Texas survives, but needs Quinn Ewers back ASAP, while Clemson answers call with cathartic upset over Notre Dame

In a riveting early window in Week 10, several major matchups went down to the wire. Texas nearly Clemson’d away a win against Kansas State, while No. 1 Ohio State overcame a sleepy start to cruise past Rutgers. 

Then there’s actual Clemson, which delivered a spirited performance to upset Notre Dame and avoid a third-straight loss. 

Here are three takeaways from the early slate in Week 10:

Texas survives, but Longhorns need Quinn Ewers back ASAP

Texas still has life in the Big 12 title race and the College Football Playoff after holding on to beat Kansas State in overtime, getting a key stop on fourth down inside the 5-yard line to win 33-30. 

A lesser Longhorns team — like 2022 or previous versions — probably loses Saturday, but Steve Sarkisian’s team displayed enough resiliency to win without their starting quarterback after coughing up a 24-7 lead. 

Texas’ talent, athleticism and depth were enough Saturday, but make no mistake, if the Longhorns want to win the conference championship game — or more — they need Quinn Ewers back ASAP. 

Backup Maalik Murphy got off to a hot start in the first quarter (7 of 9 for 162 yards), connecting with AD Mitchell for a 47-yard touchdown, but after that, the sophomore was erratic for nearly the rest of the game. He averaged just 3.3 yards per attempt the next three quarters and probably should’ve thrown at least five interceptions on the day. 

Murphy was picked off once in the first half and K-State dropped another two INTs before halftime. Still, Texas held a comfortable three-score lead late in the third quarter thanks a punishing defensive line and a strong showing from their massive OL and tailbacks Jonathan Brooks (112 yards) and CJ Baxter (94 yards). 

Sarkisian was aggressive throughout the game, dialing up a fake tush-push, quick toss on 4th-and-1 that went for a 54-yard house-call from Baxter.

But in a flash, Texas started to turtle. Late in the third quarter, Kansas State went on an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped by a 26-yard pass by Will Howard. It was the first of three touchdowns by the Wildcats in just over two minutes of game action, as they instantly erased a big deficit and had the Longhorns on their heels. 

Murphy threw another terrible interception and Brooks put the ball on the turf for a fumble, aiding in Kansas State’s comeback. Texas was fortunate that Kansas State’s special teams imploded, as the Wildcats missed the go-ahead PAT and shanked a short field goal. 

The good news is Texas scrapped its way to a key victory, and the Longhorns punched back after finding themselves in an unexpected fight late. The bad news is against more similarly talented teams, they can’t overcome Murphy’s inexperience. He was turnover-prone last week against BYU and he was even more careless with the football Saturday. 

Ewers hasn’t played like an All-American this season, but he’s been a much more stabilizing presence at QB. He has three picks all year in 213 attempts. Murphy has thrown three interceptions in the last two weeks on 62 passes. That’s not going to cut it against Michigan or Florida State. 

Clemson answers the call from Tyler from Spartanburg in a cathartic upset over Notre Dame

Maybe “Tyler from Spartanburg” was a plant? A setup by Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney to help rally his reeling Tigers team?

I kid, but maybe not?

Either way, give the man the game ball for helping motivate Clemson, which played its most spirted game of the season to upset No. 15 Notre Dame 31-23. After Swinney fired back at the fan who dialed into the coach’s call-in show earlier in the week, his team responded with the same passion — particularly defensively and on special teams.

Despite being down some 11 starters, the Tigers beat the Irish thanks to several red zone stops, a pick-six from linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, who was a beast all game, and a career-day from tailback Phil Mafah. With Will Shipley sidelined with a concussion, Mafah toted the rock 36 times — his first 20+ yard carry game of his career — for 186 yards and two touchdowns. He coughed up a potentially costly fumble inside the final two minutes, but Clemson’s defense, which hounded Sam Hartman all afternoon, came up with another stop. 

Outside of Mafah, the Tigers’ offense could do next to nothing, but their defense played with a ferocious bite, led by Trotter, who had 11 tackles, two sacks and the 28-yard pick-six. Quarterback Cade Klubnik continues to struggle, but he did have a key surprise pooch punt in the second half to pin Notre Dame inside the 10-yard line. 

The Tigers entered the game with four losses before Halloween for the first time since 2010, and with another defeat Saturday, were looking at the real possibility of missing a bowl game for the first time in Swinney’s 16-year tenure. 

Instead, Swinney’s team heard the call — be it Tyler from Spartanburg or their head coach. Clemson still has some real existential issues to sort out after the season, but it was a cathartic win for Swinney, who fired back at all his critics postgame, saying, “If Clemson is a stock, you better buy all you freaking can buy right now.”

Ohio State continues to just survive and advance

Fresh off their No. 1 ranking in the initial College Football Playoff Rankings, the Buckeyes certainly didn’t resemble the top team in the country Saturday against Rutgers, overcoming a no-show in the first half to rally and remain undefeated with a 35-16 win. 

It hasn’t been pretty for Ohio State all season, but their survive and advance style was tested early against a feisty Scarlett Knights team. Rutgers was up 9-7 at halftime, and they possibly should’ve had a bigger lead but they squandered three drives inside Ohio State’s 5-yard line, with Greg Schiano settling for field goals as a nearly three-touchdown underdog. 

Just cowardly stuff. 

Still, Scarlett Knights were moving the football against Ohio State’s Top 5 defense and were in position to add to their lead when Buckeyes safety John Hancock intercepted a tipped pass over the middle for a 93-yard pick-six that completely flipped the game’s momentum. Ohio State never trailed again, riding their defense and junior tailback TreVeyon Henderson. 

Henderson has provided a much-needed spark to OSU’s lackluster ground game, going for 128 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. He was also the Buckeyes’ top receiving threat Saturday, adding five catches for 80 yards. The Buckeyes were able to pull away late with a pair of short touchdowns to Marvin Harrison Jr.

Ohio State was coming off consecutive emotional games against Penn State and Wisconsin, but they’ve lacked dominance and additional gear all season. They remain No. 1 for now, but unless quarterback Kyle McCord can suddenly create more explosive plays (just three pass plays over 15 yards — and one was a 65-yard screen pass to Henderson), they won’t snap their two-game losing streak to Michigan at the end of the month.