Tonight in Tempe: 222 Rushing Yards Bought Colorado a Second Chance, Now Prove It Travels Against ASU

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RF Sports Radio branded title card with Colorado Buffaloes logo: Tonight, Colorado at Arizona State

By Cam Sutton, RF Sports Radio Colorado voice

Buffs Nation, last Saturday was the night Colorado remembered how to run the football. Tonight in Tempe is the night we find out whether it was a fluke. Kickoff at Mountain America Stadium is 5:35 p.m. Mountain, 6:35 p.m. CT, on ESPN2.

The facts

Per CU Athletics, Colorado is 3-5 and 1-4 in the Big 12 after a 27-24 overtime win over Kansas State that snapped a five-game losing streak. Isaac Wilson's 11-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Williams on third-and-9 won it, the Buffs' first walk-off passing touchdown since the Miracle at Michigan in 1994. Colorado rushed for a season-high 222 yards on 43 carries. Richard Young had his first 100-yard game at CU with 24 carries for 120 yards and two touchdowns, and the fourth quarter featured 14 runs and no pass attempts. Gideon Lampron had 16 tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks, and the Buffs had a season-high five sacks.

Arizona State is 4-4 and 2-3 in the league after a 27-20 loss at BYU. The Sun Devils lead the all-time series 11-4 and are 6-2 against Colorado in Tempe, though CU won the last game there, 27-24 in 2023. Per SI's Buffs Beat, ASU averages about 29.5 points and 254.8 passing yards per game, while Colorado allows about 29.4 points per game. Young is set to start again, per Buffaloes Wire. SI's Erin Mulligan predicts Arizona State 31, Colorado 27.

RF Sports Radio's take (opinion)

My take: run it until Arizona State proves it can stop it. A 14-run fourth quarter with zero passes is not old-fashioned, it is honest. Colorado knows what it is now, and pretending otherwise on the road would be a mistake.

That also protects Wilson. The turnovers have been the story of this season, and the best way to avoid them is to keep him in manageable third downs. Get Joseph Williams a couple of shot plays off play-action and let the run game do the rest.

Defensively, Lampron has to be the best player on the field again. ASU has more passing weapons than Kansas State, and if the Buffs cannot get home with four or five rushers, a 29-point-per-game defense on the road becomes a scoreboard problem fast.

Opinion prediction: this is a one-score game, and I lean Colorado if Young touches the ball 25 times. Swagger is fine. Identity is better.

Coach Prime has always sold belief. Last week he got proof. Tonight is about turning one win into a trend before the season runs out of runway.

What to watch next

Watch Young's first-half carries, Colorado's sack total, and any turnover by either quarterback. For Friday's Tempe preview, read our Nov. 6 Tempe road-test preview, and follow the Buffs on our Colorado Football page.

Radio question: can Colorado win a road game in the Big 12 with a run-first identity, or does Arizona State's passing game force the Buffs back into a shootout?

Sources: CU Athletics - The Road Ahead: Arizona State; SI Buffs Beat - Colorado vs. Arizona State final preview and prediction; Buffaloes Wire - Richard Young to start vs. Arizona State; DNVR - Colorado vs Arizona State preview: 3 keys.

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