By John Meylor and Aniket Prabhu
University of Colorado’s Folsom Field Ahead of Kickoff at Folsom Field(Aniket Prabhu | Radio 1190 News)
The Colorado Buffaloes limp out of their second bye week 3-7 and stand against the hearty 7-3 Arizona State Sun Devils, arriving fresh off a victory against West Virginia last week and looking to stay alive in the race for the Big 12 Conference Championship. Colorado Head Coach Deion Sanders and true Freshman Quarterback Julian Lewis continue to face the future as they attempt to build momentum in Lewis’ first home collegiate start. For more from Colorado’s final Men’s Football home game of the season, stay tuned for updates.
1st Quarter 13:35: Arizona State’s first drive is characterized by a defensive stand by Colorado’s defensive interior line, with Arizona State looking to build on their ground game yet getting a minimal gain of 2 for #3 Running Back Raleek Brown followed by him getting stood up right as he received a carry on 2nd &8 for a loss of 4. The ensuing 3rd &12 for Backup Quarterback #2 Jeff Sims who has been called upon the absence of Star Quarterback Sam Leavitt who suffered a season ending injury a couple weeks ago was an incomplete pass down the logo, good coverage from the CU secondary.
1st Quarter 12:07: 3 and out for Colorado. #10 Quarterback Julian Lewis had a great scramble to his right on 2nd down trying to complete a pass down the sideline to a sprinting Omarion Miller who seemed to have worried about staying in bounds to where he lost concentration and dropped the ball. On 3rd & 8 there were no viable options downfield but due to Julian Lewis’s relatively smaller frame he was unable to slip past the line of scrimmage.
[Q1 7:49] Arizona State’s subsequent drive is marked by a stuttering offense, where an explosive play by WR Jordyn Tyson [#0] for 42 yards is sandwiched in between anemic offense from the Sun Devils. Once ASU found themselves on CU’s end of the field, the Buffalo secondary forced 3 incompletions leading to a 39 yard field goal from ASU K Jesus Gomez [#35]. Colorado’s next offensive series is an immediate dead end, with a 3-and-out and punt from P Damon Greaves [#35] putting Arizona State on its own 22 yard line. ASU leads 3-0.
[Q1 4:32] ASU QB Sims still finds himself unable to move the ball down the field, with a crucial 3rd down deep ball intended for WR Tyson broken up by Buffalo CB Ivan Yates [#29], ending the possession quickly. For the Colorado offense the third verse is the same as the first with a drive lasting less than a minute generating -4 yards and an immediate punt to Arizona State. The Colorado defense then continues its strong night by forcing a turnover on the second play of the next drive, with DE Keaten Wade [#27] recovering a fumble at the ASU 22 yard line. Colorado’s ball with a short field. ASU still leads 3-0.
[Q1 3:08] Colorado somehow fails to retaliate following the turnover. In 3 plays WR/HB #6 Dre’lon Miller gets 9 yards in a mix of runs and catches but Coach Sanders opts to go for a hurry up quarterback sneak which on paper fooled nobody and at best made it back to the line of scrimmage, resulting in a turnover of downs.
[Q1 1:50] 3 and out for Arizona State. Other than the connection with Jordyn Tyson, Sims has failed to connect with his wide receivers and deadball false starts have really dented away at their playbook and lead to more conservative playcalls.
[Q1 0:03] Running Back #29 Micah Welch dashes on a sweep down the left sideline untouched largely in part by a masterfully executed block by Omarion Miller, finally get pushed out of bounds at the Arizona State 18 yard line for a gain of 39 yards. The more physical running back out of the 1-2 punch #7 Dallas Hayden a few plays later walked into the endzone with ease through the left guard for a 7 yard run. Placekicker #16 Alejandro Mata converts the extra point. Colorado takes the lead at 7-3.
[Q2 10:23] Colorado’s defense continues to suffocate QB Sims and the Arizona State offense consistently laying pressure throughout the drive, but a 25 yard completion to WR Malik McClain [#12] and a feathery connection between P Kanyon Floyd [#31] to Blazen Lono-Wong [#97] on a fake punt allows the offense to progress to the redzone. The effort is ultimately nullified by a turnover on downs deep in Colorado territory, with QB Sims unable to find the open man. Colorado leads 7-3
[Q2 3:19] Following the valiant stand from their defense, Colorado’s offense can’t quite find its groove, with a short drive resulting in their fourth punt of the game. Despite the lead, QB Lewis has found himself struggling in the game thusfar, completing just 5 passes on 11 attempts for a measly 23 yards. ASU’s offense shifted into a quicker, more physical gear on the next drive. Three consecutive plays of 10+ yards to begin the drive appeared to swing the momentum, and a 33 yard touchdown pass to RB Brown on a 4th & 2 put Arizona State right back out front. ASU leads 10-7.
