Texas football, once again, had its back against the wall at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. With an underdog Arizona State putting the Longhorns into overtime and converting a touchdown and extra point, Texas was forced to answer the call.
In overtime, the Longhorns were unsuccessful in their first three downs and were left with a difficult 4th and 13. After a timeout and a pep talk from junior quarterback Quinn Ewers, the offense went back on the field and did what, to many, seemed impossible. Ewers threw a 28-yard pass to junior wide receiver Matthew Golden, keeping Texas alive for another round of overtime.
“This is what it’s going to come out to,” Golden recalled Ewers saying before the play. “We knew it was going to be a hard-fought battle. … We just knew that we had to come out and execute.”
In the second round of extra time, Texas, off the momentum of its most crucial play of the year, made quick work of the Sun Devil defense, with Ewers finding senior tight end Gunnar Helm for a one-play score and a superb two-point conversion from Golden. With Arizona State down eight, needing a touchdown, Texas’ defense sealed the game’s fate with an interception from senior defensive back Andrew Mukuba, 39-31. After the game, Mukuba said clinching the game-winning interception felt “surreal.”
“This whole year has felt like a movie for me,” Mukuba said. “Getting to come back to my hometown and playing some of the best football I’ve played in college. It feels like everything’s been scripted.”
As orange and white confetti fell, fans and players celebrated the win ecstatically. Despite struggles, Steve Sarkisian stated that he is proud of how the team performed when they needed to most.
“Not our cleanest game of the year and that’s okay to say that,” Sarkisian said. “But 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.”
From the beginning, eight minutes into the matchup, Texas had already doubled the amount of touchdowns scored the last time the Longhorns played in the stadium. Its opening drive took only two plays, including a 54-yard pass to Golden, followed by a perfect 23-yard pass from junior quarterback Quinn Ewers to sophomore wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. in the back corner of the endzone. The drive took the Longhorns 41 seconds to complete.
After a quick ASU stop by the Longhorn defense, forcing a punt, senior wide receiver Silas Bolden gave quite a performance with a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown, giving Texas two touchdowns in just three offensive plays.
However, Texas didn’t see the end zone again until the fourth quarter when Ewers scampered to the endzone, making it an eight-point game in favor of the Longhorns. This was Ewers’ first rushing touchdown all season.
The Texas defense was able to help in the scoring lull by shutting down the ASU’s offense for a majority of the game with some very impressive red zone stops. However, things took a turn for the worse.
Texas gave up 16 points in the fourth, including a 42-yard pass from ASU running back Cam Skattebo followed by a two-point conversion that advanced ASU’s score, tying the teams at 24 points.
Along with a missed kick by senior kicker Bert Auburn with two seconds left, the Longhorns were forced to go into a stressful overtime situation yet again but, luckily, were able to overcome their fourth-quarter infractions and advance in the College Football Playoffs.
In the entirety of the matchup, Texas’ offense couldn’t establish a significant run game like it did against Clemson with the Longhorns only putting up 53 rush yards. The Sun Devils, on the other hand, dominated the rushing game with 214 yards, with Skattebo holding 143. Luckily, Texas was able to fall back on Golden who had a strong game with 149 yards for seven receptions, his second most this season.
The team hopes to learn from their mistakes as they prepare for the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on Jan. 10 taking on Ohio State. And for Mukuba, he wants to give his movie a happy ending.
“I hope by the end this is a great movie, I know it’s going to be a great movie, so we are just gonna keep taking it one step at a time,” Mukuba said.
