The 1970 Peach Bowl champions–the undefeated 1970 Arizona State Sun Devils–won 11 games under Frank Kush, the school’s winningest head coach. More than 50 years later, the No. 4 Sun Devils have 11 wins under second-year head coach Kenny Dillingham and find themselves back in the now Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl for the College Football Playoff (CFP) Quarterfinal.
The 57th edition of the Peach Bowl pits ASU (11-2, 7-2) against the No. 5 Texas Longhorns (12-2, 7-1). This marks the second-ever meeting between these two teams. The Longhorns defeated the Sun Devils 52-34 in the 2007 Pacific Life Holiday Bowl.
“So just like Arizona State this year, the team has been the Phoenix coming out of the ashes, picked last and moving into the Big 12 from the PAC-12 and winning the championship,” Gary P. Stokan, the CEO and president of the Peach Bowl, said in an interview when describing ASU’s season.
The Sun Devils’ 48-26 win over the North Carolina Tar Heels in the 1970 Peach Bowl featured rain, sleet, snow and icy conditions at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Two miles south, Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host its eight-consecutive Peach Bowl with kickoff set for 1 p.m. EST on Jan. 1, 2025.
With a New Year’s Day win, the Longhorns can become the first team to win all six New Year’s Six bowl games. Texas will look to lean on its shutdown defense, which ranks second in the nation in points allowed per game (13.3 points) and passing yards allowed per game (156.9 yards). Additionally, the Longhorn defense places third in the nation for the fewest total yards allowed per game, averaging 261.4 yards.
“Offensively what I got to worry about is just taking care of the ball,” ASU redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt told reporters on Monday. “They [Texas] cause a lot of turnovers, so staying out of negatives on first and second downs and staying manageable down distances. Then third downs I got to extend plays and make plays when it happens.”
While Texas’s defense is tied for number one in the nation with 29 takeaways, Arizona State’s +14 turnover margin is tied for sixth-best nationally.
“You don’t turn the football over. Obviously win the turnover battle,” Dillingham told reporters on Monday on what it takes to win. “Fourth down, you’ve got to win fourth downs. He’s [Steve Sarkisian] going to go for it. He has not punted on one fourth-and-1 all year, which I’m the same way. We both haven’t on any fourth-and-1.”
One of the Sun Devils’ key fourth-down conversions this season came in their Big 12 Conference Championship win over the Iowa State Cyclones. Down 7-3 in the first quarter, Dillingham opted to roll the dice on fourth-and-one on his own 34-yard line. ASU offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo dialed up a play-action pass that Leavitt completed to graduate student wide receiver Melquan Stovall for a 63-yard connection.
ASU will be without redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, who had surgery to repair a collarbone injury suffered in the team’s season finale against the Arizona Wildcats. The Allen, Texas natives’ team-leading 1,101-receiving yard season earned him the honor of Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year.
In Tyson’s absence, Arizona State’s redshirt senior wide receiver Xavier Guillory will look to build off his two-touchdown performance against the Cyclones. The Idaho State transfer has hauled in five receptions for 131 yards and four touchdowns over his past three games.
“I’m very confident in us, and I’ll put up against anybody,” Guillory told reporters on Monday on the state of the team’s wide receiver core. “I’m never going to shy away from no competition. I don’t care if it’s prime Deion Sanders or Darrelle Revis is back there, I’m going to go out there to compete.”
Both squads boast strong rushing attacks. Sun Devil senior running back Cam Skattebo, with 1,568 rushing yards (sixth-best in the nation), 19 touchdowns (eighth-best in the nation) and a six-yard average per carry, poses a constant threat to defenses. His 262-yard rushing game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Sept. 9, 2024, marked the second-most in ASU’s history.
“There’s nobody out there that can stop me,” Skattebo told reporters on Monday.
As for the Longhorns, sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner and junior running back Jaydon Blue have combined for 1,683 on the season.
Texas is a double-digit-point favorite over ASU, coming off a 38-24 win over the No. 12 Clemson Tigers in the first round of the CFP. The Sun Devils will look to play spoilers once again and advance to the Cotton Bowl.
“There is no doubt we are playing with house money. To say we are not is just a lie,” Dillingham told reporters on Monday. “Like nobody expected us to be here. Our guys got to this point because they are ultra-competitors, not because they are ever satisfied. So just because you are playing with house money doesn’t mean you should be satisfied.”
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