Dawgs Preview: Allstate Sugar Bowl

'Superdome Endzone Pano' Photo Credit: Steve Driskell vis Flickr

The Texas Longhorns (12-1) and the Washington Huskies (13-0) travel to Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, LA to meet in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. This will be the sixth meeting between the teams with Texas holding a 3-2 edge over Washington. The last meeting was December 29, 2022, a 27-20 Washington win in the Alamo Bowl.

Texas -4 O/U 63.5

BROADCAST INFORMATION:

- Monday, January 1, 2024, 8:45 PM Eastern Time Kickoff on ESPN

- Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy will be on the call for ESPN while Molly McGrath and Katie George will be on the sideline.

- On the Texas side the radio broadcast will be on FM 98.1 and AM 1300. On the Washington side, the radio broadcast will be on FM 93.3.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

The winner moves on to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game to play the winner of the Rose Bowl between Alabama and Michigan.

KEY PLAYERS

Washington

QB Michael Penix, Jr. – Finalist for the Heisman Trophy. Finished the season with 65.9% passes completed, led the nation with 4,218 passing yards, tied for third in the nation with 33 TD and 9 INT.

WR Rome Odunze – Finished the season with 81 receptions, was third in the nation with 1,428 receiving yards, and tied for sixth with 13 receiving TDs.

RB Dillon Johnson – Rushed for 1,113 yards, tied for 29th in the nation, and 14 TD, tied for 14th nationally. Normally, the run game is used to set up the passing attack. For Washington, the opposite can be true. The Huskies will need Johnson to help draw in the Texas defensive backs to create mismatches for the Washington receivers.

Three Washington players have entered the transfer portal since the end of the regular season.

Texas 

QB Quinn Ewers- Piled up 3,161 yards passing, with a 70.9% completion percentage, and having 21 touchdowns to only 6 interceptions. Ewers only played in 11 games this season missing 2 games due to injury.

WR Xavier Worthy- Caught 73 passes with 969 yards and 5 touchdowns on the season. The wide number one receiver for Texas has been the go-to guy when a play is needed for this Longhorn offense.

LB Jaylan Ford- Has made 91 tackles so far this season with 1 sack and 2 interceptions. The leader of the Longhorn defense will have to step up to slow down the Washington rushing attack and make the Huskies one-dimensional for the pass rushers to get home to Michael Penix.

Texas has had 10 players enter the portal. The most noteworthy of those is backup quarterback Maalik Murphy.

KEY MATCHUP

Washington

The potent Husky passing attack against the Texas pass defense.  The Huskies led the nation with an average of 343.8 passing yards per game. Penix and the Washington receivers have dominated opposing defenses for the majority of the season. The Texas pass defense ranks No. 93 giving up 240.8 yards per game. That does not bode well for the Longhorns’ chance to win this game. However, Texas is tied for eighth in the country with 16 interceptions, two of which they returned for touchdowns. While Texas has sacked opposing quarterbacks 32 times, the Huskies have only allowed 11 sacks all season, tied for fourth nationally.

Texas

The Texas rushing offense was without 1,139-yard rusher Jonathan Brooks against the Washington rush defense. Texas' offense is averaging 189.1 rush yards a game while Washington is giving up 133.8 yards per game. Texas has to get a running game going to keep Washington's great offense on the sideline and shorten the game to give the Longhorns the best chance.

PREDICTION - Sugar Bowl

TJ Chapman

Washington’s defensive statistics are why the Huskies are underdogs in this game. Texas drew the least favorable matchup in the Huskies as both Michigan and Alabama do not boast the offensive output that Washington does, especially through the air. This will be a shootout for sure and the Washington defense will make enough plays to stop Texas and get the win. A little betting nugget: Washington is 4-0 outright as an underdog under head coach Kalen DeBoer. Give me Washington winning 41-37, take Washington getting points, and take the over.

Nick Friesen

I believe that CJ Baxter and the great Texas offensive line will be able to get the running game going. As well as the Texas defensive line who might be the best that Washington has seen this season will dominate the line of scrimmage. This will be a tight game and I could even see Washington covering the line of four points. But with that being said I will take the team that should win the battle in the trenches. Texas wins 34-31.

Credit to TJ Chapman for his Washington contributions to this article.