The University of Colorado Buffaloes (5-2, 3-1 Pac-12) put on an offensive clinic against the Arizona State Sun Devils (5-2, 2-2 Pac-12) in their 40-16 win.
Colorado welcomed back senior quarterback Sefo Liufau. After injuring himself against Michigan in the third week of the season, Liufau has handed starting duties to freshmen Steven Montez. The team may have performed well with Montez, but Saturday night was all about Liufau.
The Buffs did almost anything they wanted to against the Arizona State defense. Defending against the pass isn’t the Sun Devils’ strong suit, but Colorado didn’t even have to attack through the air. Arizona State had the fifth-best rushing defense coming into this week. Tonight’s result points to the contrary, as ASU allowed 315 yards on the ground to the Buffs.
Junior running back Phillip Lindsay led the way with 219 yards, while adding three scores. No matter what the Buffs did in the running game, ASU was unable to come up with an answer. This comes just seven days after Lindsay was stymied for only 57 yards against Southern California.
“I’m more excited that we’re able to move the ball as a team, efficiently,” Lindsay said. On the other side of the ball, the Buffs engaged in complete domination. CU’s pass rush got after quarterback Manny Wilkins with reckless abandon. He was taken down five times.
Pass defense has been Colorado’s specialty this season, but Arizona State may have been a turning point in stopping the run game. The team only had 50 rushing yards on 28 attempts. Except for a 37-yard run, the Buffs did not allow any major damage on the ground.
After allowing 190 yards to USC, this comes as a welcome turnaround. It’s unlikely that Colorado will have this much success in the future, but if they can improve on their past few performances, this team will be able to stack up against a lot of tough opponents. Colorado will travel to California to face Stanford (4-2, 2-2 Pac-12) 0n Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. (MST).
