No. 5 Texas 39 No. 4 Arizona State 31: Five observations and Thursday chat

It is never easy playing in Atlanta.

I am still trying to fully process the rollercoaster that was this game in Atlanta, a 39-31 win in double overtime by the Texas Longhorns over the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Peach Bowl to advance to the College Football Playoff semifinals against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Texas has now played twice in the state of Georgia in the last month and both games have been overtime gut wrenchers in two different directions. There is so much to take from this game and I am going to spill a ton of ink on it, but the ultimate takeaway is that the Longhorns found a way to win the game when it looked like they were cooked.

This team deserves a bunch of credit for responding to adversity the way they did late, but man were a lot of concerning developments with how this game played out in the second half.

Fortunately for Texas, they have a chance to correct the issues by earning another opportunity in 10 days in Arlington at AT&T Stadium. Only three other teams are going to be able to say that as the field of four solidifies.

There is a lot to get to in this one, so let’s hop in with both feet and discuss my observation and takeaways from the thriller that was the Peach Bowl.

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Cam Skattebo backed up his talk this week

I am going to keep it a stack with you all right here and now — when the Arizona State star running back stepped to the microphone early in the week and said nobody could stop him, I thought he was setting himself up for a bad time in Atlanta.

And with how the first half played out, it looked like he had written an enormous check that he was not going to be able to cash. The Texas defense was absolutely flying to the football and swarming him any time he touched the football and it was yielding good results and a noticeably frustrating Skattebo on the sideline.

Football games are 60 minutes long for a reason and there are two halves to every matchup. The second half of the game belonged to No. 4 for Arizona State.

Skattebo made impact plays as a runner, passer, and receiver. All in one half of football. He had a slow start to the game, but had an insane second half and almost single-handedly won the game for Arizona State.

Sometimes you just have to tip your cap and give your respect when you witness a performance like this. Skattebo no doubt ruffled some feathers with his comments, but he absolutely proved on the field that he was a dawg and then some. He was named the Offensive MVP of the game despite being on the losing side of the equation on Wednesday. That lets you know how special of a performance it was.

The Texas defense did a good job holding Skattebo down for one half of football, but they couldn’t do it for two. He’s a special talent and he left it all out there in more ways than one.

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Texas lost its composure in the second half

Whoof. Nobody is safe from criticism with how the second half played out in Atlanta. Where do you even start here? Texas struggled to sustain drives offensively most of the game, as they were outgained in yardage and the time of possession was massively skewed in favor of Arizona State. How about the first four plays of the second half went for a grand total of minus-five yards and also resulted in a safety after the Texas defense made a goal-line stand to get you the ball back?

If you are a coach grading this on Matthew Golden this a double minus. The one thing you absolutely can’t allow in this situation is an opposing player to cross your face and run through with the offense being backed up. You get motioned in tighter to put you in position to be able to cut off the defensive back and he STILL runs past you and blows the play up. Bad effort and a disaster result on top of it. Golden played a whale of a game (more on that in a minute), but that is something that he will no doubt have to answer for in film review.

Golden isn’t the only one that is going to get singled out here. We also need to discuss how the Texas offensive line and the Texas offensive brain trust were never able to establish a consistent run game despite having the the advantage in the trenches. Arizona State has a solid rush defense, but the play calling and execution up front for Texas were both lackluster and ineffective in both phases.

Thirty carries for 53 yards after ripping off 292 yards against Clemson is a massive drop off and is not winning football. Not being able to establish the run at all put this game on Quinn Ewers’ shoulders and they were fortunate he was able to level up and pull their collective asses out of the fire in overtime. You can’t even properly celebrate Quintrevion Wisner going over the 1,000-yard mark for the season because he was never able to really get going despite playing the two additional frames of football.

I have been one of the biggest fans of the Texas defense this year with how they have risen to the occasion, but they absolutely lost their minds down the home stretch of the football game. They allowed two big explosive plays through the air — a halfback pass from Skattebo and a vertical route by Skattebo when he lined up out wide.

On top of that, they allowed a critical third-down conversion to quarterback Sam Leavitt when they had Arizona State backed up in a 3rd-and-14 situation. Part of this was a result of the defense having to be on the field as much as they were in this game, but the other part was simply them not keeping their foot on the throat and sprinting through the finish line. It just felt like when things started to snowball downhill, nobody was able to stop the bleeding.

And let’s cap this section off by talking about the Texas special teams. Again. As good as Bert Auburn was for Texas last year, he has been very inconsistent this year and when the chips were down late he had a chance to make not one, but two kicks that would have likely ended the game in regulation and he missed both.

