Arizona State football loses a nail biter to Colorado

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State football welcomed Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes to town for the sixth game of the 2023 season. Coming into the night the Devils had lost their last 8 games to FBS opponents, Southern Utah is FCS. The last game the Devils won was against these very Buffaloes last season.

Arizona State football falls to Colorado

It was a scorcher for the 3:30 p.m. local kickoff. The National Weather Service had it forecasted at 100 degrees at kickoff.

ASU got the ball first and came out as hot as the Tempe sun. Quarterback Trenton Bourguet led the Devils on a nine-play, 66-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown. The drive was highlighted by a 15-yard catch by Elijhah Badger and a 27-yard grab by Troy Omiere.

In the end, Trenton Bourguet ran it into the end zone for a two-yard touchdown.

Neither Jalin Conyers nor Cameron Skattebo played a snap on the Sun Devils’ opening drive, despite warming up for the game.

With the early touchdown, the ASU defense fed off the momentum and got their day started strong. Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was pressured by multiple defenders and threw the ball away. The pass was initially ruled incomplete but upon further inspection, it was called intentional grounding. 

Colorado would not recover from the penalty and would wind up with a three-and-out on their first drive of the game.

The words three-and-out would turn into the “words of the day” as the game moved along.

Coming off of the touchdown, the ASU offense would look to put some major pressure on the Buffaloes and see if they could punch it in the endzone.

Unfortunately, the ASU offense did the opposite of scoring on their second drive.

Arizona State was unable to convert on a third and four from their own 33 and would punt the ball away, with a quick three-and-out.

Colorado strikes back

After a disappointing first drive for Colorado, they went back to their bread and butter to get things going.

Sheduer Sanders went back to the air and fired off multiple medium-range throws to get Colorado into ASU territory within just a few plays.

Colorado was subsequently stopped on the ASU 29, but that did not deter head coach Deion Sanders from keeping the offense on the field.

Deion elected to go for it on fourth and eighth from the ASU 29. Sheduer completed a pass to Dylan Edwards for a gain of 15 and; more importantly a first down for Colorado.

Colorado continued its slow yet methodical march down the field. Once again, the ASU defense got Colorado to a fourth-down situation but this time it was from their own one-yard line. To no surprise, Deion went for it and Sanders handed off to receiver Xavier Weaver for a Buffaloes touchdown. 

The Buffaloes’ drive lasted 16 plays and spanned almost six minutes, easily one of their longest offensive drives of the season.

As clouds began to cover the field, both offenses simultaneously cooled down.

Defensive face-off

As mentioned earlier, three and out would become the “word of the day” and that would become prevalent in the second quarter. After the Colorado touchdown, four straight collective drives ended in three and outs.

While both offenses did slow down it cannot be overlooked how well both the Colorado and ASU defenses played. Over the course of those collective drives, both offenses only gained a total of 17 yards (13 for Colorado and 4 for ASU). 

After seemingly no action at the end of the first quarter and the first half of the second quarter things finally picked up again before the half.

The second quarter

After a field position battle, ASU received the ball all the way up on the Colorado 40-yard line. With Conyers and Skattebo finally beginning to get their legs under them, the ASU offense began to hum.

The first two plays set the tone of the drive. Tevin White ran for a quick gain of six yards and Bourguet responded with a quick pass to Badger for a gain of 11.

One blink and ASU was already in Buffaloes territory threatening before the half.

ASU continued their blistering pace with yet another quick first down after Bourguet scrambled and gained 11. After a quick start to the drive, the offense hit the brakes and had to settle down the pace.

As soon ASU looked as though they would march right down the field they faced a third and seven on the Colorado 23. Bourguet threw a great pass to Melquan Stovall to move the sticks and keep the drive going.

After a rollercoaster drive, Cam Skattebo punched it in with a one-yard rushing touchdown of his own.

What seemed to be a quick ASU drive turned into a nine-play, 59-yard touchdown drive.

After the Devil’s touchdown, the high-octane pace picked up right where it left off in the first quarter.

