Sun Devil Football overcame a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime before Texas held off Arizona State 39-31 in double overtime in a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Wednesday afternoon.
No. 4-seed ASU (11-3) closed this Big 12 championship season with its first New Year's Day bowl since the 1997 Rose Bowl after ASU went 11-0 in the 1996 season.
The Sun Devils opened the scoring with a 39-yard field goal from Carston Kieffer to cap the team's opening drive with points for the 11th time this season. No. 5-seed Texas countered with 17 consecutive points that left the Longhorns leading 17-3 at halftime despite four trips inside the Texas 40-yard line by the Sun Devils in the half.
ASU began to chip away at the deficit on the second defensive drive of the second half. The ASU offense failed to score on fourth-and-two, but on the ensuing Texas snap, Shamari Simmons – who missed the first half because of a targeting call in the Big 12 Championship – forced a fumble that Teas recovered in the end zone for a safety. The Sun Devil offense then went 50 yards to setup Kieffer for a 36-yard field goal to get within 17-8 late in the third quarter.
Texas extended its advantage to 24-8 with 10:17 to play in the fourth quarter when Quinn Ewers scrambled five yards for a touchdown to cap a 76-yard drive after the Sun Devil define had held the Longhorns to just three yards on the previous four possessions.
Still without a touchdown and lining up on fourth-and-two from the Texas 42, ASU quarterback Sam Leavitt pitched to Cam Skattebo, who fired downfield to an open Malik McClain for a game-changing touchdown. Leavitt connected with Xavier Guillory on the two-point conversion, and with 6:31 to play, it was a one-score game.
The Sun Devils' momentum continued to build on the second snap of the following Texas drive when Javan Robinson intercepted Ewers at the ASU 21. On the next Sun Devil snap, Leavitt found Skattebo streaking down the sideline for a 62-yard gain that included a face mask penalty. Three plays later, Skattebo scored on a two-yard rush and then tied the game with five minutes remaining when he broke the goal line on the two-point conversion.
Texas had a chance to take the lead with 1:44 to play, but Bert Auburn missed a 48-yard field goal to the right. After ASU was forced to punt, the Longhorns drove the field again only to have Auburn hit the left upright on a 38-yard field goal as time expired.
It was ASU that had the ball first in overtime, and after Leavitt kept the drive alive with a QB sneak on fourth-and-one, Skattebo bulldozed his way into the end zone to put the Sun Devils in front 31-24.
The Longhorns faced fourth-and-13 from the 28 on their first possession of overtime, only to have Ewers find Matthew Golden in the end zone to tie the game. Texas then scored – and converted the two-point conversion – on its first play of the second overtime to force the Sun Devils to match. Two plays after a Skattebo reception had ASU at the 13-yard line, Leavitt was intercepted at the goal line, and the game was over.
Skattebo finished the day with 143 yards and two touchdowns rushing, 99 yards receiving, and that 42-yard touchdown pass. In recording his 11th 100-yard rushing performance of hs career, he broke Eno Benjamin's school record of 1,642 rushing yards in a single season, ending the day with 1,711 rushing yards. Skattebo also established the program record for rushing touchdowns in a season (21) and total touchdowns (24).
ASU's defense rebounded from a slow start to hold Texas to 375 yards of offense – their third-lowest output of the season – and only eight yards in the third quarter. The 17 first downs by the Longhorns matched their fewest in a game this season. The Sun Devils came up with three sacks and recorded eight tackles-for-loss.
Leavitt completed 24-of-46 passes for 222 yards. Eight different players had a catch for the Sun Devils, with Melquan Stovall following the eight from Skattebo with seven for 34 yards. Blazen Lono-Wong had a 32-yard reception from Kanyon Floyd on a fake punt in the second quarter.
The Sun Devils surpassed 500 yards of offense for the third time this season, with the 510 yards gained the most allowed by Texas all season. ASU had a 97-60 edge in plays run, and they held the ball for 37 minutes, 54 seconds. They were hurt by scoring just 11 points on four red zone trips, and three failed attempts on fourth down in Texas territory.
