A few years ago on my own sports blog, I came up with the idea of projecting the College Football Playoff matchups in the preseason by writing up fake recaps. Later, I wrote previews of the college football postseason and also the Super Bowl in the days leading up to the games. But again, I would write as if I had been gifted the chance to travel ahead, watch the games and recap them. It allowed me to do more storytelling while also giving a breakdown to the keys of the game for each team. In this second edition for The Transfer Portal CFB, there are two “preview recaps” detailing how the Washington Huskies or Texas Longhorns can win the Sugar Bowl, which is a rematch of last year’s Alamo Bowl that Washington won 27-20. Click here to read the Rose Bowl edition. 

If Washington wins…

Sweet as Sugar: Washington Wins High-Scoring Semifinal Against Texas 

When he finally had a chance to catch his breath after No. 2 Washington’s 49-45 win over No. 3 Texas, Michael Penix Jr. allowed for a moment of shock.

“Six touchdowns? Six?” he said to no one in particular. 

“Actually seven. You ran for one,” said Rome Odunze, who was on the receiving end of two of the six touchdown passes by Penix, who threw for a single-game career high in yards (495 yards, 38 of 49 passing). They looked at each other then laughed at the absurdity of the game they had just played. It echoed the feeling of anyone who was able to be a part of this game. On the other side, Quinn Ewers had a fantastic game himself (25 of 39, 323 yards, three touchdowns). He could only shake his head with a wry grin at the game’s result.

“I mean, we put up 45. They’re just a machine on offense,” Ewers said. 

That machine had to get going quickly after Texas scored immediately. Keilan Robinson settled under the opening kickoff at the goal line then headed right. Behind great blocking, he cut upfield and dashed all the way to Washington’s 34-yard line. After two short plays, Ewers hit Ja’Tavion Sanders up the seam for a 23-yard touchdown. The mostly burnt orange crowd had the Caesars Superdome rocking.

Washington did not need much time revving up. After a long incompletion, the Huskies called a second straight deep ball. This time, Ja’Lynn Polk hauled in a 27-yard jump ball up the left sideline. A few plays later, Polk (six catches, 92 yards) brought in another jump ball from 17 yards out and fell just inside the front right pylon for the tying touchdown. Within four minutes, the game that had an over/under of 63.5 points was already 7-7. 

Texas kept the points fest going but slowed the frenetic tempo. The Longhorns mixed in runs from CJ Baxter and Jaydon Blue along with intermediate passes from Ewers. The freshman Baxter capped off the drive with a powerful 4-yard touchdown run on second-and-goal. Washington also went at a reduced pace, with Dillon Johnson finally getting some carries just to keep the defense honest. But it was mostly Penix’s passing on the drive again, and this time it was Devin Culp catching a quick snap pass of an RPO. He brought in the pass at the 8-yard line and rumbled in as defenders bounced off of him to tie it up at 14-14 with just over a minute left in the quarter. 

But just before the break, there was one last jolt to a game that had been given too much sugar too quickly. Robinson made an impact again, this time on a double reverse that he took for 26 yards. Then Ewers took a deep drop, pumped, then launched a pass to Xavier Worthy. The speedster burnt the secondary and coasted under the pass at the goal line for a 48-yard strike to give Texas a 21-14 lead after the first period of play. 

Washington had a little trouble passing as the Longhorns’ secondary tightened up for a drive, including Jerrin Thompson driving down on a crossing route and laying a hit that dislodged Jack Westover from the ball. But the rushing attack worked, at least when Washington ran to the outside away from star defensive tackles T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy. The Huskies finished with 115 yards on the ground when running to the edges and only 12 when testing the Longhorns’ interior. Johnson acted as the hammer and Germie Bernard was the juice. The Huskies’ mini version of 49ers’ all-around player Deebo Samuel had an impressive 18-yard dash on a pitch left where he shook Jaylan Ford at the line, juked out two more players then got the edge before being angled out of bounds at the Texas 19-yard line. On the next play, Westover got his revenge as he slipped out of the backfield on a run fake. He caught the pass at the 14-yard line and could have walked into the end zone with how wide open he was. Sweat almost blocked the extra point but it was true to tie the score 21-21.   

With the break between quarters and the Washington drive that had taken 5:03 off the game clock, the Texas passing game went a little cold. Ewers had a few bad incompletions that were nowhere close. But thankfully for the Longhorns, that meant not even Huskies’ defenders had a chance to make a play on the ball. It also helped that the running game did not skip a beat. Once again, Baxter and Blue took turns getting an average of 5.6 yards a pop on the drive as the Washington defensive line just could not get any push. Blue had the final carry, a 22-yard dive right up the gut before angling left and just outracing the safety for the touchdown and a 28-21 advantage. 

