CFB Playoff Preview: Transfers to Watch in First-Round Matchups

No.12 Clemson @ No.5 Texas (-12), 4:00 EST on TNT/Max 

For the Tigers: 

Dabo Swinney’s team started the season with a 34-3 defeat at the hands of Georgia in Atlanta. In typical Clemson fashion, the Tigers showed resilience and find themselves in the first 12-team playoff. 

Although Swinney traditionally avoids using the portal, he received a commitment from Southeast Missouri State standout Tristan Smith in the ‘25 cycle. On Thursday, he received his first ever defensive transfer commitment in Purdue’s Will Heldt. 

For Saturday’s clash in Austin, Swinney will look to the experience of signal caller Cade Klubnik, one of three players to account for 40 total touchdowns this season. 

Klubnik, an alumnus of Austin’s Westlake High School, needs to be at his best for the Tigers to have a shot at the upset. 

For the Longhorns: 

Saturday’s showdown will not be the first between Klubnik and Texas’s Quinn Ewers in the Lone Star State. 

In a clash of the titans between Westlake and Ewers’s Southlake Carroll in the 2021, Texas Class 6A Division 1 State Championship Game, Klubnik got the best of Ewers, winning 52-34. 

Andrew Mukuba, a former Clemson Tiger, leads the way for the Texas secondary. The ball-hawk safety has 52 total tackles and four interceptions on the season. 

Matthew Golden (Houston) and Isaiah Bond (Alabama) combined for 1,270 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns after transferring last season. 

Expect a ferocious Longhorns defense that allowed just 12.46 points per game this season to be the difference in Austin.