Quinn Ewers stepped up in overtime and helped No. 5 Texas pull out a thrilling 39-31 win against No. 4 Arizona State in the Peach Bowl College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
Ewers finished with 322 passing yards and four total touchdowns for the Longhorns, who led 14-0 early in the first quarter after a 75-yard punt return for a score by Silas Bolden but were held out of rhythm by the Sun Devils’ ball-control offense.
Arizona State held possession for nearly 38 minutes of regulation and ran 94 total plays for 495 yards, including 20 plays in the third quarter to the Longhorns’ five. Texas gained 375 yards on 60 plays and had just 53 rushing yards on 30 carries.
The Longhorns led 24-8 five minutes into the fourth quarter after Ewers scrambled for a short touchdown run.
The ASU gameplan eventually wore on Texas, however, helping the Sun Devils even the score at 24-24 after a 42-yard touchdown pass by running back Cam Skattebo with 6:31 left in the fourth quarter and a short Skattebo scoring run with five minutes remaining.
After a controversial non-call on a potential targeting penalty against Texas forced Arizona State to punt with just over a minute left, the Longhorns took possession at their 20-yard line and went 61 yards in eight plays to set up kicker Bert Auburn’s 38-yard field goal attempt as time expired.
But after he missed a longer attempt earlier in the fourth quarter, Auburn’s try doinked off the left upright to force extra frames.
The Sun Devils scored on another Skattebo touchdown run on their first overtime possession, with the drive extended on a key fourth-down conversion on a sneak from quarterback Sam Leavitt and his 16-yard run on third down to set up first-and-goal.
Texas’ overtime possession began with an incompletion, a run for no gain, a short gain on a completion on the left sideline and a false-start penalty. But needing 13 yards to convert on fourth down, Ewers laid a pass over the top of the Arizona State defense to Matthew Golden for a 28-yard touchdown to even the score at 31-31.
Starting on offense in the second frame, Ewers hit tight end Gunnar Helm for a 25-yard score on the first play and then found Golden for the two-point conversion to go ahead 39-31.
The Sun Devils’ second possession ended with Leavitt intercepted by Texas defensive back Andrew Mukuba, sealing the win.
The Longhorns will next face the winner of the Rose Bowl between Oregon and Ohio State.
Defensively, the Longhorns focused on slowing down Skattebo, who entered the playoff ranked fifth in the Bowl Subdivision in rushing yards per game.
Skattebo was held in check for the first half but began to churn out yardage and make his presence felt in the third quarter. He finished with 141 rushing yards on 29 carries, a team-high 86 receiving yards and three combined scores, putting together perhaps the most impressive individual performance of the postseason.
With the Sun Devils failing to contain the Longhorns’ pass rush, ASU quarterback Sam Leavitt had to constantly scramble and throw on the run and finished 23 of 43 for 209 yards, averaging just 4.9 yards per attempt.
Ewers hit on 19 of his 29 attempts for the Longhorns. Quintrevion Wisner ran for 45 yards on 18 carries with 40 receiving yards and Golden had a game-high 149 yards and a touchdown.
The loss ends a dream season for the Sun Devils, who won just three games last season but stormed to the Big 12 crown and earned a bye into the quarterfinals by beating Iowa State in the conference championship game.