Steve Sarkisian has his Texas players to thank after landing a big cash bonus following Saturday’s victory over Clemson.

The Longhorns underlined their championship credentials with a convincing College Football Playoff first-round victory over the Tigers in Austin. Led by a two-touchdown performance from running back Jaydon Blue, Texas eased to a 38-24 win at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Saturday’s victory booked Texas’ place in the quarterfinal when they will be big favorites against four-seed Arizona State at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on New Year’s Day. By reaching the quarterfinal, head coach Sarkisian activated a clause in his contract for a $250,000 bonus, taking his total earned from performance-related bonuses this season to $650,000, according to On3.

Sarkisian earned $250,000 for reaching the playoff and $150,000 for reaching the SEC title game, where Texas was beaten by Georgia earlier this month. And more cash is on the way if his players make a deeper run through the playoffs.

The 50-year-old stands to receive $750,000 if his team reaches the semifinal, $1 million of they make the national title game and a further $1.25 million if they take home the national championship.

The next bonus is very realistic for Sarkisian, whose team is an overwhelming favorite to defeat Arizona State at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on New Year’s Day.

Sarkisian seems to have handled the potentially-awkward Quinn Ewers-Arch Manning situation well

Sarkisian seems to have handled the potentially-awkward Quinn Ewers-Arch Manning situation well ( 

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Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The road gets tougher after that, though, with one-seed Oregon or Ohio State awaiting in the semifinal. On the other side of the bracket, two-seed Georgia is a strong favorite to reach the championship game.

Ultimately, the bonuses are unlikely to generate any added motivation for Sarkisian, who is already a very wealthy man thanks to his huge annual salary of $10.3 million. Instead, he is chasing glory on the field and he has impressively managed the Longhorns’ first season as a member of the SEC.

He has appeared to handle a potential quarterback controversy well, putting his faith in Quinn Ewers as the starter despite calls from fans for redshirt freshman Arch Manning to take over. Manning, a superior running threat, did see limited action off the bench against Clemson

Their only defeats have come against Georgia – the first being a resounding 30-15 defeat in October before being edged out in overtime of the SEC championship game on Dec. 7, and Sarkisian is desperate for his players to have a chance of revenge in the playoff.

He was delighted by his players’ reaction to the latest Georgia defeat. “I’m really proud of this group because nobody hung their head coming out of Atlanta,” Sarkisian said.

“It was, ‘Okay, let’s go on to the next mission. Let’s go win four more games, and you can’t win four until you win the first one. We were able to do that, so now, we gotta win three more.

“You can’t win three more if you don’t win the next one, so we’ll handle it accordingly with some time for the players over Christmas break, and game plan with the coaches, and make sure that we’re ready to go come Jan. 1.”