Despite committing four turnovers defensive domination led to victory for ASU Football

(Photo: Courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)

After redshirt freshman running back Jason Brown Jr. found the endzone deep in the fourth quarter, he was met with a mob of his Arizona State football teammates on the sideline in support of his first career touchdown with time nearing its expiration date in the contest.

The sideline celebration featuring the offensive and defensive units after Jason Brown Jr.’s touchdown signaled the end of a trend seen all night — both the offense and defense being there for each other.

Anytime No. 25 ASU’s offense made a mistake, the defense was there to play clean up, and vice versa, en route to a 42-17 victory over Colorado.

Despite the lopsided score, the route to victory was anything but clean. The Sun Devils lost the turnover battle 4-1, but Colorado was held to just three points off those turnovers. ASU fumbled for three of those turnovers.

“You can’t lose the turnover battle 4-1,” Dillingham said. “You’re going to win 5% of your games, if not less.”

Luckily for ASU, this game was a part of the 5% Dillingham mentioned.

Freshman running back Demarious “Man Man” Robinson opened ASU’s turnover nightmare, as his first-quarter fumble set up Colorado’s offense at the Sun Devils’ 19-yard line. However, ASU’s defense held its ground, as just four plays later, Colorado turned the ball over on downs.

The defensive stop set the tone for the Sun Devils’ defense, so when redshirt senior quarterback Jeff Sims fumbled at their own 19-yard line, they once again prevented disaster by holding Colorado to only a field goal.

“We turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions, which you can’t do,” Dillingham said. “Especially in your own area. We gave them short fields on turnovers twice.”

Even with its own turnover faults, ASU’s offense managed to take advantage of Colorado’s lone turnover, finding the end zone as redshirt junior Raleek Brown sprinted away for an 88-yard touchdown.

“You defend [16] drives, you defend a game and three quarters. And to only give up 17 points and 300 yards in a game and three quarters is phenomenal. That defense definitely kept us in it.”

In rather familiar territory for the Sun Devils, they only led by four heading into the fourth quarter. Yet, unlike so many games this season, ASU’s engine powered over Colorado.

“We knew we could get the job done and run the ball,” redshirt junior Raleek Brown said. “It wasn’t frustrating, we just had to do the main things, focus on the little things.”

In the final 15 minutes, the Sun Devils offense found the endzone three times, while Colorado only mustered 74 yards across four possessions – equalling ASU’s worst drive of the quarter.

Beyond Jason Brown Jr.’s touchdown, the highlight of the quarter was Raleek Brown’s aforementioned 88-yard touchdown run.

Coming into Saturday’s game, the Sun Devils’ offense only had 18 plays of thirty-plus yards all season. Against Colorado, ASU totaled six, as the offense seemed to finally find its firepower.

“Week 11. Better late than never,” Dillingham said. “Hopefully we can build on that going into next week, because they’re playing really good football.”

Redshirt junior wide receiver Jordyn Tyson’s return to the field helped to ignite the offensive explosion. While his playing time was limited after missing the previous three games, his play on the field seemed like it wasn’t.

Tyson had a 42-yard reception in the first quarter, which led to ASU taking an early 3-0 lead.

“When you have a kid like that who’s battling an injury, he could shut it down,” Dillingham said. “Say, ‘I’m going to be a first-round pick,’ and he says ‘nope, I’m going to be out there for my teammates…’ It shows that we got really good kids.”

Tyson’s return wasn’t just felt on the stat sheet; it brought a vocal presence back to the locker room.

As a member of the Pat Tillman Leadership Council, Tyson delivered a speech to his teammates ahead of the game.

“It was super cool,” Dillingham said. “He talked about how this isn’t about him, this is about the team playing their best football game.”

ASU will need to continue to maintain its team unity and play its ‘best football game’ next week against Territorial Cup rival Arizona, a matchup with much more on the line than intrastate pride.

With a win, the Sun Devils may return to Arlington for the Big 12 Championship, if results in other games go ASU’s way – something Dillingham still isn’t focused on, despite being this late in the season.

“If we can play meaningful football on the last Saturday every year, I think we’re going to sell out games,” Dillingham said. “If we continue to sell out games, we’ll continue to get more investment from the university; if we get more investment from the university, we’ll continue to sell out games.”