Five takeaways from Colorado's narrow road win over Arizona State
Tony Cosolo
If you bet the over on the Colorado Buffaloes’ season win total of 3.5, you’ve made some money. The Buffs weathered a constant Arizona State Sun Devils pass rush and some bad special teams play on Saturday to leave the Grand Canyon State with a 27-24 win.
The game wasn’t pretty, but as it usually does, Las Vegas got the spread almost perfectly right, even after
I begged to bet the over all week. After it was all said and done, CU moved to 4-2 and took an essential step toward bowl eligibility.
Here are my takeaways from
Colorado’s first Pac-12 win under head coach Deion Sanders:
Colorado was too pass happy once again
Syndication: Arizona Republic
Colorado had 30 rushing attempts compared to 42 passing attempts. When you look deeper, Buffaloes running backs had 18 of those rushing attempts, Xavier Weaver had one that resulted in a touchdown and the other 11 were courtesy of Shedeur Sanders — either from scrambles on passing plays or via sacks. CU did not stay committed to the run, which was surprising because last week’s star, Anthony Hankerson, was efficient. Hankerson had 58 yards on 10 carries.
Can I have some more of that second half pass rush?
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Colorado’s defense had five sacks on the night, all coming in the second half. The coaching staff rolled out new wrinkles that finally allowed the heat to get turned up on Trenton Bourguet. LaVonta Bentley and Myles Slusher attacked from the edge, allowing the rush ends to have more one-on-one matchups.
Another new weapon showed up on offense
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Saturday was Javon Antonio’s turn as the featured weapon for Shedeur Sanders. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound monster had five catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. I expect to see Antonio used more in the red zone moving forward as his slant route is darn near impossible to cover.
Special teams is hit or miss right now
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Let’s get the positives out of the way first. The coverage units had a good night and didn’t allow much room for returns. Xavier Weaver had a great return that set up the Buffs for a field goal. Oh, and Mata don’t miss.
What is going on with kickoffs, though? I can’t remember the last time a team kicked the ball out of bounds twice. CU also allowed ASU to score after a personal foul penalty on a kickoff. Colorado needs to figure out what direction it wants to go in on special teams and ride it out for the rest of the year. The rotation seems to be hurting everyone except Mata.
Colorado is money in the second half
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The first half looked ugly at times for Colorado. Shedeur Sanders was under constant pressure and the defense allowed 17 points. As per usual, CU flipped the script in the second half, outscoring ASU 13-7. The defense was night and day different. I am still hoping for a game where the Buffaloes put it together for 60 minutes, but until that happens, I can live with showing up in crunch time.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders talks to his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, during a game against Arizona State on Oct. 7, 2023.Getty Images
Deion Sanders argues with an official during Colorado’s game against Arizona State on Oct. 7, 2023.AP
