Colorado Buffaloes football primer: Scouting Arizona State
The CU Buffs head into Week 9 trying to get things back on track after a 42-9 road loss to Oregon State, bringing Colorado to 1-6 on the season and 1-1 under interim head coach Mike Sanford.
They’ll have a chance to do that back at Folsom Field against a struggling Arizona State team that has gone through some turmoil of its own this season.
The Sun Devils (2-5, 1-3 Pac-12) came into the season with the cloud of an NCAA investigation over them, assistant coaches finding their way out of Tempe, the loss of electric quarterback Jayden Daniels to LSU and not much optimism within the program.
When the season actually arrived, things didn’t get better.
A four-game losing streak sandwiched in between wins over Northern Arizona and Washington led to then-head coach Herm Edwards finding his way out of town in the middle of it, and ASU reverted back to its losing ways last week.
ASU lost 15-14 at Stanford last Saturday in a game that was emblematic of its struggles this season. The Sun Devils moved the ball well at times but quarterback Emory Jones, who may be benched in favor of Trenton Bourguet agains the Buffs, threw an interception when they were driving up 14-6.
The Sun Devils never could extend their lead, costing them on their way to a loss against the struggling Cardinal.
ASU has one of the most inefficient offenses in the Pac-12, ranking 11th in the conference in total offense on the season. Jones hasn’t inspired confidence at QB, throwing only five touchdowns and four interceptions on the season. In the six full games Jones has played this year, he has only put up an average of 215 passing yards per game.
One area where ASU could pose a challenge, though, is in the run game. The Sun Devils rank sixth in the conference with 135 rushing yards per game, most of that coming from Xazavian Valladay. With his seven touchdowns and 642 yards on the year, he’s where most of the ASU offensive attack should come from on Saturday.
If Colorado can slow down Valladay and Daniyel Ngata, a sophomore who’s looked impressive when given carries, they Buffws should have a decent chance at coming out of their Homecoming game with a victory — a rather popular prediction from the Pac-12 college wires staffs.
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Three defensive keys for the CU Buffs' Homecoming Game vs. ASU
