Quinn Perry (12) faces the Gophers at the football game against Minnesota on Sept. 18, 2021. (Io Hartman/CU Independent).
On Saturday, University of Colorado football held their fourth regular-season game in a matchup that wasn’t seen last year due to a shortened season. In the Buff’s first conference game of the season, Arizona State University came out on top 35-13 as CU saw their record fall to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in Pac-12 play.
The offense continues to lack production as Colorado scored just seven first-quarter points through their first four games in 2021. After the first two-quarters of play, freshman quarterback Brendon Lewis totaled a mere 36 passing yards, 102 fewer yards than ASU quarterback Jayden Daniels. After two rushing touchdowns from Daniel’s and ASU tailback Rachaad White, the Buffaloes faced an early 14-3 deficit. Colorado head coach Karl Dorrell shared his thoughts on the progression of his freshman quarterback.
“I thought Brendon played OK,” Dorrell said. “I thought he had a couple steps of progress this week. We need to continue to bring him along, along with our passing game … I thought Brendon held the ball a couple of times that created a couple of sacks, but I thought he threw some good passes today.”
Junior tailback Alex Fontenot led the way in the backfield, as the well-known sophomore Jarek Broussard could only amass three rushing yards on seven carries in the first half. Even though Broussard was likely on his second consecutive week of being on a snap count, Fontenot had just two more carries than Broussard but gained 36 yards on the ground through the first half.
“It’s never hard to stay positive,” Fontenot said. “There’s always a new opponent, and it’s just about going into next week with a clear mindset and just doing our thing. We’re definitely going in a step in the right direction, and I see us progressing in the future.”
Having scored just three points entering the third quarter, the Buffs were ready to go out of halftime as they immediately drove down the field. Colorado’s running game seemed to succeed when Broussard opened up the drive with two rushes for 20 yards, followed by a 26 yard gain on a jet sweep by freshman wide receiver Ty Robinson. Dorrell continues to prove he can use all his weapons as Fontenot rushed four consecutive times, rewarding the former Most Improved Offensive Player Award winner with four rushes for 28 yards and a touchdown to finish the drive. Dorrell noted the improvements he saw between the first half of play and the third quarter.
“I think offensively the first half there were some struggles,” Dorrell said. “I was really encouraged that we came out of halftime with the ball, and we went down the field and scored. That was reminiscent of what we saw a year ago how we played with the running game leading the way.”
ASU quickly responded to Colorado’s offensive threat with three scores of their own, one score being a trick play that resulted in Arizona’s wide receiver executing a passing touchdown against the Buffaloes secondary. After the Buffaloes’ dominant defense allowed only 17 points after their first two games this season, defensive coordinator Chris Wilson and his unit have allowed 65 points within the last two games this season. Senior linebacker Nate Landman led the defense against ASU with ten total tackles, eight of which being solo tackles. Sophomore safety Mark Perry explained what he thinks the team needs to do to overcome the loss and look ahead to next week.
“We knew going into it they had a three-year starter at quarterback and talented skill players,” Perry said. “We just have to focus on what we’re doing, and we have to execute better. We have to keep going back to practice and improving.”
Colorado will face the University of Southern California back in their home territory at Folsom field next Saturday, Oct. 2, at noon MST.
Contact CU Independent staff writer Brett Polley at brett.polley@colorado.edu.
