The No. 4 Arizona State Sun Devils are heading into Wednesday's Peach Bowl against the No. 5 Texas Longhorns as two-score underdogs, but they have the confidence of a team that is favored to win it all.
Michigan State transfer Sam Leavitt has already asserted that he thinks he's the better quarterback between him and Quinn Ewers, and running back Cam Skattebo isn't shying away from facing off against a defense that ranked No. 1 in the country in total defense for a bulk of the season.
When speaking to the media on Monday in Atlanta, Skattebo unveiled his underdog mentality, which helped him finish in the top 10 Heisman voting, and has also seen him become one of college football's biggest stars after starting his career at Sacramento State. He also point-blank said that no one can stop him, which up this point is relatively true.
"They continue to keep saying that people are going to try to stop me," Skattebo told ESPN. "There's nobody out there that can stop me. We played in 13 games, and I've been the target on each one, so I'm not too worried. We're going to play our game and play ball and see what happens there.
"If they're studying hard, there's a reason. I have full respect for them, because they understand what they're playing against, and that's why I love playing in games like this, because they constantly look at me as a threat, and that's something I've always wanted to be. And if I'm a threat on the football field against an SEC team that was the runner-up to win their conference, then I think I'm in a pretty good position."
Skattebo has been an absolute force down in Tempe this season, rushing for a career-high 1,568 yards on 6.0 yards per carry and powering 19 touchdowns on the ground. He has also posted a career-high 37 catches for 506 yards with three receiving touchdowns.
While the Sun Devils are fully confident that they can win this game, ESPN's FPI gives them just a 20.6% chance. Their chances may also be affected by how much they are poking the bear. Come Wednesday, they'll either be validated or will turn into a meme.
However, regardless of what happens, they still have had quite a season, going from being viewed as the worst team in the Big 12 in the preseason to conference champs and top-four playoff seed.
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