No. 3 Texas football (12-2, 7-1 SEC) will square up against some familiar faces on the other sideline and line of scrimmage when head coach Steve Sarkisian's squad battles the No. 12 Arizona State Sun Devils (11-2, 7-2 Big 12) in the quarterfinal of the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Arizona State has pulled multiple former Texas football transfers from the portal to build its roster under head coach Kenny Dillingham before making the Playoff this year in 2024
Texas will be back at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA, for the second time in under a month for the Peach Bowl quarterfinal in the Playoff. The familiarity that the Longhorns and Sun Devils both have with multiple former Texas transfers now suiting up for Arizona State can make this game more intriguing and motivating for some on the other sideline.
One Longhorns player has also played for the Sun Devils earlier in his collegiate career, senior defensive tackle Jermayne Lole.
Many of the former Texas transfers who now play for Arizona State helped contribute to the Sun Devils winning the Big 12 Championship and making the Playoff for the first time in program history.
Here are four former Longhorns players that Texas will face in the second round of the Playoff against Arizona State on New Year's Day in Atlanta in the Peach Bowl.
Prince Dorbah, EDGE
A couple of former Longhorns transfers have contributed as key starters on the defensive side of the ball for Arizona State this season. Redshirt senior edge rusher Prince Dorbah has emerged as a productive pass rusher and a reliable run stopper setting the edge for Arizona State's defensive front seven.
Dorbah, a former four-star recruit from Highland Park (TX) High School in Dallas who signed with the Longhorns in the 2020 class, has three tackles for loss, two sacks, 17 QB pressures, and three run stuffs.
Arizona State has two former blue-chip Texas EDGE recruits, including Dorbah, along their defensive front this season. High-four-star EDGE recruit from Louisiana, J'mond Tapp, transferred from Texas to Arizona State last offseason. Tapp has played sparsely in two defensive snaps in Week 3 against Texas State.