View from the Cheap Seats-Zona State
Playing with their food.
Playing with their food.
An apropos comment from the color announcer, an ugly pattern re-emerged from the Horns on the 1st day of the year. TEXAS seems to “play with their food” as the Horns establish dominance in a game early, only to let their opponent hang around, this time flirting with the 1st upset of this year’s playoffs. The result was one of the wildest roller coaster performances of the season on a massive stage in the 2nd round of the College Football Playoffs.
Horns opened like a team on fire going 75 yards on 2 plays resulting in a touchdown to answer an ASU field goal on their opening drive. Then the defense bowed up for a 4-and-out punt which Silas Bolden took the return up the middle for an explosive 75-yard TD. With 7 minutes left in the 1st quarter, TEXAS is up 14-3 and it appeared this game would be a lopsided affair.
Not so fast my friends, after stopping ASU, TEXAS would go 3 and out. One of the biggest problems of the game, the undersized ASU defensive line didn’t get the message and they played havoc with the TEXAS offensive line and with Sark’s game plan. In what had been a strength for TEXAS vs every opponent not named Georgia, ASU shut down the TEXAS running game. Tip of the hat to the ASU defense which played much better than many expected. From a strategy perspective, ASU’s best weapon was their running back, Scattaboo who was clearly the offensive star for the Sun Devils. He was largely contained in the 1st half which finished with TEXAS up 17-3. This was a tale of 2 halves. TEXAS took the opening 2nd half drive and the OL was blown up by ASU’s pass rush putting the Horns way behind the chains and forcing a 3 and out. A punt is followed by an ASU drive to the 2 where the D again bowed up and stuffed ASU on 4th down. TEXAS tried to run out of the endzone but the OL was blown up and Wisner fumbled. Quinn alertly grabs the fumble and is tackled for a Safety which resulted in a critical 5-point swing denying ASU the 7. ASU takes the free kick and drives to put another 3 on the board. Quinn responds with TEXAS' best drive of the day, 13 plays, 62 yards. The drive concludes with a 5 yard rushing TD by Quinn when he is flushed right, drifts to buy time then takes off to run the ball into the end zone. The lead goes 24-8 and ASU now needs 2 TDs and two 2-point conversions to force OT.
Sadly, ASU would put together 2 TD drives in the 4th quarter to tie the game after TEXAS took a 24-8 lead. This includes a 4th and 2 half-back pass from Skadabo for a touchdown. Compounding the problems is TEXAS would have two nice, time-consuming drives that would end in a pair of missed FGs. TEXAS could never take a 3-score lead in the game as it failed to put the Sun Devils away
The game goes to overtime, the pressure is fully on TEXAS now. TEXAS wins the toss, defers and ASU promptly scores a TD. Even more pressure on TEXAS and ASU forces 4th and 8. False start and TEXAS faces 4th and 13 and a playoff exit. No worries, despite the weight of the season on the next play, Quinn was cool as a cucumber and drops a dime to Matthew Golden for a 28 yard TD. TEXAS’ turn to go 1st and with one of the best play calls from Sark of the game, Quinn drifts right with the OL sliding right while Gunnar Helm slips out from the left and Quinn hits him for a TD then goes back to his favorite pass catcher on the day, Matthew Golden for another dime in the back of the endzone to. . . you guessed it. . . .Matthew Golden for the 2-point conversion and now pressure back on ASU. The poise Quinn showed was impressive.
Andrew Makuba steps in front of a pass in the flat to close out the game for the Horns with an INT. What a ride the 2nd half was.
One of the biggest concerns about TEXAS under Sark has been the failure to win the 2nd half and the Peach bowl would be no different. TEXAS would be outscored in the 2nd half 21-7, allowing ASU to tie up the game and force OT. This is a pattern TEXAS needs to fix. Another concern was the lack of a running game which seriously hampered the TEXAS game plan. Our offensive line did not have their best game and TEXAS saw the penalty monster rear it’s ugly head as well.
In the trivia department, with the win, TEXAS becomes the 1st team in NCAA history to win all 6 of the New Year’s games. Cotton, Rose, Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and now Peach Bowl
Glass Half Full
- TEXAS won and now advances. Winning ugly is always better than losing pretty.
- Quinn wasn’t perfect but when it mattered most, he was nails and GREAT in OT.
- TEXAS has faced adversity and overcome it. Teams can grow from that experience
- Offensive grade, B- No run game, offensive line did not play up to their standard so TEXAS was largely a pass-only team. Still, that offense was enough to secure the OT win.
- Defensive grade B. Dominate 1st half but 4th quarter showed some “challenges”
Glass Half Empty
- Credit to ASU, they played well even though they are not as talented
- TEXAS loses yet another 2nd half
- Penalties would significantly impact the game
- Sark sometimes gets too clever with his playcalling
- Offensive line was not dominate
- TEXAS gives up yet another 4th and fake punt in the playoffs. Each time a successful stop would have resulted in great field position.
- Special teams grade- C- 2 missed FGs, either make either wins the game in regulation and gave up another playoff 4th down fake punt which marred Bolden’s 75 yard TD punt return
Offensive Player of the Game
Quinn Ewers with a 20 or 30 game, 322 yards and 4 TDs (3 pass 1 run). Money in overtime with some great passes including a TD on 4th and Season. Despite some claiming he was outplayed by the ASU freshman, facts do not support that. QBR was 92 for Quinn to 71 for Levitt. 4 TDs to Zero and 322 yards to 222.
Matthew Golden, 7 catches for 149 yards, a TD, and a 2-point conversion, both in OT. He is 2 catches behind Helm for the team lead in receptions and already the reception yardage and TD leader. He has been Quinn’s go-to WR with Bond out with injury.
Defensive Player of the game
Andrew Mukuba with his game-sealing interception in OT.
Special Teams Player of the Game
Silas Bolden with his electric 75-yard punt return to put TEXAS up 14-3
Stats that Matter
- 26 Consecutive games with a Quinn Ewers TD pass
- 56 Starts by Jake Majors, the longest streak in Longhorn history
- 10 Penalties by TEXAS for 76 yards, NOT a good trend
- 9/3 9 Tackles for loss and 3 sacks recorded by ASU, not a great day for the OL. Not impressive
- 10-24 ASU's 3rd down conversion rate, excellent
- 3-6 4th down conversion rate for ASU, one a fake punt another for a TD.
On Deck
TEXAS’ opening opponent for 2025, the Ohio State Buckeyes. Don’t look now but while the Horns fiddled with an upset bid from an underdog, tOSU has dominated their 1st two games including sending undefeated and #1 ranked Oregon home from the playoffs. tOSU has very talented skill-position players. On paper, the teams are very close statistically. tOSU #1 in scoring D, TEXAS #2, Scoring O is #18 for the Buckeyes vs #25 for the Horns. The Cheap Seats' key to victory, is how our offensive line shows up. If we cannot establish our running game, the rest of the offense suffers. TEXAS needs to be physical with the Buckeyes on both sides of the ball. If we are being blunt, TEXAS needs to bring their A game or the season is over. TEXAS has not played their "A" game in the playoffs or really dating back to Aggie. The Peach Bowl effort will not get it done. TEXAS opens as the underdog and today, we agree. tOSU 36 TEXAS 28. 😖
Game highlights
Overtime highlights
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