No. 3 Texas vs. No. 12 Arizona State: Five matchups to watch

A return trip to Atlanta is on deck for the Longhorns to face the Sun Devils.

The No. 3 Texas Longhorns are back in Atlanta for the second time in a month, this time for the College Football Playoff facing off against the No. 12 Arizona State Sun Devils at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the Peach Bowl.

Here’s a look at the matchups that will define the path to the semifinals in the Cotton Bowl.

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Texas’ run defense vs. Cam Skattebo

This is pretty self-explanatory for this matchup for Texas. Cam Skattebo is one of the best running backs in the country and he is THE focal point of Arizona State’s offense. He has rushed for 1,568 yards on the ground with 19 touchdowns and is ASU’s second-leading receiver with 37 receptions for 506 yards and an additional three touchdowns.

He is a very physical back that runs through contact and breaks a lot of tackles. Arm tackles are not going to get it done when you are trying to defend him. Any time he touches the football, there needs to be 11 hats to the football and you need to be trading paint with him and getting him to the ground.

Texas has been effective against the run this year, and has not allowed many 100 yard rushers. The Longhorns will enter this matchup allowing 104.5 rushing yards per game, which is good for 10th nationally this season. They have allowed 1,463 rushing yards on the season, which is good for 23rd nationally.

The Texas defense knows that have a tall task in front of them going about against Skattebo. They faced a similar task last year in the Big 12 Championship game against Oklahoma State when they were tasked with defending Ollie Gordon. Gordon finished that game with 34 rushing yards on 13 carries and the Longhorns rolled to victory.

If you are Pete Kwiatkowski and Johnny Nansen, you can’t let Skattebo beat you in this game. You make any other player in a Sun Devil jersey do it, and that includes quarterback Sam Leavitt. But under no circumstances do you let Skattebo wreck this game for you.

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Texas’ secondary vs. Arizona State’s wide receivers

The Texas secondary has been one of the best in the country this year, but they are coming off their worst performance of the year in the first round against Clemson. Cade Klubnik threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns and while he didn’t come out on the winning side of things, he certainly showed that the Texas pass defense could be had.

The big note in this matchup is that Arizona State’s leading receiver Jordyn Tyson will not be playing due to a season-ending injury. Tyson recorded 75 catches for 1,101 yards and 10 touchdowns on the year on the way to being named an All-American for the Sun Devils.

Tyson being out simplifies things a little bit for Texas on the back end. As I mentioned in the previous section, Skattebo is ASU’s second-leading receiver. Their best receiving option not named Tyson or Skattebo? That would be Xavier Guillory, who has 19 catches for 320 yards and five touchdowns. With Tyson out, I don’t think ASU’s wide receiver group will be able to challenge the Texas secondary like we saw Clemson do in the last game.

The Tiger trio of Antonio Williams, Bryant Wesco, and TJ Moore might be the best group of receivers the Longhorns have seen all year, and I don’t think Arizona State has that kind of talent on the roster to stress the Texas secondary.

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Texas’ offensive line vs. Arizona State’s defensive front

Stop me if you have heard this before — the game is won and lost in the trenches. The Texas offensive line has had a Georgia problem this year, but last week against Clemson, they looked like a unit that was getting rolling at the right time even when they had to shuffle things around when guys got banged up.

The Longhorns generated almost 500 yards of offense against the Tigers and that was due to the way the Texas offensive line opened up holes and protected quarterback Quinn Ewers over the course of the ball game.

Speaking of protecting Ewers, the Texas offensive line will be opposed by an Arizona State defense that ranks 89th in the country in sacks with 21 on the season. The only opponent on Texas’ schedule that had less was Mississippi State (10!!), a pretty bad defensive team this year.

All-American left tackle Kelvin Banks was back and looked very healthy against Clemson, while center Jake Majors and right tackle Cam Williams are both expected to play against Arizona State. Even if there needs to be some shuffling up front, Texas has shown they have quality depth with guys like Trevor Goosby and Cole Hutson able to rotate in off the bench.

Texas holds a big advantage here in my opinion and that could prove huge in the overall outcome of this game.

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Texas’ run game vs. Arizona State’s run defense

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve watched that clip from Coach Casey’s account, but I will probably watch it another dozen times before the night is over. The Texas run game was absolutely clicking against Clemson, as they ran the damn ball to the tune of 292 yards and absolutely bulldozered the Tigers defensive front from the opening snap to the final whistle.

Running backs Quintrevion Wisner and Jaydon Blue will enter this matchup with some momentum behind them and Wisner will have a chance to keep Steve Sarkisian’s 1,000-yard rusher streak alive, as he enters the matchup with 973 yards on the ground thus far this season. It looked very shaky that Texas would be able to produce a 1K rusher halfway through the season, but things have picked up significantly down the back half of the schedule and into the postseason.

Arizona State will prove to be a challenge in this regard though defensively. The Sun Devils are ranked 27th in rushing defense, as they are allowing 117.5 yards per game on the ground with opposing rushers averaging 3.8 yards per carry. Something will have to give in this matchup. Will the Texas offense continue to get things rolling on the ground, or will it be a struggle that results in Ewers having to shoulder more of the load offensively?

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Texas’ wide receivers vs. Arizona State’s secondary

The Texas wide receiver group has been led by Matthew Golden down the back half of the season due to Isaiah Bond being hampered with an injury, and during that time Golden has really proven why Texas went hard after him in the transfer portal in the offseason.

Bond not being himself has lowered the ceiling of the position group for sure, but Golden has stepped up in his place and proven to be a very reliable target for Ewers in the passing game. The good news for Texas is that Bond appears to be looking much healthier heading into the Arizona State game after sitting out against Clemson.

If Bond is healthy again, I think people need to be reminded of the dynamic he can bring to this Texas offense as they try to move deeper into the postseason.

Bond, Golden, Gunnar Helm, DeAndre Moore Jr., and Ryan Wingo make up a very formidable skill position group at 100-percent health and they will have the Arizona State secondary that ranked eighth in the Big 12 in passing defense (219.4 yards per game) and 69th nationally opposing them in Atlanta.

Texas has a skill group that can stretch you both vertically and horizontally when they are firing on all cylinders, and if Bond is back to a point where he can threaten a defense vertically he brings back another dimension to this offense that makes it tough to contain.

The Arizona State defense has done a good job of producing turnovers this year, so that is certainly something Texas will have to be mindful of in this matchup since they have struggled with turning the ball over this year.