Unfortunate plays halt Texas's momentum
Texas had an opportunity late in the first half to take a commanding three-score lead over the Tigers. The Longhorns had the ball within Clemson's 25-yard line on offense after an interception by true freshman edge rusher Colin Simmons, up 21-7 in the second quarter.
Instead of taking the points on a field goal attempt on fourth down, Sarkisian elected to go for it. Texas turned the ball over on downs instead of taking a 24-7 lead over Clemson before halftime.
From there, Clemson found ways to grab momentum back in this game from the Longhorns. An unfortunate two-play stretch for Texas late in the second quarter gave Clemson the ball back on offense before halftime. Ewers had an accurate pass that bounce off wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr.'s hands right into the arms of a Clemson defensive back for the pick.
On the interception, senior starting center Jake Majors suffered an injury on a blindside block by a Clemson defensive lineman. That compounded with two more injuries the Texas offense suffered on the previous play before the interception, with starting offensive tackle Cam Williams and Wisner getting tangled up on an awkward tackle by the Clemson defense.
Texas could've had at least a three-score lead heading into the locker room at halftime had Sarkisian decided to kick the field goal and if the Longhorns had avoided the interception. Instead, Clemson had good field position right before halftime and cut Texas's lead down to 11 points on a short field goal.
Not like it mattered much for the Longhorns, though, with Ewers leading a clutch scoring drive right before halftime to extend the lead back to 18 points.
The most consequential part about those consecutive plays on offense were the injuries to Williams, Majors, and Wisner.
It felt like the Longhorns could've put this game away earlier than they did. But getting to a dozen wins and making the second round of the Playoff has to be the focus now for Texas to improve these mistakes for both sides of the ball after this game.