With Washington looking to respond again, it was instead the Texas run defense that forced the first punt of the game. Once again, Murphy and Sweat allowed nothing up the middle on first down. A few plays later, Ford was not shaken and instead knifed through and stopped Johnson two yards in the backfield on a counter run to the right. Washington moved closer on a screen, but Ford got a stop again as he was left one-on-one with Bernard on third-and-3. This time, Texas won the matchup and Ford stood up the ball-carrier. With the ball on his own 44, it was just enough for Kalen DeBoer to send the punt unit out. 

Texas started at its own 15 and proceeded to march deep into the red zone. With 33 seconds left, Ewers rifled a pass to Sanders in what appeared to be a 14-yard touchdown on third-and-8. Instead, Asa Turner, who finally had the club-cast off his injured right hand, was able to get both hands on the ball at the same time as Sanders and was able to rip the ball away. Texas settled for the 31-yard field goal from Bert Auburn and the halftime score saw the Longhorns ahead 31-21. 

Things appeared to be going Texas’ way after a short return by Washington on the second half kickoff was made only worse by a holding penalty. The Huskies ended up starting at their own 6-yard line. But that did not matter as Penix immediately completed a deep comeback route to Jalen McMillan for 15 yards. Like a surgeon, the lefty gunslinger expertly cut through the Longhorns secondary, hitting windows barely big enough for the ball to get through. The second most impressive pass was a slant to Polk on fourth-and-4 from midfield that split three defenders on the 6-yard completion. The most impressive was a 33-yard touchdown to Odunze on a post route. If Penix had been allowed to walk down the field and place the ball into Odunze’s hands, it would not have been better than the pass. It traveled on a line just beyond the outstretched hands of Kitan Crawford into the grasp of Odunze, who never broke stride as he caught the pass in the end zone. 

Now leading only 31-28, Texas’ ground game came up big once again as the Longhorns did everything they could to keep their defense on the sidelines. A heavy diet of Baxter and Blue set up a slip screen to Robinson after the Huskies defense got sucked in on a run fake. Robinson took the pass and slipped one tackler before gaining 22 yards to put Texas at the Washington 26-yard line. On the very next play, Ewers faced pressure and had to let the ball go early. As the pass floated dangerously in the air, Adonai Mitchell adjusted and leapt for the ball. He cradled it in the back of the end zone for the touchdown and Texas gave itself a 38-28 cushion.

With just over five minutes left in the quarter, Washington found its stride in the yards after catch game. Penix did not complete a pass over 9 air yards on the drive as the receivers did all the work to get open on short passes and gain extra yards. Westover might have had the most impressive play when he took a 2-yard checkdown and dragged the sure-handed tackler Jahdae Barron 5 yards for a first down on third-and-3. The Huskies drove into the red zone, where Bernard ended the drive in the end zone on a 13-yard catch-and-run. He took a 3-yard tunnel screen and raced ahead thanks to a crushing block by the hustling Culp before diving for paydirt to cut the score to a 38-35 Texas lead. Each team caught its breath as the third quarter ended.  

After only one drive not ending in a score (not counting Washington kneeling out the clock to end the first half), Washington forced another. Texas opened the fourth quarter by reaching its own 44-yard line before Edefuan Ulofoshio got a strip sack on Ewers. Tuli Letuligasenoa fell on the bouncing ball, and the first and only takeaway of the day went to Washington. After Penix completed a handful of passes to move the Huskies into first-and-goal at the 9, he took it upon himself. Rolling left, he kept going and took off, diving and just sneaking the ball inside the left pylon before his knee touched down. It was reminiscent of his mad dash two-point conversion that helped Indiana beat Penn State in 2020. That gave Washington its first lead of the day at 42-38.  

Texas did not falter and Ewers did not fade. Instead, he called his own number on a scramble of his own that gained 14 yards on the first play of the Longhorns’ next drive. That put a little second guessing into defenders’ minds, and they kept a long watch on him when he rolled out after handing the ball off. When he did not hand it off and instead hit Jordan Whittington for a 17-yard touchdown, it was because the safeties had sat down for a second too long to watch a potentially running Ewers. 

