Texas went to Atlanta and it turned out to be another frustrating trip despite the win.
With 10 minutes left in the game, the No. 5 Texas Longhorns took a 24-8 lead over the No. 4 Arizona State Sun Devils on a Quinn Ewers touchdown scramble to put a chokehold on the game. In just five minutes and seventeen seconds, the lead evaporated and the Longhorns watched as the game slipped away from them.
While the defense clinched the win for Texas and the Longhorns survived, 39-31 in two overtimes, there needs to be much soul searching if Texas hopes to come away with a semifinal win against the Oregon Ducks or the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Special teams needs a long look in the offseason
While it looked like it would be a good outing for the special teams early in the game when Silas Bolden housed a 75-yard punt return to take a 14-3 lead, the unit faltered from there and was a deciding factor in the game for the Longhorns.
For the second time in three games, the Longhorns were burned on a fake punt that they were completely unprepared for, this time extending an Arizona State drive and robbing Texas of an opportunity to extend its lead at the end of the first half.
The more excruciating moments came at the end of the game, when senior kicker Bert Auburn missed two go-ahead field goals — hooking the first one right and pushing the second left, bouncing off of the upright as time expired. Over the last five games, Auburn has missed six field goals, none more pivotal than the ones in the Peach Bowl.
The running game wasn’t fixed
After running roughshod over Texas A&M and Clemson, it felt like Texas found what they wanted to do in the ground game. Whether it was the defensive scheme or simply lack of execution for Texas — the Longhorns couldn’t get the ground game going. They finished the game averaging a sack-adjusted 53 rushing yards on a 2.5 yards per carry pace — well below the season average for the ground game for Texas. And like it has been all season, the way the run game goes so does the entirety of the Longhorns’ offense.
Texas had a long rush on the day of seven yards from Quintrevion Wisner, a run that converted a first down for Texas early in the fourth quarter. Wisner finished the game with 45 yards on the day, reaching 1,000 yards on the season but failing to find room.
The defense can’t do it all on their own
When push came to shove, the Texas defense got the job done, ending the game via an Andrew Mukuba interception in the second overtime period after the offense scored in one play, but that may have been the only example of complementary football of the afternoon.
The Texas defense held the Arizona State offense without a touchdown for the first 54 minutes of the game, holding the Sun Devils to six consecutive empty trips on the field that included three fourth-down stops. The offense rewarded their efforts with a field goal and a safety, which started the rally for the Sun Devils. Arizona State took advantage of a gassed Texas defense and scored 19 points on their next three drives, aided by a Ewers interception, to tie the game 24-24 with five minutes left on the clock.
Part of the issue was simple fatigue on the defense’s part, leading to what seemed like a fourth-quarter collapse. Heading into the third quarter, Arizona State held a 20-minute advantage in time of possession, holding the ball for nearly 33 minutes of the 45 minutes of the game. No matter how talented or dominant your defense is, fatigue is an issue in any game and it is a rarity to win a game with a time-of-possession differential like that.