of scrimmage work helped to put two touchdowns on the board and advance Texas to the next round of the College Football Playoff.