Live updates: Washington takes 28-21 lead over Texas on opening ...

Alabama and Michigan put on a physical display in the Rose Bowl, a 27-20 Wolverines victory in the first of two national semifinals to set up next Monday's College Football Playoff championship game with the winner of tonight's Sugar Bowl. It's No. 2 Washington (13-0) against No. 3 Texas (12-1). The Longhorns are favored by 3½ points.

Follow this thread throughout tonight's game for live updates, scoring plays and analysis:

There's 7:44 left in the third quarter, and Washington leads Texas 31-21.

The Huskies made Texas pay for CJ Baxter's fumble, though the Longhorns stuffed a third-and-3 play from the 7-yard line for a 2-yard loss thanks to a stop from Ethan Burke and Byron Murphy II. On fourth-and-5 from the 9, Washington coach Kalen DeBoer, who gave up three points in the first half by unsuccessfully going for it on fourth-and-short from the 14, opted for the field goal, a 26-yarder from Grady Gross.

Michael Penix Jr.'s numbers: 18-of-21 for 330 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Texas' first big mistake of the night has the Longhorns in a precarious position.

CJ Baxter lost the ball as he was going down after a run, and the Huskies recovered it on Texas' 33-yard line with 10:14 left in the third quarter, already leading 28-21.

Washington got the ball to start the second half and made quick work of its opening drive, driving 70 yards on eight plays culminating with a 19-yard dart from Michael Penix Jr. Jalen McMillan between two defenders in the end zone. Penix was 6-of-6 on the drive.

It's 28-21 with 10:30 left in the third quarter.

Washington ran out the clock, and it's a 21-21 tie at haltime.

The Huskies will get the ball to start the second half.

Some thoughts:

∙ Texas looks off on offense. Yes, it's 21-21, but the Longhorns have gotten a couple of breaks on a fumbled punt return that set up a touchdown on offense and a defensive stop on back-to-back third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 tries from Washington at UT's 14-yard line.

∙ Xavier Worthy: 1 catch for 7 yards. Adonai Mitchell: no catches. Ja'Tavion Sanders: 3 catches for 19 yards. Those are Texas' three biggest targets in the passing game with four combined catches for 26 yards.

∙ Washington has outgained Texas, 305 yards to 213.

∙ Michael Penix Jr. is 11-of-14 for 255 yards and a touchdown. He's looked very solid with a great deep touch. Quinn Ewers, however, is 9-of-18 for 97 yards. And he's coming off a career game in the Big 12 championship game.

∙ CJ Baxter and Jaydon Blue have combined for 77 yards on 11 carries; Baxter is averaging 7.6 yards a carry and has scored a touchdown and Blue is averaging 6 yards a carry and has scored a touchdown. And Ewers has 36 yards on five carries, including one keeper for 21. We haven't seen him run this freely since the first half of the season.

There's 17 seconds left till halftime, and Texas has tied Washington for the third time tonight. It's a 21-21 game after CJ Baxter's 3-yard touchdown run.

Quinn Ewers engineered the 10-play, 72-yard drive that took only 1:03. Ja'Tavion Sanders converted a heady first down by stretching for a first down after a catch near the 40, and on a key third-and -1 from the 29, Ewers kept it and found some room over the middle for a big 21-yard gain. The Huskies were flagged for a late hit at the end of the play as Ewers was sliding, and it set Texas up at Washington's 3 with 20 seconds left.

There's 1:27 left in the first half, and Washington has taken a 21-14 lead on Michael Penix Jr.'s 29-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Lynn Polk, a pass that was tipped up by Longhorns cornerback Malik Muhammad but Polk was able to come up with in the end zone.

There's 6:59 left in the first half, and Texas just stuffed Washington on a fourth-and-1 gamble at the Longhorns' 14-yard line. It's still a 14-14 game.

Michael Penix Jr. connected on his second long gainer of the game, this one a perfectly placed 52-yard pass to Rome Odunze, who was covered tightly by Ryan Watts. But David Gbenda made a big stop on third-and-1 at the 14, and Byron Murphy II, who scored the offensive touchdown on Texas' last drive, stuffed Dillon Johnson on fourth-and-1.

Texas will take over at its own 14.

Penix, who finished runner-up in this year's Heisman Trophy vote, is 6-of-8 for 190 yards to start out tonight.

Washington stopped Texas on its drive, but then committed the first major mistake of the game when Germie Bernard fumbled a punt return and Texas; Morice Blackwell Jr. recovered it at the Huskies' 22-yard line.

That set up Texas' second touchdown, and it's now a 14-14 game with 10:08 left in the half.

CJ Baxter had a 9-yard gain, then rattled off 8 yards though that play was nullified by a Ja'Tavion Sanders illegal shift penalty. But Jordan Whittington gained 17 yards on a slant to the 1-yard line, and defensive tackle Byron Murphy II, lined up in the backfield, bulled in for the short touchdown run. It's Murphy's second offensive touchdown of the season.

There's 13:08 left in the second quarter and Washington has taken a 14-7 lead on Dillon Johnson's 1-yard touchdown run. Johnson may be averaging just 1.4 yards a carry on his first seven runs, but two of them have been short touchdowns.

We're heading into the second quarter. It's a 7-7 game and Washington is driving. The Huskies will open the second quarter with a second-and-7 at Texas' 23-yard line.

