Texas Football: 4 reasons why UT can handily defeat UW in CFP semifinal

Texas can put up big yardage through the air vs. Washington's secondary

Washington has given up a ton of passing yards this season. The Huskies rank 11th from the bottom in the FBS this season in passing defense (263.2 pass yards per game allowed).

This secondary has also been lit up by some pretty mediocre to bad teams in the PAC-12 this season. The Utah Utes put up over 260 passing yards and two passing touchdowns without starting quarterback Cam Rising. The three-win Stanford Cardinal also put up over 360 passing yards on a 63.3 completion percentage in a closer than expected contest against Washington in late October.

Ewers and the Longhorns can put up big numbers through the air against this Washington secondary that has been subpar at times this season. Texas will have its full arsenal of weapons in the receiving corps and at tight end to gash this Washington secondary in this game.

Junior wide receiver Xavier Worthy should be back and fully recovered after dealing with an ankle injury down the stretch this season. He's been a full participant in bowl practice this week.

Junior tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders has also been a full participant in practice after he dealt with a lingering lower-body injury during the second half of the regular season. Having Worthy and Sanders fully healthy will be huge for Ewers as he looks to get the ball to his playmakers in space against a Washington secondary that could give up some big plays next week.

It's also noteworthy that Ewers has looked increasingly good in the last few games since he returned from the shoulder injury on Nov. 11 in the win over TCU. Ewers got better each week. He had a career performance with a record-breaking 452 passing yards and four passing touchdowns while completing over 76 percent of his passes in the Big 12 title game against Oklahoma State.