Inside the numbers: Arizona State gassed, then gassed, the Texas defense

It was an all-time collapse from no. 5 seed Texas Longhorns, but thanks to overtime heroics, they managed to tie the No. the 4 seed Arizona State Sun Devils to advance to the College Football Playoff Semifinals. The Sun Devils found something they liked against the Texas defense late in the game and took advantage, while the offense had to make up for its early struggles with late-game fireworks.

Arizona State: 510 total yards (214 rushing, 296 passing)

The Longhorns had a lid on the ASU offense early in the game, holding the Sun Devils to just 178 yards in the first half, with the vaunted rushing attack managing just 47 through the first 47 minutes. Arizona State, entering the game as one of the best teams in the country, did just that against Texas in the third quarter, holding the ball for 12:38 of the 15 minutes coming out of the locker room. It turned out that Cam Skattebo and the rest of the team took advantage of a tired Texas defense and put up 332 yards in the last 30 minutes of the game.

When all was said and done, the Longhorns allowed 500 yards for the first time since last year’s College Football Playoff loss to Washington Huskieswhere they allowed 532 yards to Michael Penix and the explosive offense. Texas was just four yards shy of allowing its second straight 300-yard passing game after allowing just two 200-yard passing games in the regular season. It also marked the Longhorns’ first 200-yard rushing game since Oklahoma Sooners a year ago, when Skattebo delayed the Longhorns’ defense. He finished the game with four rushes of 10 yards or more, with 73 of his 143 yards on just four rushes. His total on the day would have clocked in as the third-best team performance of the year, behind Florida and Mississippi State.

Quinn Ewers: 20-30, 322, 3 TD, INT

This game showed both highlights and lowlights of what Quinn Ewers brings to the table. The Longhorns’ offense came out and put up 77 yards and a score on its first two passes before completing just seven of its next 14 attempts for 85 yards and an interception. Part of the problem seemed to be schematic, threw just 11 passes in the first three quarters of the game.

Ewers lit it up after the turnover and walked 10-of-13 passing for 160 yards and two scores — including a masterful strike to Matthew Golden on 4th-and-13 in overtime — to beat Texas. He finished his third 300-yard game of the seasonafter fielding six last year. However, his performance this year has put him in sole possession of second place for 300-yard games in school history behind Colt McCoy.

Matthew Golden: 7 rec, 149 yards, TD

A big part of Ewers’ success in the game was the play of Matthew Golden, who was on the receiving end of the first play of the game, a 54-yard strike that set up a 23-yard TD to DeAndre Moore on the second play of the game. It sparked his second 100-yard game in the last three, having gone without a 100-yard game since 2022 with the Houston Cougars. Five of his seven receptions resulted in a first down or a touchdown, including the overtime touchdown that turned out to be his final catch of the game courtesy of Gunnar Helm and Andrew Mukuba.

After Peach bowlhe sits just 64 yards shy of 1,000 yards and has nine touchdowns on the year. If he manages to reach 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns against Ohio State in the semifinals, he becomes the first Longhorn receiver to accomplish that feat since Jordan Shipley in 2009.