Emphasis on “challenge.”

In 2024, ASU has consistently maintained an unyielding spirit in the face of adversity. Despite the enthusiasm surrounding second-year head coach Kenny Dillingham, the Sun Devils were tabbed last in the Big 12 preseason media poll. In conjunction with their play on the field, Arizona State stormed to a conference championship in their first season as a member. While taking down established and respected programs in Iowa State, BYU, Utah, and Kansas State in its dream season, ASU’s next opponent has no regard for a happy ending.

The Texas Longhorns, a national semifinalist from a season ago, are among the most prominent name brands in the land, whose legacy is interwoven within the DNA of the entire sport of College Football. 

The Longhorns are fifth all-time among college football programs, with 948 total wins and seventh with a .702 total win percentage. This year, UT spent nearly a month in the AP poll as the No.1 team in the country. While Arizona State is technically the higher seed, having earned a bye via winning the Big 12 championship, there’s little doubt from external and internal perspectives of who is supposed to walk out of Mercedes-Benz Stadium victorious on New Year’s Day.

“We’re 14-point underdogs, and rightfully so,” Dillingham said. “...This is a team that preseason, [was a favorite to] win a national championship, last year could have won a national championship, and this year could win a national championship. All you want to do is have the opportunity to compete versus the best.” 

The upstart Dillingham, a finalist for multiple National Coach of the Year awards, fears no opponent, and such is the case against the seasoned Steve Sarkisian, one of the game's most respected and innovative coaches. Sarkisian, a successful product of legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban, took the helm of the Longhorns in 2021 after various stints as an offensive coordinator in college and the NFL. After a 5-7 start in his first season in Austin, he’s gone 31-9 in the three seasons since, leading Texas to its first College Football Playoff appearance in 2023. 

The Sun Devils, who vaulted from a three-win season a year ago, will enter Mercedez-Benz Stadium on Wednesday armed with multiple former Longhorns with points to prove, two of which are in their starting group. Both redshirt junior safety Xavian Alfrod and senior defensive lineman Prince Dorbah donned the iconic burnt orange threads before their careers took them to Tempe, where they’ve become integral parts of ASU’s Big 12 title run. Any emotional ties to the most famous university in the Lone Star State have long been burned for this contest. 

“I just view it as another game,” Alford said. “I went there and signed there. It is what it is. I knew there was a possibility we could play each other in [College Football Playoff], and obviously, here we are. I’m not focused on the outside factors. I just focus on what I can control and doing my job.”

Like the Sun Devils, Texas made its way to a new conference for the 2024 season, joining the SEC after, leaving a power vacuum in the Big 12 now filled by ASU. The Longhorns' four conference titles are the second most in the Big 12, behind only Oklahoma (14), since the title game’s inception in 1996.

Despite the gargantuan nature of the Texas program, the immediate dominance Arizona State asserted over the Longhorns' former stomping ground has garnered the full attention of the old beasts of the Big 12.

“This is their first year, and they won the Big 12 Championship,” Sarkisian said. “It's a really hard thing to do. They’ve been playing with a ton of confidence for the last two months. I think they're playing as good of football as anybody in the country."

Offense 

Total Offense: 6,284 yards, (3rd National) 448.9 yards/game (13th), 475 points (12th)

Passing: 3,855 yards (9th), 275.4 yards/game (17th)

Rushing: 2,429 yards (27th), 173.5 yards/game (49th)

The Longhorn offense is a multi-headed monster residing amongst the most elite in the country in nearly every statistical metric in 2024. Sarkisian is well-regarded as one of the best offensive minds of the current generation and has partnered with offensive coordinator Kyle Flood to create one of the highest-flying units in the nation, ranking in the top 15 in points, yards per game, and total yards. 

Everything begins and ends under center with second-team All-SEC honorree, junior quarterback Quinn Ewers. Ewers, originally committed to Ohio State, was one of only five quarterbacks ever to have a perfect 1.0000 rating out of high school, graduating in 2021.

Transferring to Texas ahead of the 2022 season, Ewers has helped revive the Lone Star State’s premier program back into perennial contention. In 2024, he threw for 2,867 yards and 26 touchdowns in 12 games, leading the Horns to the CFP for the second straight season.  

Hailed as a true point guard of his offensive coaching staff’s well-worked system, Ewers excels at distributing the ball on schedule within the parameters of the offense. However, he possesses enough functional mobility to extend plays and provide extra time for his treasure chest of playmakers to create space downfield. Despite his physical tools, Ewers' mental acumen and processing speed against many coverages may be his best trait.

“When he hits that back foot and gets rid of the football, you know he's a guy that's comfortable throwing against any zone coverages,” ASU defensive coordinator Brian Ward said. “When he gets man coverage, he does also a great job of being able to see where he wants to go with the football.” 

The aforementioned trove of weapons at Ewers' disposal is a litany of highly rated recruits and NFL prospects. Former Alabama receiver junior Isaiah Bond was second on the Crimson Tide in receiving in 2023 before transferring to Texas for 2024. Due to injury and decreased worklaod, his production has dipped relatively from his time in Tuscaloosa. Bond, a dynamic deep-threat receiver, did not play in Texas’s first round triumph over Clemson, but is expected to return from an ankle injury in time for the Peach Bowl. 

“The amount of big plays that can be made whenever he's on the field goes up,” Ewers said. “He's such a hard guy to cover, whenever you bring him on the field. It's not like you can double-cover him, either. We've got other guys on the outside and on the interior that are just as hard to cover.”

