Breaking news: The Arizona state sun devil’s 5-star commit stuns college football world with decision to flip and….
The Sun Devils made the most of their invitation to college football quarterfinals, taking Texas to double overtime before falling 39-31 on New Year’s Day.
Arizona State was the highest of the four Big 12 teams ranked in the final AP poll, followed by No. 13 BYU (11-2), No. 15 Iowa State (11-3) and No. 25 Colorado (9-4).
National champion Ohio State (14-2) was the unanimous No. 1 in the poll following its 34-23 victory over Notre Dame (14-2) on Monday night. The Irish ended the season at No. 2.
Oregon (13-1) finished the 2024 season at No. 3, followed by the Sun Devils’ Peach Bowl opponent, Texas (13-3), at No 4. Also finishing ahead of ASU were No. 5 Penn State (13-3) and No. 6 Georgia (11-3).
Then it was left to Andrew Mukuba to finish off Cam Skattebo and the gritty Sun Devils.
If the Longhorns go on to win the national championship, they’ll long remember how they kept their hopes alive in this Peach Bowl quarterfinal classic.
Ewers passed 28 yards to Golden for a touchdown on fourth-and-13 to force a second overtime, and Mukuba’s interception clinched a 39-31 victory after Texas squandered a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter and missed two field goal attempts that could’ve won it in regulation.
“The one thing that I know about our group is when our backs are against the wall and when our best is needed, our best shows up time and time again,” coach Steve Sarkisian said. “The resiliency that these guys showed today was something that as a coach makes you really proud.”
Skattebo put No. 10 Arizona State ahead for the first time all day with a 3-yard touchdown run to start overtime against No. 4 Texas, the capper on a brilliant performance that wasn’t quite enough to knock off the Longhorns.
The Sun Devils — a two-touchdown underdog, according to Sportsbook — had the game in their grasp before Ewers spotted Golden breaking free behind two defenders to haul in the tying score
Tim Albin, Ohio; Major Applewhite, South Alabama; Tim Beck, Coastal Carolina; Mike Bloomgren, Rice; David Braun, Northwestern; Jeff Brohm, Louisville; Fran Brown, Syracuse; Neal Brown, West Virginia; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Jamey Chadwell, Liberty; Bob Chesney, James Madison; Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan; Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech; Spencer Danielson, Boise State; Ryan Day, Ohio State; Kalen DeBoer, Alabama; Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State; Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri; Mike Elko, Texas A&M; Tony Elliott, Virginia; Jedd Fisch, Washington; James Franklin, Penn State; Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame; Willie Fritz, Houston; Alex Golesh, South Florida; Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky; Mike Houston, East Carolina; Butch Jones, Arkansas State; Brent Key, Georgia Tech; GJ Kinne, Texas State; Chris Klieman, Kansas State; Dan Lanning, Oregon; Rhett Lashlee, SMU; Clark Lea, Vanderbilt; Lance Leipold, Kansas; Pete Lembo, Buffalo; Sean Lewis, San Diego State; Mike Locksley, Maryland; Gus Malzahn, Central Florida; Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio); Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee; Joey McGuire, Texas Tech; Bronco Mendenhall, New Mexico; Jeff Monken, Army; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh; Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State; Barry Odom, UNLV; Gerad Parker, Troy; Brent Pry, Virginia Tech; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Mark Stoops, Kentucky; Jon Sumrall, Tulane; Lance Taylor, Western Michigan; Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio
The 2024 Sun Devils (11-3) were the Cinderella story of the college football season, winning the Big 12 championship in their first year in the conference after being picked last among the league’s 16 teams.
