Quinn Ewers almost committed to Arizona State.

Well, that’s at least how Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham dreamed it would turn out.

“Obviously I recruited Quinn a little bit out of high school, so I go to watch him” Dillingham said. “He doesn't even know I recruited him because I had no chance to sign him, so I never really talked to him but I watched him.”

Dillingham is a big dreamer, that’s for sure. He’s a die-hard Sun Devil and one of the few who believed his alma mater could be resurrected. To make it big, it takes big-time talent, and Dillingham believes that’s what Texas has with Ewers.

The Longhorns (12-2) were scheduled to return to practice Thursday and start full Peach Bowl preparations. Texas faces Big 12 champion Arizona State (11-2) in the College Football Playoffs quarterfinals at noon Wednesday.  

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“He's a phenomenal player. He's accurate, can extend plays, super intelligent,” Dillingham said. “One of the things that I don't think gets praised enough is smart quarterbacks that get you into good plays. When you watch him play, you see him getting them into good plays consistently, and those are the dangerous guys, the guys that when there's nine seconds left on the clock checks you into a touchdown. He does that consistently.”

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Dillingham brought up the fact that Ewers checked into two different run plays at the line of scrimmage against Clemson. Both went from potential bad plays to big touchdown runs for Jaydon Blue, one for 38 yards and another for 77.

“You can see that and you can see that the power and confidence that creates for a quarterback is huge,” Dillingham said. “He throws the ball downfield very accurately, and like I said, he makes people miss. In the pocket he's hard to bring down. His pocket awareness is really high.”

When a quarterback like Ewers can throw downfield passes outside the numbers painted onto the field, “that’s a complete eraser,” Dillingham said.

“When you can throw the ball and you have confidence throwing the ball outside the numbers of the field in single-high (safety) defense, that erases single-high defense for the most part,” Dillingham said. “He has a lot of confidence in that, and they do a lot of things to get the ball out there, which puts stress on the defense, so kudos to him.”

Ewers managed the game well in the first-round CFP win over Clemson. He completed 17 of 24 passes for 202 yards with one touchdown to Gunnar Helm and one interception. He kept the chains moving, and the offense scored touchdowns — something the Horns struggled with in the SEC championship game.

Ewers must keep it moving against ASU, too. The Devils have the nation’s 36th-best total defense and allow just 21.3 points per game.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian talked up ASU quarterback Sam Leavitt, too. He’s thrown for 2,663 yards with 24 touchdowns and only five interceptions. The Devils have tremendous ball security and rank sixth nationally in turnover margin.

“(Dillingham) trusts his guys to go make their plays,” Sarkisian said, “but at the end of the day, if you're holding on to the ball and then your quarterback makes good decisions, that's about all you can ask for, and they're getting that.”