ATLANTA (AP) — With Arizona State one play away from pulling off a comeback for the ages in the College Football Playoff, Quinn Ewers delivered a throw to Matthew Golden that saved the season for Texas.
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.”
OHIO STATE MAKES A STATEMENT IN THE ROSE
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Second chances don’t come around often in life, Ohio State coach Ryan Day told his players in a team meeting before the Rose Bowl.
After a season in which they fell short at too many key moments, the Buckeyes all knew they had one of those second chances when they stepped onto this famous turf for another shot at the top-ranked, unbeaten Oregon Ducks.
Ohio State seized it with a vengeance.
Jeremiah Smith caught two of Will Howard’s three long touchdown passes during a sensational 34-point first half, and the No. 6 Buckeyes roared into the College Football Playoff semifinals with a 41-21 victory in the 111th Rose Bowl on Wednesday night.
“You can see the potential of where we’re at, when we play in all three phases the way we did,” Day said.
Howard passed for 319 yards, Emeka Egbuka also caught a long TD pass and TreVeyon Henderson made a 66-yard touchdown run in a redemptive Rose Bowl for the Buckeyes (12-2, CFP No. 8 seed), who lost a 32-31 heartbreaker to the Ducks in Eugene in October. Ohio State then lost to archrival Michigan in humiliating fashion to conclude a regular season in which its performances didn’t always measure up to its formidable talent.