Auburn being inconsistent this year is why I didn’t love the decision by Steve Sarkisian to quickly decide to play for the field goal after they hit Ryan Wingo for a catch and run that put them in range at the end of regulation. In my opinion, the call should have been to continue attacking and make that field goal as much of a chip shot as possible.

Texas already took a punter in the portal despite their current starter returning. They probably won’t take another kicker, but you have to think it will be in the back of the staff’s minds heading into the spring.

Everyone from the players to the coaches have to share the blame with how the second half played out. The Horns were set up to run away with this game. Instead it turned into a barn burner with how the second half played out.

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Matthew Golden has ascended to WR1

Okay, now I will sing Golden’s praises now that we got the negative vibes out of the way.

I have been singing his praises down the back half of the season with how he has stepped up with Isaiah Bond being hurt, and he once again came up huge against Arizona State with some very clutch catches and arguably the biggest play of the game on 4th and 13 in the first overtime frame.

Golden was the one guy you couldn’t let get behind you in a gotta-have-it situation, and on the double move Golden still did it, coming up with the play of the year. Golden came out hot to start the game and he closed it out by making a massive play in a massive spot.

Golden ended the game with seven catches for 149 yards and the overtime touchdown that saved the season. He has been an absolute animal and he is now 64 yards away from having a 1,000-yard season for the Longhorns.

He will have to go against a very good secondary in Ohio State in Arlington to make it happen. We will see if he can continue to be the go-to guy for the Texas passing game moving in the semifinals.

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Quinn Ewers saved his best play for overtime

The Texas offense was inconsistent in this game, but with the game on the line and in the biggest moment Ewers came up huge. The 4th-and-13 pass to Golden in the first overtime might have been his most clutch moment as a Longhorn when you consider the circumstances.

Just when you were trying to gather yourself from Texas battling off the brink in the first overtime, Ewers came right back and fired in a dime to Gunnar Helm on the first play of the second overtime that ultimately turned into the game-winning score.

People can have their opinions about Ewers, but he is now up to 3,189 yards and 29 touchdowns on the year and he clutched up when Texas needed him most. Without him, they probably don’t win the game against Arizona State. I probably kicked the hornet’s nest with that last comment, but I stand by it.

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Texas did not play complementary football in this game

Texas did not help Texas in this game. The offense started out hot and fast, but immediately went into a lull where they were not able to establish the run or sustain drives. The defense was playing very well throughout the first half, but the offense being stagnant meant more and more bites at the apple for Arizona State and ultimately they were got down the home stretch.

Texas had a chance to put this game to bed early on, but their inability to finish Arizona State allowed them to hang around the rim and push it into overtime. This has been a theme for this Texas team throughout the entire season and it was on full display on Wednesday almost to their detriment. Texas had the chance to win this game in regulation several times, but they fucked around and found out what happens when you let good football teams hang around and don’t step on the throat.

It has been a very long time since this Longhorns team has played a complete game, where all phases are clicking and they are able to put things to bed without letting the opponent crawl back into it late. It looked like we were going to get that version of Texas on Wednesday, but instead it ended up being a double overtime thriller.

The margin for error get slimmer and slimmer as the quality of opponent increases. And Texas is now one of the final four teams left. They were able to gut this one out, but I think it is safe to say that they will not be able to pull this kind of win off against their next opponent.

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Bonus: Andrew Mukuba has been a massive addition for Texas this season

What a play and what a damn moment for the Austin kid. Mukuba came over from Clemson in the offseason and he has played at an All-American level for the Longhorns on the back end of the defense. He runs the alley, he tracks and smacks with the best of them, and he gets his hands on the football just like he did there to end the ball game and send Texas to the Cotton Bowl.

Mukuba and Golden have been the biggest portal additions for Texas this season and they both made massive plays to help the Horns win this game in Atlanta. The kid is a playmaker and a tone setter in the secondary. He has made himself a lot of money this season.

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13-2. THIRTEEN wins. And Texas has a chance to play two more. This has been a successful season any way you slice it, but as Sark would say, “They didn’t come this far just to come this far.”

The Longhorns are one win away from playing for a national championship. They got to this point last year and came up only yards short of playing for it all. They are now back on the doorstep.

Ohio State awaits them in Dallas and they are playing like the team everyone pegged them to be at the beginning of the year despite the hiccups against Oregon and Michigan to end the year. The Buckeyes will be favored, but hell so were the Longhorns in the matchup we just watched them in.

The game is ultimately played on the field and we will see if Texas can cobble together another win and move on to the big one.

We have reached that moment in this write up. That moment where I said the 24-hour rule is officially in effect. Watch the film, make corrections, and purge it. The Buckeyes await.