Rushing attacks of ASU, Texas are where Peach Bowl matchup starts

TEMPE — The rubber will meet the road in the Peach Bowl when ASU and Texas pit their strong rushing attacks against the other.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian knows Texas won’t have it easy against Cam Skattebo, who has been chomping at the bit to get back on the field since a very successful outing on Dec. 7 (208 total yards and three total touchdowns).

“Skattebo is a heck of a player. He’s got a ton of fans in our building, I can tell you that,” Sarkisian said in a joint Zoom call on Monday. “This guy’s a monster. Now we got to figure out a way to stop him.”

Sarkisian keyed in on an initial perception of Skattebo being just a run-you-over type of back. He said the more he watched the top-five Heisman vote-getter, the more he saw the versatility that led the ASU tailback to become the first since Christian McCaffrey with at least 1,500 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in a season.

“He’s a really versatile player,” Sarkisian said. “The more you watch him, you’re like, man, this guy’s got really good feet. This guy’s got great contact balance. This guy, right when you think he’s getting ready to run somebody over, he makes ’em miss, he uses a stiff arm.

“I was hoping he was going to be kind of a one-dimensional guy, you know, when you just kind of watch SportsCenter and different things, but all of a sudden you start looking at the cut-up of him and the explosive plays and how they’re happening. His versatility is probably the thing that stands out to me the most.”

Skattebo, however, has a tough task matching up with a Texas defensive front that features several likely NFL players.

It has graded out as the 13th-best run defense in Power 4 (91.4), per PFF, and is the fifth-best among playoff teams.

“You gotta move the first line,” ASU coach Kenny Dillingham said on Monday of the key to success. “The first layer of their defense is really big. They’re really physical, they defeat blocks well. … They don’t out-scheme themselves. Sometimes when you face teams like this, you can get them into certain pressures and you can get them into really advantageous looks, where you’re like, ‘Oh okay. I hope they blitz themselves out of the way.’ This team doesn’t do that. They make you beat them.

“We got to be able to create movement and we got to be able to cover up the first level and make second- and third-level players tackle us and hopefully stay in positive down-and-distances.”

Four Texas defensive linemen were included in ESPN’s draft tiers, and if ASU can make it past that first level, one linebacker and two safeties likely headed for the NFL await it.

What makes Texas’ run game dangerous and how does ASU contain it in Peach Bowl?

The Longhorns’ rushing attack is peaking at the right time with at least 240 yards as a team in three of the last four games, including 292 in its first-round win over Clemson.

Their change-of-pace style with Jaydon Blue (146 yards) and Quintrevion Wisner (110), who each had two touchdowns, proved fatal to the Tigers on Saturday when Clemson had cut the deficit to one score — Texas responded by opening Blue up for a 77-yard dagger.

“You have kind of the thunder and lightning mantra. You have (Wisner) who’s gonna run you over. He’s still fast, so it’s like thunder lightning and then, like, super lightning (with Blue),” Dillingham said. “It’s a good combination for them. Both those guys are NFL backs, and the offensive line does a really good job, including their tight end, in the wide zone game creating creases. And all the motions and the shifts, all it takes is one (mistake).”

Star running backs such as Kansas State’s D.J. Giddens (133 yards) and UCF’s R.J. Harvey (127 yards, three touchdowns) have gashed ASU’s defense this season, however it has yet to give up the kind of 200-plus-yard game that the Longhorns have posted in recent weeks.

Answers may be found in the SEC title game, where Georgia held the Longhorns to 31 yards on 28 attempts, though it shouldn’t come as a shock that Georgia boasts much more capable defensive talent at the blue-blood level than ASU.

“In my opinion, good teams reflect each other,” Dillingham said. “This team, they’re one of the best passing offenses in the country. I think they’re 17th in the country and they’re second in the country in pass defense. Iron sharpens iron. So when you’re really good at something, the other side of the ball should become better at that same something.”

By that thinking, ASU’s luxury of practicing against Skattebo should make it better-equipped to deal with Wisner and Blue on the other side of the matchup.

ASU and Texas meet in the Peach Bowl, a College Football Playoff quarterfinal, on Jan. 1 at 11 a.m. MST. Pregame coverage begins at 8 a.m. on 98.7, the Arizona Sports app or online.