(Photo: Rebecca Striffler/WCSN)
Arizona State Football’s goal in 2022 was to play for a Pac-12 Championship and appear in the Rose Bowl, which is something most Pac-12 teams aspire to do.
But as the season progressed, it became clear those aspirations may not be in ASU’s hands. With five games left in the campaign, the Sun Devils sit at 2-5, increasing the importance of every game in their bowl game hunt.
The scavenger hunt for wins continues in Boulder, as ASU will match up against the Colorado Buffaloes. Both programs find themselves in similar situations. The programs are each led by interim head coaches, who are searching for an answer at quarterback. Addiontally, each side finds itself in the bottom half of crucial statical categories.
The Sun Devils and the Buffaloes are both coming off losses in disheartening fashion and are looking for redemption. This week will be the rare instance where ASU will be favored coming in, but if they have learned anything this year, it’s not to underestimate their opponent.
“One thing we’ve learned from this season is that we got to treat everyone with respect,” sophomore defensive lineman BJ Green said. “[Colorado] is a good team. We got to take everything seriously. Their record is just like ours.”
Even against a one-win Colorado team, ASU understands it can’t look down on an opponent, especially traveling to enemy territory. The Sun Devils are winless in true road games this season and are 2-6 in the past two years. A loss in Boulder would be their fourth road losses this season, marking the first time the program accumulated four road losses games since 2001.
Colorado has won three of the last five meetings after losing the first seven, and every ASU win has come by double digits. So, if the game is close, that could favor the Buffalo, who are on a hot streak against the Sun Devils. ASU hasn’t won in Boulder since 2014, guaranteeing one streak will be broken on Saturday.
To ensure that streak is in the Sun Devils’ favor, they will need to produce better efforts on the offensive end. Coming off an embarrassing 14-point effort against a below-average Stanford defense, ASU will need to show life against Colorado, which has the third-worst scoring defense in the nation, allowing 38.7 points per game.
Buffalo’s defense against the ground game ranks 130 out of 131 teams in the FBS with 253.7 yards per game. The Sun Devils dynamic tandem of graduate running back Xazavian Valladay and redshirt sophomore Daniyel Ngata could prove valuable in the game plan.
Valladay’s power and elusiveness against a poor run defense like Colorado could signal a career night. While Ngata, who had the most carries since Week 2, could be a more vocal point on the offensive attack against a poor Buffalo defensive line.
The Buffaloes are 129th in sacks per game in the country and 122nd in sack percentage. Graduate linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo is the only player on Colorado’s depth chart that has recorded more than one sack and four tackles for losses on the season.
Poor production from the trenches will make the run game easier for ASU and could provide a clean pocket for whoever interim head coach Shaun Aguano picks to start at quarterback. Aguano reopened the quarterback competition on Monday, describing the battle as “a true open competition.” Competting for the starting role is between the two redshirt junior quarterbacks, Emory Jones and Trenton Bourguet. The decision hangs heavy over the program, but there seems to be no effect on its receiver’s preparation.
“It doesn’t do nothing for me,” graduate wide receiver Bryan Thompson said. “At the end of the day, whoever’s back there, I got a job to do in catching and scoring. So, I don’t care who’s back there, Trenton or Emory,”
Thompson’s confidence in either option allows him to focus on his play for whoever stands in the pocket. Colorado’s secondary is arguably the best position group on the defense, accumulating the third-best passing defense in the conference, allowing 219.6 yards per game.
“Colorado’s defense likes to stay off. They like to press with zero [safeties],” Thompson said. “They like to make plays in front of themselves, [and] have receivers catch the ball and then make plays in front of them.”
The press coverage will give a lot of opportunity for Sun Devil receivers to beat their man in one-on-ones. Thompson pointed out that Colorado’s playstyle enhances the chance of receivers breaking out in open space and getting yards after the catch. So, while the rushing attack for ASU will be the catalyst for whether they win or lose, don’t be surprised if a Sun Devil receiver breaks loose for a significant gain.
Colorado’s offense finds itself last in every offensive category in the Pac-12: scoring, passing yards, and total yards. However, referring back to what Green highlighted, ASU has yet to earn the right to take teams like Colorado lightly and should treat them respectfully, as their size could become overwhelming.
“They run a lot of [run pass options],” Green said. “They have a lot of big O-linemen that like to turn you. We got to play physically with our hands this week.”
The Buffalo’s run attack is by committee, relying on multiple tailbacks to carry the load. Junior running back Deion Smith leads the program with 243 yards and averages 5.3 yards per carry. Smith is nursing back to health after an injury sidelined him last week, so his reps could be limited.
Run pass options appeared heavily against ASU when they faced Stanford and looked to be in the same situation in Boulder. Junior defensive back Chris Edmonds sees a lot of similarities in the offensive game between Colorado and Stanford and is motivated to continue the defense’s success.
“I feel like it’s going to be similar to the Stanford game,” Edmonds said. “They got tall receivers. They like to take one on one shots on the sideline. So, I feel it’s going to be similar for us to play man to man, guard your man and be ready to be physical.”
The size Edmonds touched on is from 6-foot-4 senior wide receiver Daniel Arias. He leads the team with 309 yards on 19 catches, five coming from 20+ yards. Arias is a deep-ball threat for Colorado that the Sun Devils’ secondary will need to make an effort to contain. Despite Arias’ physical attributes, it doesn’t counteract the poor passing attack for Colorado.
The Buffalo passing attack is deficient because of the inexperience at quarterback. Colorado has switched back and forth between sophomore quarterback J.T. Shrout and freshman quarterback Owen McCown. Neither quarterback has been impressive in their starts and have failed to win the job.
The Buffaloes haven’t scored more than 20 points all season, while the Sun Devils have only held teams to under 30 twice this season. However, ASU showed substantial improvements on the defensive end of the ball last week, limiting Stanford to zero touchdowns. The development of the secondary, headed by redshirt sophomore Ed Woods, and the defensive line, hounded by graduate Nesta Jade-Silvera, have shown great strides in the right direction.
The hope of a bowl game for ASU is like finding a needle in a haystack, theoretically possible, but with the odds against them. However, the program will still strive towards that goal, starting in Boulder. Securing a win against Colorado puts ASU’s density in its own hands to turn around a hectic 2022 season.
