Texas set to face multiple former Longhorns on Arizona State’s roster in the Peach Bowl

As Texas and Arizona State prepare for a monumental battle in Atlanta on New Year’s Day, both teams can look throughout their building and find players more than familiar with their upcoming foes in the Peach Bowl.

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Texas hasn’t dipped much into the Arizona pipeline in the recruiting game, but the bulk of the beef on the Texas defensive line has roots tied to The Copper State. Goal-line hero Bill Norton, as well as backup Tiaoalii Savea, were a part of the University of Arizona’s thrashing of the Sun Devils last season in the Duel in the Desert, and they’re more than familiar with the strengths of star running back Cam Skattebo. Jermayne Lole played on the ASU side of the battle three times in his four years in Tempe and is the sole player that the Longhorns have gotten in the portal that used to play for Arizona State.

On the other hand, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian will see plenty of familiar faces that have swapped out the burnt orange for the maroon and gold of Arizona State. Six of the Sun Devils that will be suiting up to kick off the new year have at one point transferred from Texas, with multiple having already made large impacts in the Sun Devils’ Big 12 title run. 

Xavion Alford is probably the best former Longhorn that will be playing in this year’s Peach Bowl game. The safety was a three-star in Texas’ 2020 class but transferred after playing for two different coaches in two years in Austin. After a fairly quiet pitstop in Southern California with USC, Alford has worked his way into a starting role at Arizona State. Alford leads the Sun Devils in defensive snaps and has allowed just 90 yards on 19 targets this season, earning him PFF’s highest grade on the team.

The ASU wide receiver room has also dipped into the Longhorn reserve when trying to piece together a group capable of working with breakout star QB Sam Leavitt. Jake Smith is a familiar name in Austin, as the wide receiver was a former top-12 pass catcher in the 2019 class, and totaled 568 yards and 9 touchdowns in two seasons at Texas. He was joined by Troy Omeire, who joined Texas one year later in the 2020 class. He caught just one pass before joining the Sun Devils two seasons ago and now works as the third wide receiver. Omeire will see increased playtime in the Peach Bowl as Jordyn Tyson, the star receiver on the team and a product of Allen High School, will be injured for the remainder of the season.

The Sun Devils have three more former Longhorns joining Alford on the defensive side of the ball, all three of whom play on the defensive line. J’Mond Tapp was the highest rated recruit of that group, as the class of ‘22 edge rusher was a strong four-star when joining Texas, but has played very few snaps in his first season in Tempe and is now planning on transferring. Zac Swanson and Prince Dorbah also join Tapp and Alford on the defense, and each of them has turned into a rotational player on that stout defensive line.

Dorbah was a four-star linebacker in the 2020 class who didn’t do much in his limited time at Texas, but has emerged as a strong run-stuffing edge rusher in his two seasons with ASU. Swanson was a three-star lineman in the class of ‘22 but joined ASU this offseason after the additions of the aforementioned Norton, Lole, and Savea.

“I’m happy for all those guys, especially the guys that are having some success in Coach Dillingham’s program,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday. “In this day and age of college football, it’s about creating opportunities for our young people, and the way the transfer portal works, when new coaches get jobs and — half their roster I’m sure when Kenny took over at Arizona State jumped ship and now he’s trying to fill his roster so that creates opportunities for other players and other programs to maybe go there and contribute and find a role that’s different than maybe what their role was here, and vice versa for that matter.”

Swanson himself has sparked some controversy in the lead-up to this game, as the defensive lineman claimed that the Longhorns kicked him off the team this offseason because he wasn’t a good enough player. Swanson, and the rest of the former Longhorns on Arizona State, have a lot to play for in this game. 

But ASU’s young head coach Kenny Dillingham shut down the idea that these players need more motivation than they already have heading into the CFP quarterfinals.

“At the end of the day, we’re playing in the Peach Bowl with eight teams left. If that needs more energy, then something is wrong with you,” Dillingham said. “If you need external factors to get excited to play in this game, you’re at the wrong program here. We want people who are competitive. There’s eight teams left in college football. This is about competing versus one of the best teams in the country in the Peach Bowl and all 120 of our guys get to go, all 120 of their guys get to go and experience what college football is about, and that’s competing in one of the biggest bowl games.”