Quinn Ewers is 2-of-6 for 38 yards, CJ Baxter has 71 total yards and Jaydon Blue has scored a short touchdown run to pace Texas. For Washington, Michael Penix Jr. has produced a pair of impressive throws: his 77-yard strike to Ja'Lynn Polk and a 29-yard dart to Germie Bernard. He also connected to an open Rome Odunze for 24 yards over the middle.

There's 2:34 left in the first quarter. It's still a 7-7 game after Texas and Washington have exchanged punts.

Washington went three-and-out on its drive, as Texas edge rusher Ethan Burke had back-to-back stops, one an open-field tackle on a pass play, followed by a stop for no gain on second down. And the Longhorns' drive was spoiled by a pair of mistakes from right tackle Christian Jones, who was beaten for a sack at the front end of the drive and wiped out a 20-yard pass to CJ Baxter on third-and-17 at the end of it.

Texas has answered Washington's touchdown with a touchdown of its own, a 5-yard scoring run from Jaydon Blue to make it 7-7 with 7:06 left.

It was a 75-yard drive for the Longhorns. It was Blue's third touchdown of the season.

The key play was a heads-up one from Quinn Ewers, who spun in the pocket and got rid of the ball quickly when confronted with a Washington rusher. CJ Baxter picked up the pass and scampered for 31 yards to the 25.

Baxter's off to a good start: 2 carries for 29 yards and he 31-yard catch that set up the score.

There's 11:04 left in the first quarter, and Washington is leading 7-0.

Michael Penix Jr. threw a 77-yard strike to Ja'Lynn Polk down to the 2-yard line, and Dillon Johnson followed up with a short run right up the middle, taking on Michael Taaffe at the goal line. It was an 89-yard drive for the Huskies.

One early observation: the expected top matchup between Washington's offensive line, which won the Joe Moore Award as college football's best front line, and Texas' defensive line, which features Outland Trophy winner T'Vondre Sweat, looks as good as advertised.

Texas got the ball first, and ended up having to punt.

CJ Baxter broke off a 16-yard run, but that was the only highlight of the drive. Quinn Ewers has started out 0-for-4 with a couple of misfires.

We've got our regular Longhorns crew of beat writers Danny Davis and Thomas Jones and columnists Kirk Bohls and Cedric Golden in place at the Superdome. Here's how they're picking tonight's game:

Kirk Bohls: Texas 38, Washington 35 — I truly think Washington may have a false sense of complacency because it beat Texas in its home state in last year’s Alamo Bowl. Mindset is everything in college football, and the Huskies might be overlooking the fact the Longhorns were without Bijan Robinson, Roschon Johnson and DeMarvion Overshown and had an injured Xavier Worthy. That may be the type of advantage Texas needs to beat Washington and advance to the championship game.

Danny Davis: Texas — Five years after its last trip to New Orleans, Texas will be playing a team that actually wants to be in the Sugar Bowl but I think the results will be the same. Texas has enough offensive talent to win a shootout and move onto the national championship game.

More: Well, is Texas indeed back? Five years later, this Sugar Bowl means so much more

Cedric Golden: Texas 42, Washington 38 — Contrary to the 2018 Sugar Bowl, Texas football is back and the Longhorns will actually prove it with a showstopper of a win over Washington. Texas is the most complete team in the playoff field and will live up to that talent against the best team it has faced this season.

Thomas Jones: Washington 41, Texas 38 — I agree that Texas is the most complete team in the CFP, but its one glaring flaw — a questionable pass defense — could be exposed by what the Huskies do better than anyone in the country. Both teams ring in the new year with an offensive showcase, and the Huskies and star QB Michael Penix Jr. make the last possession of the game count.

The winner of tonight's Sugar Bowl will face top-seeded Michigan in next Monday's CFP championship game. The Wolverines beat Alabama 27-20 in overtime in the Rose Bowl.

Michigan's Blake Corum scored from 12 yards out in the top half of the opening overtime to make it 27-20. Alabama answered with a short pass for no gain and a big run from Jalen Milroe to get to the 10, but Milroe was sacked for a big loss on second down, forcing a third-and-goal from the 14.

Milroe completed a pass to Jermaine Burton, but Burton was stopped at the 3. On the critical fourth-and-goal, after a pair of dueling timeouts, Milroe was stuffed on a quarterback keeper up the middle out of the shotgun — all with Texas and Washington waiting to get started in New Orleans.

Now it's the Sugar Bowl's turn.

Michigan stopped Alabama on the Crimson Tide's final drive, forcing a punt with 44 seconds left, and then near disaster struck for the Wolverines. The punt returner bumbled the punt return at the 5, then recovered it inside the 1 with 44 seconds left.

But the Wolverines got out of the situation, and the Rose Bowl is going into overtime. It's 20-20 at the end of regulation.

"There's about 30 minutes to kickoff in New Orleans. The winner of this Texas-Washington game will face the winner of the Michigan-Alabama game in next week's title game in Houston. The Longhorns, of course, handed the Crimson Tide their only loss of the season in the 26-16 win in Tuscaloosa on Sept. 9.

Or it could be Michigan. The Wolverines are threatening to put the Rose Bowl into overtime; they just scored a late touchdown to make it a 20-20 game in Pasadena. The Crimson Tide will have 1:34 left for a game-winning drive. Otherwise, they'll go into extra time.

The Longhorns are wearing their road whites tonight, by the way.