Arizona State (1-5, 0-3 Pac-12) tried to initiate their own ‘I believe’ mentality against Colorado (4-2, 1-2) Saturday at Mountain America Stadium. The Sun Devils, unlike most of its games, kept the score close deep into the fourth quarter before falling to the Buffaloes 27-24.
A spotlighted Colorado squad led by first-year head coach Deion Sanders came to Tempe trying to bounce back from two straight conference losses against top 25 teams. ASU, still seeking its first Power Five victory of the season, has endured close losses versus USC and Cal in the last two weeks and felt encouraged by those performances coming into this matchup.
Arizona State felt that it could exploit the Buffaloes’ main weakness, a porous defensive unit, as for the first time this season they scored a touchdown on an opening drive. Quarterback Trenton Bourguet distributed the ball to wide receivers Troy Omeire and Elijhah Badger as underneath crossers on a drive that ended with the ASU signal caller running it in for a touchdown. Bourguet completed 32 of 49 passes for 335 yards and a touchdown, involving ten different receivers.
“Trenton was just a distributor,” ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “Our guys were feeling the zones and getting open on some option routes, which is a positive.”
Colorado would tie the game at seven in the first quarter on their second drive as Xavier Weaver rushed for a one-yard touchdown, but the Sun Devils did not make it easy. In the first quarter alone, the Sun Devils recorded two sacks against a Colorado offensive line that has struggled with pass protection. ASU EDGE Prince Dorbah was responsible for 1.5 of those sacks accompanied by defensive tackle Anthonie Cooper on the other half a sack.
After the Colorado score and into the second quarter, both teams exchanged two punts before ASU would strike again to take the lead. Bourguet found wide receiver Melquan Stovall over underneath across again while rushing for an 11-yard gain setting up a red zone situation. After a four-yard completion to wide receiver Andre Johnson was ruled short of the goal line, running back Cam Skattebo proceeded to punch it in and have his team once again in front 14-7.
One drive for each team later, Colorado would respond in what looked like a dogfight thus far with about three minutes left in the first half. Colorado marched down the field assisted by a 24-yard completion between quarterback Shedeur Sanders who was 26-42 for 239 yards and two total touchdowns, and wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. On third-and-10 from the ASU 16, Sanders rushed in for a touchdown tying the game at 14 with 50 seconds left in the half.
Thanks to a Buffalo unsportsmanlike penalty, ASU began their last drive of the half on their own 37-yard line and marched 48 yards setting up a 33-yard Dario Longhetto field goal which gave Arizona State a 17-14 halftime lead.
“I think coach Dillingham and (offensive coordinator) coach (Beau) Baldwin do a great job of game planning”, Bourguet remarked. “Just trying to find ways to have explosives (plays) as an offense, not just relying on one guy on a certain play.”
Both teams neutralized each other, rendering a scoreless third quarter. Yet, a late drive in that frame by the visitors produced a seven-play, 61-yard drive culminating in a nine-yard touchdown by Sanders to Javon Antonio putting Colorado ahead 21-17 with 14:32 left in the in the game. Momentum stayed on the visitors’ side as Weaver returned a punt from Ian Hershey 51 yards to the ASU 25-yard line. The Sun Devil defense held the Buffaloes to a field goal from 42 yards out, and with a score of 24-17 in favor of Colorado, ASU was still in striking distance to tie or win the game.
“The defense did a great job of getting the ball back for us offensively”, Bourguet commented. “We were able to drive up and down the field the whole game, didn’t capitalize the way we wanted to, but the defense did a great job of keeping it a low-scoring game.”
Colorado’s 295 total yards of offense was their lowest output of the year in a win and second-lowest overall through six games.
The following drive for the Sun Devils ended in a blocked field goal for Longhetto from 52 yards, his first miss of the year, as the block by Colorado’s Carter Stoutmire gave his team the ball with 6:32 left and a chance to distance themselves on the scoreboard. Yet, a seven-play drive yields just 21 yards, courtesy of some more fine performance by the ASU defense, handing the ball to the offense with 3:26 left yet needing to travel 96 yards to tie the game.
Bourguet effectively navigated the team down the field, finding Badger for a 30-yard completion, completing two passes to Skattebo and wide receiver Gio Sanders for a first down, and Skattebo converted a fourth-and-2.
Bourguet, on second down, would try to find Sanders on the near side-line, but it was eventually called incomplete. The saving grace of the referees calling a pass interference on Colorado, making it first-and-10 at the Colorado 15-yard line. The following play, Bourguet threw a fade route to Omeire for a 15-yard touchdown, knotting the score at 24 with 50 seconds left.
Shedeur Sanders said after the game that the Sun Devils left too much time on the clock and needed just one play after the ASU kickoff to find tight end Javon Antonio for a 43-yard completion, followed by a 7-yard connection with him. Colorado kicker Alejandro Mata converted from 43 yards out with 18 seconds left to register the final score.
“When it clicks, we’re playing winning football,” Dillingham noted. “But we're not winning, which means we’re very, very close…When it clicks, we're ready for it because we're playing significantly better football than we did at the start of the year.”
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