The Sun Devils from Arizona State are another team making their first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff. Similar to the first quarterfinal game between Boise State and Penn State, this one also features one team with a stud running back who will have to come up big for his team to have a chance at moving on.
At times, Texas has looked like the best team in the country, except for those Georgia Bulldogs, who took them down twice. The Sun Devils made a remarkable turnaround from last season’s nightmare when they were in a word-bad situation. They also come in hot to this one. It will be interesting to see if not playing for over three weeks will impact them. We don’t think the layoff is as big of a concern for the Longhorns coming into this College Football Playoff matchup.
College Football Playoff Quarterfinal: Peach Bowl – Arizona State vs. Texas
Arizona State Sun Devils
As we said before and will say it again, the Sun Devils are coming into the College Football Playoff hot fresh off their unexpected blowout of Iowa State in the BIG 12 Championship Game. They rely heavily on bruiser running back Cameron Skattebo who rushed for over 1,500 yards and 19 touchdowns on the season. He also proved to be a reliable option out of the backfield getting over 300 receiving yards and another three scores through the air.
Quarterback Sam Leavitt did a good job at protecting the ball as he only threw five picks on the season. He threw for over 2,600 yards and added 24 touchdowns in the air. His 63 percent completion percentage is a bit low for a top team.
Receiver Jordyn Tyson was the lead dog in the passing game by a mile. His 75 catches were more than twice as many as anyone else on the team and he led in yardage and touchdown receptions with 10 by a wide margin as well. Fellow wideout Xavier Guillory and tight end Chamon Metayer each pitched in with five receiving touchdowns.
Arizona State’s defense gave up just over 20 points per game. Not bad but not great. They did have a couple of impressive performances most notably holding Kansas State to 14 points and Iowa State to 19 points in the conference championship game that wasn’t close.
The only players that stood out at all on the defense were the ends Clayton Smith and Elijah O’Neil who each had four sacks. However, it’s concerning that the team only had 21 in the season. The Sun Devils also had just five forced fumbles. They will likely need to turn the Longhorns over a few times in this College Football Playoff game to pull this one out.
Texas Longhorns
The Longhorns have one of the most talented and deepest offensive rosters in the country. They lost stud running back Jonathon Brooks and stud receivers Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell to the NFL and they just kept putting up points this year like nothing happened.
Quarterback Quinn Ewers heads into this College Football Playoff matchup again hoping not to look over his shoulder because of the presence of Arch Manning. Ewers played well for most of the season although his 10 interceptions in a little less than a full season is concerning.
Once again Texas is loaded at the running back position. Led by Quintrevion Wisner who rushed for 973 yards and five touchdowns, the running back group also features Jaydon Blue who rushed for 710 yards and eight touchdowns during the regular season and had the long touchdown run that sealed the Clemson game in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
The defense is quarterbacked by linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. who put up 7.5 sacks and looked like he was everywhere on almost every play. The secondary was spearheaded by Jahdae Barron with five picks and Andrew Mukuba with four.
The Matchup
That Texas defense we just referenced gave up only 12.6 points per game during the regular season and they will cause problems for the Devils’ D. It’s also hard to see how Arizona State can slow down the Longhorns offense. So far the only team to do it has been Georgia and Arizona State doesn’t play defense like Georgia.
If the Sun Devils get behind early then Skattebo becomes less of a factor as he’s a downhill runner who thrives on lots of carries. Arizona State is in a similar situation as Boise State in that they can’t win it on the strength of their quarterback. It will be very difficult for ASU to keep Texas off the scoreboard for very long. We’re going with Texas easily in this one to advance in the College Football Playoff.
Prediction
Texas 34 Arizona State 14
If Texas does what we think they will then next up is the winner of the Ohio State vs. Oregon game on what shapes up as a classic. No matter what happens we can’t wait and we’re going to love every minute of this new expanded College Football Playoff.
Main Image: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
