Arizona State is the reigning Big 12 champion and is well rested after earning an automatic first-round bye as one of the College Football Playoff‘s four highest-ranked conference winners.
Still, the fifth-seeded Texas Longhorns enter New Years Day’s College Football Playoff national quarterfinal in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (1 pm ET, ESPN) as a 12.5-point favorite and currently holds the best odds among the remaining eight-team field to win the CFP national championship (+310), according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Suffice it to say, the Sun Devils once again face significant uphills odds against Texas. Of course, that’s nothing new to an Arizona State program that won eight of its last nine games, including a dominating 45-19 victory over No. 16 Iowa State to claim the Big 12 title.
Still, Tim Tebow isn’t ready to go all-in on the Sun Devils to knock off the loaded Longhorns on in the Peach Bowl.
“I think Arizona State deserves a lot of credit. There’s something very real to anyone that’s played sports about momentum, and they’ve had a lot of momentum over the last few weeks. It is like the wind, you can’t always see it but dang can you feel it. They have that momentum, that belief, and that’s always a dangerous team,” Tebow told On3. “Do I believe that they’re as deep of a roster as Texas? Absolutely not. Top to bottom, I think Texas’ roster is very elite. Their ability to rotate their front seven and play backups that are ridiculous is kind of a joke. … This team has a very deep roster, but guess what, you only get to put 11 on the field at once.”
Tim Tebow: ‘I don’t think you can put it all on Cam Skattebo’
While Texas will trot out a pair of five-star QBs in Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning, Arizona State counters with redshirt freshman Sam Leavitt, a four-star transfer from Michigan State. The Sun Devils will also count on another heavy load from senior running back Cam Skattebo, who ranks second in the Big 12 with 1,568 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns.
But Tebow believes any New Years Day upset begins with Arizona State’s unheralded receiver corp elevating their game after a season-ending injury to ASU leading pass catcher Jordyn Tyson (75 receptions for 1,101 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2024).
“I think you’re going to have to have a few guys that step up, specifically at the receiver position, to give them a chance,” Tebow continued. “And they’ve had that over the last few weeks. Especially in the (Big 12) conference championship game, where a lot of their best receivers weren’t playing so they had so many other guys step up. I don’t think you can put it all on Cam Skattebo because I think they’re going to load the box against him, they’re going to make him the focal point. So there’s going to be a lot on Sam (Leavitt), a lot on the receivers, and I think that’s a little bit more of the X-factor in this game.
“Can they make the plays through the air against one-on-one, man coverage? And if you can, I think they’ll have a chance to compete in this game. If you can’t, I think it’s going to become a very hard four quarters (for Arizona State).”
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