Can Texas Longhorns Repeat What Happened Last Time They Played Arizona State?

The last and only time these two programs have met was in 2007 at the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl in San Diego where the Texas Longhorns defeated the Arizona State Sun Devils.

December 27, 2007; San Diego, CA, USA; Texas Longhorns cornerback Brandon Foster (28) runs the ball against the defense of Arizona State Sun Devils wide receiver Nate Kimbrough (16) after picking off a pass intended for wide receiver Kyle Williams (not pictured) in the second half during the Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium. Texas defeated Arizona State 52-34. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The scene is set for the second-ever meeting between the Texas Longhorns and the Arizona State Sun Devils, who will play on New Year's Day for a chance to advance to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.

The last time these two faced each other was in 2007, when both teams had successful seasons. Arizona State was in its first year with head coach Dennis Erickson and were co-champs with USC of the Pac-10 Conference, going 10-2 on the season. For Texas, they were two seasons off the high of a national championship with head coach Mack Brown and quarterback Vince Young. With Young already gone to the NFL, the Longhorns still had a young Colt McCoy on the roster that helped reach them to 9-3 and the No. 17 rank by the end of the season.

Although Arizona State technically had the location advantage as well as a better record and ranking, the Longhorns were still favored by 1.5 points. The Longhorns were a potent offense that averaged 462 total yards of offense per game. Texas was expected to go 10-2 and be apart of a BCS bowl, but an upset loss to Texas A&M in the final week placed the Longhorns in the Holiday Bowl instead. It was reported that Brown held a "boot camp" to prepare for the bowl game after the A&M loss, including workouts at 6 a.m. and forcing players to admit mistakes in front of the team a long with other practices.

And when kickoff happened, it was very evident that Texas had prepared for the game.

The first quarter was all Longhorns. McCoy and the Horns got the ball first and drove down the field for a 2-yard touchdown caught surprisingly by Derek Lokey, mainly a nose tackle, not even a minute and a half in the game. Later in the first, Longhorn cornerback Brandon Foster was able to force a fumble on ASU's back Dimitri Nance that helped set up the second touchdown for Texas, which was a 4-yard run by John Chiles. Foster wasn't finished, getting an incredible interception on the next drive on Texas's 11-yard line to put the offense back out there. Running back Jamaal Charles took it 15-yards at the end of the first to make it 21-0. It only took Texas just over two minutes on their three scoring drives combined in the first.

ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter put together a long drive that ended in a 7-yard touchdown to Chris McGaha to put the Sun Devils on the board at the beginning of the second. This touchdown lives in infamy for controversy. Carpenter had thrown a ball on a third an long to avoid a sack which was initially ruled as intentional grounding. Because of the flags, a Texas staff member retrieved the ball before it went out of bounds. After using replay review, it was determined that it was a backwards pass and therefore a fumble. The play was called illegal interference on Texas and set up the touchdown for ASU. McCoy rushed for a touchdown and at halftime the score was 28-10 Texas. While ASU only had five rushing yards in the first half, Jamaal Charles had 9.6 yards per carry himself.

You could say the third quarter had some "Longhorn magic" to it to keep Texas up in the game. ASU forced Texas into a punt and were only trailing by 15. On the return, returner Kyle Williams fumbled and Texas recovered, setting them up on the ASU 32. McCoy then ran 30-yards but fumbled before reaching the endzone before Jermichael Finley miraculously recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown to make it 35-13.

Texas proceeded to put in back-ups in the fourth and the game ended in a final score of 52-34, the most points scored by Texas ever in a bowl game until the 2020 Alamo Bowl against Colorado.

The offensive MVP was McCoy who completed 21 of his 31 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for another touchdown and 84 yards on 16 attempts. Defensive lineman Brian Orakpo won defensive MVP after making four and a half tackles for losses and two sacks. Jamaal Charles ended his historic tenue at Texas with 161 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Charles would shortly declare for the draft after the game and became a household name for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Now, the two teams will finally play again. Coincidently, 2007 was the last year ASU had won a conference championship until this year. For Texas. they are looking for history to repeat itself, for ASU, it will be about proving everybody wrong, and getting the revenge 17 years later.

The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl between the Texas Longhorns and Arizona State Sun Devils will be at noon on New Year's Day in Atlanta, GA.

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