Boulder, CU – The Colorado offense continued to struggle on Saturday. Even with a promising third quarter, the Buffaloes ended their Pac-12 conference opener with a 35-13 loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils.
This was the first time the Buffs dropped their conference opener since 2017.
Colorado was coming into the game with only 63 total yards of offense and fresh off a 0-30 loss to Minnesota. The Buffaloes started their game against ASU making Pac-12 history, but not in a good way.
CU reached 24 consecutive possessions without scoring, which was the longest streak in conference history. Fortunately for the Buffs, Cole Becker had a successful field goal attempt and got three points on the board before the second quarter was over.
By halftime ASU had a 14-3 lead, but the Colorado offense stepped up early in the third quarter. Alex Fontenot rushed for 1 yard and Becker’s kick attempt was good. With the score at 14-10, it seemed like things were turning around for the Buffs, until ASU replied with a touchdown before this period was over.
“We talked about that all week, that was kind of the message this week. I didn’t want us to play cautious. I wanted us to play free and not tight and not worried about making a penalty or making a mistake.” said ASU coach Herm Edwards.
The fourth quarter saw a Sun Devil touchdown less than a minute in, and another one with 8:30 left on the clock. Colorado struggled getting past the opponent’s defense and only managed another field goal before the game was over.
“I felt we did some really positive things in the first half, but those things were negated with the penalties and they ended up getting points,” Colorado coach Karl Dorrell said. “Those guys played hard and did some good things in the first half. The second half was a little bit of a challenge.”
By the end of the night, the ASU offense recorded a total of 439 yards, while the Buffs put up 250 yards. CU freshman quarterback Brendon Lewis threw for just 67 yards on 17 attempts. This was his third straight game with less than 100 yards.
The Buffs will try to improve their 1-3 overall record, and snap their three-game losing streak, next weekend as they host the USC Trojans on Oct. 2.