Offensive success to end the half

Prior to the end of the half, both offenses put on a display of action. Shedeur Sanders led Colorado on a nine-play, 81-yard drive to lead the Buffaloes back into the game before the break. The drive was highlighted by a catch by Jimmy Horn Jr. for a gain of 24.

In the end, Shedeur Sanders showed off his legs on a third and 16 scrambling out of the pocket and punching it into the endzone to tie it.

On the ensuing kickoff, Michael Matus returned it to the Colorado 22, but Bishop Thomas for Colorado was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. 

Arizona State football now had the ball on their own 37-yard line with 50 seconds left to play and two timeouts in hand. ASU immediately began firing the ball down the field to try and salvage something before the half.

Bourguet fired off two deep shots, a 22-yard completion to Guillory and a 14-yard completion to Skattebo. In addition to the deep shots, Bourguet added a run of his own gaining 12 to put ASU inside the Colorado redzone.

The Sun Devils would wind up settling for a 33-yard field goal courtesy of Dario Longhetto.

Going into the half ASU seemingly had all the momentum leading 17-14. Despite having the lead, ASU fans know that the Devils have a history of struggling in the second half and that was no different today.

Sluggish second-half starts

Both offenses came crawling out of the locker room both punting on every single one of their third-quarter possessions. 

In total, Colorado only amassed 83 yards in the third quarter while ASU amassed just 49 yards.

While the yards in the third quarter were low, that turned into a very high-octane and exciting fourth-quarter battle for the win.

Fourth quarter fireworks

Sheduer Sanders and the Buffaloes got the ball via an ASU punt to begin the fourth quarter and looked to shake off the offensive cobwebs of the third quarter.

With the ball on the ASU 22 after a few quick passes, Anthony Hankerson began to make his presence known in the run game. Hankerson ripped off a 13-yard run to put the Buffaloes in a goal-to-go situation and take the lead.

In the end, Sanders tossed a nine-yard touchdown pass to Javon Antonio. Antonio had not seen much to this point but made a play when it counted most.

From then on, ASU’s history of second-half woes began to settle into reality once again.

On the next two Arizona State offensive possessions they amassed zero points. The Sun Devils did not even get the ball into the red zone. One drive ended in a punt and the other was a 51-yard field goal that was blocked. 

The Devils had two excellent opportunities to tie or even take the lead and flustered both times.

On the other hand, the Colorado offense took advantage of every opportunity that ASU gave them down the stretch.

After the 62-yard touchdown drive on their ensuing possession, Sanders led yet another drive down the field, this time ending in a field goal. In a matter of just 4:19 of game time, Colorado scored 10 points and took what seemed to be a commanding lead down the stretch.

Despite the fourth-quarter struggles, the Arizona State offense did not go down without a fight.

Bourguet leads Arizona State football on a late fourth-quarter drive

Starting from their own six-yard line and needing a touchdown Bourguet had quite the task in front of him. Despite the challenge that faced him Bourguet led one of the best drives of his career. 

After multiple short passes which turned into six 10-yard gains, the offense needed chunk plays and Bourguet delivered.

On a first and 10 from their own 18, Bourguet fired a dime to Badger for a gain of 30 putting ASU at midfield and giving them a serious chance to strike and tie the game.

After a few more short passes, ASU found itself all the way on the Colorado 30-yard line with just 1:30 left in the game.

With just 50 seconds left, Bourguet fired one into the endzone that was caught by Troy Omeire to tie the game at 24.

It looked like the game would be headed for overtime, but Colorado had other ideas.

On the first play of the Buffaloes’ possession, Sanders fired a deep ball that would be caught by Antonio for a gain of 43.

Colorado was already on the ASU 32 in the blink of an eye.

After a few surprising passing plays Colorado set up for a 43-yard field goal for the win. Alejandro Mata booted one right through the uprights to give the Buffaloes the win late.

Despite the Devils’ best efforts, Colorado scratched and clawed late to give themselves a big road win at a sold-out Mountain America Stadium.

Looking ahead for Arizona State football

For Arizona State football, they fall to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in PAC 12 play.

Next week is an off week for ASU then they will hit the road to Seattle, Washington to take on the Washington Huskies.

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