The “other guys” consist of fellow stalwarts like junior Matthew Golden, who leads the team in receiving, having posted 49 catches for 787 yards and eight touchdowns in 2024. The most domineering figure among the weapons arsenal is second-team All-SEC member, 6-foot-5-inch, 250-pound senior tight end Gunnar Helm. Helm was one of the most fruitful targets for Texas, along with Golden, reeling in 688 receiving yards and six touchdowns on a team-high 55 catches.

When Texas decides to put the ball on the ground, it deploys one of the country's most dangerous running back committees. The Longhorns utilize a two-back system with sophomore Quintrevion Wisner and junior Jaydon Blue the bellows of the rushing attack. Third-team All-SEC member Wisner handled a majority of the snaps, carrying the ball 191 times for 973 yards and five touchdowns, while Blue ran 126 times for 710 and eight scores. Rather than the conventional power and speed split, both are versatile backs with similar playstyles and are used conjointly to challenge opposing defenses with fresh legs consistently. 

“The backs are very patient,”  Ward said. “They complement each other, but they're really explosive. They run the football with confidence that their offensive line is going to be able to cover guys up and open up running games for them if they're patient enough.” 

The strength of this football team is in its mountain of men up front on both sides of the ball. The group is a back-to-back Joe Moore Award finalist, the award given to the best offensive line group in the country. The cornerstone of this vaunted unit is junior Kelvin Banks Jr. The 2024 AP First Team All-American tackle won the Outland Trophy as the nation's best interior offensive lineman on either side of the ball, among a host of other accolades. He’s nearly a consensus projected top-10 pick in the upcoming NFL draft and has eliminated almost every pass-rushing threat from his quarterback's blind side all season. The rest of the unit features fellow standouts in junior Cameron Williams, another projected first-round NFL draft pick, and redshirt senior Jake Majors.

There isn’t any glaring exploitable weak point in the Longhorns' offense, and it’s a wholesale challenge for any defense to try and limit. It’s a unit averaging 33.9 points per game and is the fourth most potent scoring offense in the SEC. The weapons are multiple, and the firepower at times seems unlimited, one only stifled by the mighty Georgia Bulldogs

“Just an incredibly talented team,” Ward said. “There’s talent everywhere. There are potential NFL players at almost every position who’re incredibly well-coached. It’s just a system-oriented approach. We’ve got our hands full.”

Defense

Potentially even more than its offense, the Texas defense is a menagerie of boundless talent. Every position group is overflowing with notable 5-star and/or All-American or All-conference players with NFL potential. Five of the starting eleven players on defense entered 2024 with 2025 NFL draft projections by Pro Football Network. 

Two of these reside in the Longhorn secondary. Senior corner Jahdae Barron joined Banks as an AP First-team All-American, while also receiving the Thorpe Award as the nation's best cornerback after leading the SEC in interceptions with five. Behind him, senior safety Andrew Mkuba is a projected third-round draft pick by Bleacher Report, who aligns with second-team AP-All-American safety Michael Taaffe for a shutdown backend. The defense as a whole is tied for first in the country in takeaways with 29, with 20 of which being interceptions.

“The corners are sticky,” Dillingham said. “They’re sticky players. There’s not much space.” 

The defensive line as a unit was one of the most destructive in the country, producing 41 sacks, good for ninth nationally. Freshman Collin Simmons was named to the ESPN all-freshman team and paired with redshirt junior Trey Moore, and senior Barryn Sorrell to form a top-10 rushing defense in FBS.

“Their front seven is awesome,” ASU senior center Leif Fautanu said. “They show no weaknesses a lot of the time. They're a really good defensive front. They're one of the best-rushing defenses in the country.”

Sophomore linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. is handily one of the premier field generals in the country. Tallying 99 tackles and 7.5 sacks, Hill has the most tackles out of anybody in the top 50 of sacks in the country. In 2023, the Denton, TX., native was a freshman All-American and the Big 12 defensive freshman of the year before being named a first-team all-sec this season. 

Hill is just one of the plethora of playmakers lining the defensive wall the Lonbgharnds have pitched up in front of nearly every opponent they’ve faced in 2024. As numerous as the offense seems, the defense is where Texas strives, stifling the opponent's entire offensive schemes for games on end. ASU has yet to face a task looming as large as the Longhorns on either side of the ball but especially on defense. Perfection will likely be a base requirement for any measure of success in the 2024 Peach Bowl.

“We've had an opportunity to play against some talented teams,” ASU Offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo said. “This one being against one of the best teams in the country. We've got a great task. They do a great job up front. They do great schematically. Their second-level backers. Their Thorpe winner at defensive back. They're deep, and they're coached well. I mean, this is an awesome opportunity to go out on a big stage and go out and put our best foot forward and shoot your shot.”

If there is any path to success for Arizona State, it comes in a world where Texas plays an abnormally bad game, including multiple turnovers, allowing ASU to control time of possession. If ASU senior running back Cam Skattebo, who was fifth in the 2024 Heisman voting, can stay on the field, wearing down the Texas defense, thus keeping Ewers and the Longhorn offense on the sideline, ASU can keep the game close. In the event of a close match, if ASU can get one or two key plays to go its way down the stretch, as it did against Kansas and BYU, the Sun Devils may probably see victory and advance to the semi-finals of the CFP.