Trailing once again 45-42, Washington quickly got out to midfield but pressure led to three straight incompletions. The Huskies had to punt and stuck Texas at the 13-yard line with 7:07 left. Wanting to ice the game with a touchdown or at least pick up a field goal for a little cushion, instead Texas itself had to punt. It was a letdown for the Longhorns as Ewers had completed two long passes, first to Mitchell then Worthy. That had left Texas at the Washington 36-yard line. On the edge of field goal range, a 10-yard sack caused by Bralen Trice, who corralled Ewers into the waiting arms of Zion Tupuola-Fetui, backed Texas out of range to even attempt a kick. The only decision on fourth and very long was to punt. It was fair caught at the 10-yard line, leaving only 60 yards for a potential tying field goal or 90 yards for a touchdown. 

Of course, everyone knew Washington was going to push for the lead. With 3:48 left and two timeouts, the Huskies offense strode onto the field calmly. On the first play, it was Johnson who took a sweep and gained 11 yards to kickstart the drive. But from there, it was the Penix show. The Heisman runner-up was responsible for the rest of the drive as he connected with four different receivers. The final was Odunze once again, who brought in a back shoulder fade in the left corner of the end zone from 11 yards out to go ahead 49-45. He finished with 10 receptions and 165 yards on the day with two scores. 

Texas was left with two timeouts and 1:03 left. But this time, the Washington pass rush put its foot down. Two hurried passes prevented easy completions. Shaken, Ewers managed to get Texas to the Washington 45 with 15 seconds left. But the rush got to him again, as Letuligasenoa went right up the middle and brought Ewers down for a loss of 6. With eight seconds left and no timeouts remaining, Ewers dropped back to give his receivers time to get downfield. But Zach Durfee, who had just become academically eligible in the days leading up to the game, came screaming off the edge and hit Ewers as he threw. The pass floated and was intercepted by Jabbar Muhammad well short of the end zone at the 15-yard line as time expired. 

“It was kinda weird to have this type of game end with a defensive play, but they’ve just come up big at the right times this year,” said Penix, who also credited his offensive line as he was not sacked in the game. 

“That guy is going to be playing on Sundays,” said Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian of Penix. That may be true. But first, Penix and Washington will be playing Monday, Jan. 8 for a chance for Washington’s second ever national championship. 

If Texas wins…

Huskies Hooked: Texas Takes Down Washington 

The cheers of the mostly Texas crowd filled the Caesars Superdome as No. 3 Texas defeated No. 2 Washington 31-21. The aerial attack led by Quinn Ewers (27 of 36, 337 yards, three touchdowns) who had things clicking with Adonai Mitchell (five catches, 105 yards, one touchdown), Xavier Worthy (eight catches, 109 yards, one touchdown) and Ja’Tavion Sanders (six catches, 85 yards, one touchdown). The ground game was also out in full force as CJ Baxter, Jaydon Blue and Keilan Robinson combined to rush for 207 yards. 

On the other side, Washington’s high-powered offense was stymied by the constant pressure by Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy and sticky coverage by defensive backs Jerrin Thompson, Kitan Crawford and Jahdae Barron. Michael Penix Jr. did throw for two touchdowns but was hurried all day into throwing into tight windows as he did not have an efficient day (20 of 36, 234 yards).However, Washington was able to move the ball on the opening possession of the game as Penix hit quick passes, and Dillon Johnson squeaked through holes to get the Huskies down to the Texas 30-yard line. But when the time came for longer developing pass plays, that allowed first Murphy then Sweat to push the pocket into Penix’s lap on back-to-back plays that brought up a fourth down. Grady Gross attempted to tie his season long of 47 yards, but the kick sailed wide left. 

Texas took the momentum and rolled down the field in six plays. Ewers completed 4 of 5 passes on the drive, with the final completion a 36-yard pass to Worthy on a deep crossing route. The receiver sped past the coverage after the catch to cover the final 13 yards between him and the end zone to put the first points on the board for a 7-0 lead. Washington did find some footing on the following drive, as Germie Bernard took a jet sweep handoff 35 yards. Three plays later, Penix found Ja’Lynn Polk down the seam for a 29-yard touchdown strike. 

The second quarter began with Texas in possession after the teams traded punts. Baxter was the main man, carrying the ball four times for 38 yards on the drive to put Texas in the red zone. From there, Texas caught the Washington defense cheating down, and Ewers connected with Sanders for a 17-yard catch on a post route that split the safeties like the parting of the Red Sea. That 14-7 lead did not last long when Washington found some success in the run game. Thanks to plenty of pre-snap eye candy in motions and hard counts, the Huskies were able to grind out yards on the ground, though they did run more outside to avoid Sweat and Murphy. In the end, a 16-yard pass from Penix to Jack Westover to the 3-yard line set up Johnson’s lunge over the pile to tie the game back up. 

