Last year the Washington Huskies and Texas Longhorns engaged in an Alamo Bowl game that did not lack for drama. That game was won by the Huskies 27-20. They have not lost since.

As BetOnline patrons are well aware, the stakes are much different for this game - much higher. When these teams meet at the Superdome in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl, it will be with a berth in the national title game on the line.

Washington is the #2 seed, with Texas at #3. Yet the Huskies are the team that is the underdog. So not everybody believss.

What they'll have to prove is that they can slug it out on the front line with Texas, because everything else kind of emanates from there.

The Huskies want to get the passing game cranked up. That means Michael Penix Jr., who we all thought for a while was going to win the Heisman Trophy. And why not? He had staggering numbers and managed to keep his team undefeated. For the season, Penix threw for 4218 yards, with 33 touchdowns. The southpaw had one of the top receivers to throw to; Rome Odunze averaged 17.6 yards a catch and had 13 touchdowns, getting named to every All-America team in the process.

We'll discuss what Texas can do to mitigate the effect of those guys. But let's make sure that you know the Longhorns can move the football too. Quinn Ewers was the top QB prospect in the country when he came out of high school, and he started to look at it this season, with a 71% completion rate at nine yards per attempt. The Huskies may find WR Xavier Worthy difficult to stop; and Adonal Mitchell, who has averaged 16 yards a catch and scored ten TD's, is a very good complement for him.

In the College Football Playoff betting odds posted at BetOnline on this Sugar Bowl game, Texas is favored to break U-Dub's winning streak:

Texas Longhorns -4
Washington Huskies +4

Over 62.5 Points -110
Under 62.5 Points -110

The Longhorns caught a break with Jonathan Brooks (1139 yds., 6.1 ypc) stepping up and providing a star in the backfield after the departure of Bijan Robinson, who was drafted in the first round by the Atlanta Falcons. But Brooks suffered a season-ending injury. So it might not be quite the same with CJ Baxter and Jaydon Blue picking up the slack, but these guys were prized recruits, and Blue has chalked up 6.1 yards per carry.

And really, any execution at all on the part of the Horns in the ground game should get results. because U-Dub is a substandard team in defending the run. The Huskies ranked 132nd among 133 FBS teams in Adjusted Line Yards on defense. So they can get pushed back.

Now reverse the situation. Washington has its own star running back in Dillon Johnson (1113 yards,14 TD's), and the offensive line wion the Joe Moore Award, so at the very least they are among the nation's best. But Texas not only ranks among the nation's top ten in sack percentage, they are also very stiff against the run, giving up just 2.9 yards an attempt and 81 yards a game. So that's a real battle we're looking forward to seeing.

What is alarmiong if you are considering backing the 'Horns is that they have had a very tough time pushing the ball past the goal line in the red zone, scoring touchdowns only 49% of the time. That's way down near the bottom of the FBS list, and what it means is that they usually would tally fewer points than we might otherwise expect, because sevens become threes.

Texas may be able to compensate for that, because defense is going to make a difference here. Texas will be able to disrupt what the Huskies can do to a greater degree than U-Dub can do to the 'Horns. So we'll lay the points.

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