Greg McElroy reveals path for Arizona State to upset Texas in Peach Bowl

ESPN’s Greg McElroy revealed the path for Arizona State to pull off the upset against Texas in the Peach Bowl and it starts on defense.

The Sun Devils have an explosive offense featuring running back Cam Skattebo and young quarterback Sam Leavitt. But the key is on defense and rattling Texas QB Quinn Ewers.

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Since the latter has struggled since his return from injury, Arizona State is ripe to take advantage.

“They forced a lot of mistakes by Quinn Ewers, I think that’s really the only pathway to victory for Arizona State,” McElroy said on Get Up. “Texas is too good defensively. I don’t think Arizona State can completely move down the field over and over and over again. They’re going to need some short fields which means they’re gonna have to take advantage of some mistakes that Quinn Ewers likely gonna have to throw under pressure, under duress. 

“He has not been very good since he’s come back from his ankle injury, just three yards per drop back against pressure. He takes a bunch of sacks, and his QBR is in the single digits, so he’s really got to play well against pressure. But Arizona State struggled to generate it most of the year.”

Tim Tebow took the opposite approach when it came to how Arizona State can upset Texas. It seems like this CFP quarterfinal game is the ripest for an upset.

“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 told On3. “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).”