From there, each defense came to play, with drives to around midfield by each team ending in punts. Texas had the final possession of the half and was able to manage a drive that got to the Washington 27-yard line. With two seconds left, Bert Auburn made a 44-yard field goal to put the Longhorns up 17-14 at halftime.

Things only got more difficult for the Washington offense in the third quarter. When the Huskies got the ball on their first possession of the second half, they went three-and-out thanks to the wall of Murphy and Sweat stopping any chances of running the ball. On third-and-9, Jaylan Ford made a great play to leap and deflect a pass intended for a crossing Rome Odunze that would have resulted in a long catch-and-run. The next time Washington got the ball, it was able to drive down to the Texas 23. On fourth-and-2, the Huskies went for it, but Barron timed a delayed blitz perfectly and found himself in the right position to slam Odunze on a reverse to stop the Huskies drive cold. 

“I was reading the tight end. If he went out I’d cover him. If not I was supposed to blitz, and he stayed to block so I went for it. Right place, right time,” Barron said. 

Texas did not have much success on offense either until its final drive of the third quarter. Ewers looked in complete control, calling the correct audibles or pass protections that gave him easy passes or clean pockets. The Longhorns’ passing game drove them down to the Washington 9-yard line where it ended up being a run by Baxter right up the middle that gave Texas a 24-14 lead as the third quarter wound down.  

After being held in check most of the night, Odunze came alive to start the final quarter. Penix force fed him over and over, and over and over Odunze delivered. First, he jumped over a defender to haul in a 21-yard catch. Then he had a toe-tapping catch on a third-and-7 near midfield to keep the drive alive. Finally, the deep ball for Washington hit, and the Huskies scored as Penix connected with Odunze from 39 yards out on a go ball up the right sideline. The extra point made it 24-21, and after Texas only covered 15 yards before punting back, Washington seemed to be mounting a comeback. However, the punt was a booming one that stuck the Huskies at their 5-yard line. 

Penix got lucky as pressure forced an errant throw to Jalen McMillan, who somehow brought in the pass between three defenders for a 27-yard gain. Then a Bernard run on a toss play went for 18 yards, and it felt inevitable that the Huskies would at least get a field goal on the drive. Penix seemed to have finally found a groove, and a few running plays managed to gain positive yards and the clock dripped away on the long drive. But at the Texas 17, Malik Muhammad took a gamble and jumped an in-breaking route meant for Polk. The freshman was rewarded as Penix never saw him and the ball hit him squarely in the numbers. Muhammad, as his cousin and fellow cornerback Jabbar watched on the Washington sideline, returned the interception 37 yards before being shoved out of bounds.  

“I knew I had some help over the top and in the red zone. There’s less space so getting beat over the top wasn’t too much of a concern,” Muhammad said. “I just saw Penix. His eyes just never looked at me so I went for it. I’m just thankful I caught it. It was a laser right at me.”

Six minutes remained and it appeared like a perfect time for Texas to run a time-consuming, four-minute drill drive. Instead, after a handful of short runs where the Longhorns let the play clock go down to under five seconds, they went for the win. 

“We knew Washington was a team that could score in a hurry. Even though their offense was struggling, we felt we had to end them as soon as possible,” Ewers said. And end them he did when he rolled left, stopped and fired back across the field on a post to Mitchell who dove and caught the pass in the end zone for a 38-yard dagger with 3:17 left. 

Trailing 31-21, Washington tried to get into at least field goal range to make it a one-score game. The Huskies managed to get to midfield with just under two minutes left, but then the interior pass rush that had been dominant all day got home as both Sweat and Murphy combined to bring Penix down for a 13-yard sack. On the ensuing fourth-and-21, Penix once again had no time and just threw the ball up. It landed yards away from anyone, and an intentional grounding penalty was tacked on to add insult to injury. Texas ran out the clock, and one final kneel down by Ewers sent the Texas sideline into a frenzy. Steve Sarkisian was given a Gatorade bath after defeating the team he’d previously coached. 

“I won’t lie, it didn’t hurt that it was Washington on the other side,” said Sarkisian in the on-field postgame interview. As he walked off the field, he pumped his fist to the contingent of burnt orange that had remained. 

“It was crazy, having basically a home crowd. It really helped us I think stopping their offense. They looked lost and confused at times,” Sweat said. Better yet for Texas, the trend might continue as the national championship is even closer to home in Houston. If it can close the deal, Texas will officially be back.