Football is a physical game, no question. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has talked repeatedly this season about the mental grind, too.

The Longhorns were told all summer about how difficult the SEC would be. They had to get emotionally charged up for rivalry games against Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas A&M. Then, players had to go through battling and losing to Georgia twice.

Now that Texas (11-2) knows it will host Clemson (10-3) in the first round of the College Football Playoffs, Sarkisian wants his players to take a break. Kickoff is 3 p.m. on Dec. 21 at Royal-Memorial Stadium. It’ll get here soon enough.

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“We need to recharge. We need to refresh our batteries. Our guys need a few days,” Sarkisian said Sunday after the bracket was announced. “They need a few days to get themselves back physically, but also I think mentally.

“We’re in great spirits, and I think guys are all excited about the opportunity that we have in front of us, but they need a little bit of a break because it’s been one week after the next of high stress, high level stuff that's going on.”

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No. 5 Texas will host No. 12 Clemson at 3 p.m. on Dec. 21 at Royal-Memorial Stadium

The coaching staff will start immediately on Clemson, the ACC runner-up led by Westlake product Cade Klubnik. But the players will not do anything football related at least until Thursday.

Receiver Isaiah Bond will have an MRI on his injured ankle, Sarkisian said. It’s still unclear whether left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. will be cleared for the Clemson game, only that “he wasn’t ready to play” against Georgia.

“We need to give them a chance to step away for a minute and then so when they come back, they’re really wired in and focused with the right intent and right sense of urgency needed to go compete here next Saturday against Clemson,” the coach said.

First priority for Sarkisian’s staff will be to dig into the offensive troubles that got the Horns trapped in the Dawg house.

Sarkisian said it was a “super gusty performance” by quarterback Quinn Ewers, but the Horns also had a season-high six dropped passes. Coming into the Atlanta, the offense was credited with 10 drops in 12 regular-season games.

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On 10 third-down attempts, the Horns needed at least nine yards or more. Penalties and a lack of rushing game put the offense behind the chains way too much. Texas was 6-for-18 on third down for the game.

The offense simply didn’t play with enough consistency, Sarkisian said. Two missed field goals during regulation would have also been helpful to avoid overtime.

“You know, I actually thought the guy who probably had one of the best games on offense was Quinn,” Sarkisian said. “he really stood in there, and we didn’t block some things very well. He took some hits. He made plays outside the pocket. I thought he was really accurate with the ball.

“We’ve got to play together better collectively,” he added. “The run game’s got to go better against these elite defensive fronts. We’ve got to make our plays in the passing game when opportunities present themselves.

“But all of that, whatever we want to do, it all starts up front. So we got, we got to push that group to another level as we get into the CFP, knowing that these all the opponents will be playing are quality opponents.”