No. 4 Arizona State bids to continue stunning season vs. No. 5 Texas in Peach Bowl

They weren’t expected to win their conference. They certainly weren’t expected to qualify for the College Football Playoff.Nonetheless, the fourth-seeded Arizona State Sun Devils (11-2) have a chance to earn perhaps the biggest win in program history when they battle fifth-seeded Texas (12-2) in a CFP quarterfinal on New Year’s Day at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.The winner will meet either top-seeded Oregon or No. 8 seed Ohio State in a semifinal game at the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10 in Arlington, Texas.Projected last in the preseason Big 12 poll, Arizona State secured an automatic bid to its first CFP with a 45-19 drubbing of Iowa State in the conference championship on Dec. 7.Despite the Sun Devils boasting 311 fewer all-time victories than the Longhorns, Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham doesn’t see the matchup as David versus Goliath.”No, I wouldn’t say that,” Dillingham said. “I would say this is a really good football team that was predicted to win a national championship versus the Big 12 champion. I’m excited to see our guys go out there and compete.”Riding a six-game winning streak, Arizona State will have rested for 24 days by the time New Year’s Day rolls around, admittedly an obstacle Dillingham’s team will have to overcome.”Not playing a game for 3 1/2 weeks is definitely a challenge,” Dillingham said. “Especially because we were playing our best football. … We really dominated the end of the season, in my opinion.”Averaging 34.5 points per game, the Sun Devils’ offense is led by quarterback Sam Leavitt’s 2,663 passing yards and 29 total touchdowns, alongside running back Cam Skattebo’s 1,568 rushing yards and 19 scores.