Like Sherman’s March to the Sea, the Texas Longhorns deployed a scorched earth strategy to earn a 38-24 victory over Clemson in the first round of the College Football Playoff. Jaydon Blue and Quintrevion Wisner combined for 256 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns as the Longhorns sent the Tigers home minus a few stripes.
Now, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian will lead his army of talented soldiers on a march to Atlanta to take on a determined adversary, the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. But Texas can impose its will in two ways. They can overwhelm their opponent with a two-pronged offensive in the passing game and their rushing attack. And, Texas can stymie the Sun Devils attempt to enter Longhorns territory by deploying one of the best defenses in college football.
But Arizona State does have some weapons to deploy in a counter-attack, and it is not pitchforks.
Arizona State Sun Devils (11-2)
The Sun Devils are talented when on the offensive. The field general calling the signals is freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt, the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year. Leavitt has thrown for over for 2,600 yards.
He completed 63 percent of his passes while helping lead the Sun Devils to the Big 12 Conference Championship as a first-year member. Over a six-game winning streak, Leavitt threw 16 touchdowns and only one INT as Arizona State secured victories over two Top 25 teams: No. 17 BYU and No. 18 Iowa State.
As Leavitt’s favorite target, wide receiver Jordyn Tyson caught 75 passes for 1,101 yards and 10 scores. That was good enough to earn Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year.
Running back extraordinaire for the Sun Devils is 1st Team All-Big 12 and All-American Cam Skattebo. Skattebo posted seven games of over 100 yards rushing, including in each of the last three games, and rushed for over 1,500 yards and 19 touchdowns on the season.
Texas Longhorns (12-2)
A juggernaut racing toward Atlanta, the Longhorns are the tip of the spear, as good as it gets in all phases of the game.
Quarterback Quinn Ewers is coming off a 202-yard performance against Clemson and completed 70 percent of his passes. But he has been slightly inconsistent over the last three games, throwing more INTs than touchdowns (4 INTs, 3 TDs). The Sun Devils are opportunistic regarding catching passes thrown by the other team, with 15 INTs this season. Ewers will have to play mistake-free football.
Nine different receivers have caught at least one touchdown pass for the Longhorns, led by receiver Matthew Golden and tight end Gunnar Helm.
Wisner is 27 yards away from a 1,000-yard season. Blue leads the team in rushing touchdowns. Together they are a force that can punch big holes in the Sun Devils defense.
In addition, Texas can slow down the Sun Devils' attempt to enter Longhorns territory by deploying one of the best defenses in college football. The Longhorns are as good as it gets in all three levels, led by All-SEC performers Anthony Hill, Jr. (99 tackles), Andrew Mukuba (55 tackles, 4 INTs), and Jim Thorpe Award winner Jahde Barron (50 tackles, 5 INTs, 11 pass breakups).
Add all that up and the badass perpetrators on the winning side in the Battle of Atlanta are wearing burnt orange.