[Q2 1:42] CU gets to the Arizona State 38 yard line but ends up turning it over on downs, unable to connect with Omarion Miller multiple times and then sacked on 4th & 6 despite having ample time in the pocket.
[Q2 1:35] Sims gifts the ball right back to CU on the first play of the drive, with pressure in his face he overthrows a lob to Raleek Brown to a leaping #13 Safety John Slaughter who has his 2nd interception with the Buffs in back to back games, with CU as a Sophomore. Important to note he’s playing due to a massive hole in the Colorado secondary, regarding injuries.
[Q2 0:05] Just as it seemed Arizona State was winding up and ready to head to half, Raleek Brown had a burst outside of the Right Tackle for 59 yards with Teon Parks ultimately pushing him out of bounds in a race to stop the touchdown. Arizona State would fail to do much more after that taking 3 shots at the end zone, coming out with just a field goal on 4th & 10 at the CU 21. They did try a flea flicker on 3rd & 10 where Jordyn Tyson was the Quarterback and the intended receiver was Tight End #7 Chamon Metayer and he had him wide open but put too much air on it, to his absolute dismay. The field goal was once again a 39-yarder for Gomez. Arizona State now leads 13-7.
[Q3 12:02] Colorado has their most electrifying drive of the game so far out of the half. It was headlined by Dallan Hayden exposing a gaping hole for 42 yards (longest play from scrimmage for the Buffs), capped off by a beautiful fade route executed by Omarion Miller and placed perfectly by Julian Lewis for the 22 yard Touchdown pass. Mata converts. Buffs up 14-13.
[Q3 10:35] On 3rd & 3 at the Arizona State 32 Sims completes a slant to the Speedy Slot Receiver #83 Derek Eusebio right on his chest who easily gets past his defender and takes it to the house. Arizona State was struggling even get the ball out when Colorado played cover 0 all out blitz man coverage defense but this quick trigger decision by Sims finally paid out big time for the 62 yard catch and run Touchdown. The 2 point conversion was good. Arizona State up 21-14.
[Q4 13:30] On 3rd & 23 after a false start and couple of negative plays (run for a loss and sack) Colorado fakes the handoff to Micah Welch and instead executes a perfect screen play to Wide Receiver #9 Sincere Brown for 33 yards. The very next play however, is a fumble on the first career carry for #45 Running Back Ronald Coleman, ASU recovers at their own 12 yard line. Raleek Brown then takes it 88 yards to the house unscathed, in an absolute blow to Colorado and any momentum they had. Extra Point is successful. Arizona State now leads 28-17. Potential 14 point swing.
[Q4 8:48] Despite getting an extra life from another 15 yard penalty from #95 Justin Wodtly, the CU offense falters once again and they are forced to punt at the Colorado 34. Arizona State responds with a 6 play all run 74 yards drive with both Udoh and Brown getting great gains on every play. Udoh gets the 3 yard Touchdown run to end the drive. ASU now with a substantial 35-17 lead.
[End of Q4 ]With the game truly on the ropes, CU’s offensive possession continues to emit nothing, generating an immediate 3-and-out that acts as the proverbial nail in the coffin for their stand. This allows the subsequent ASU drive to act as the game’s clock killer. An unrelenting rushing attack and continued penalties from CU steadily move the ball down the field. Arizona State scores one more touchdown and CU ends the game on the final possession. ASU wins 42-17.
[Postgame] The hope demonstrated in the West Virginia game did not carry over to today’s home finale, with Colorado falling to 3-8 (1-7 in conference play) on Senior Night and Julian Lewis’s first career start at Folsom Field. At an announced attendance of roughly 43,348 this game was the lowest of the Deion era yet he still praised fans for coming to the game and showing out for the team. The goal as it’s been emphasized recently was to stop the running game and especially the explosive plays that have been allowed this year and while at first it seemed like they were doing a better job, the defense got overpowered more and more as the game went on with Raleek Brown having an insane statline of 255 yards rushing on 22 attempts with a TD as well as a 33 yard receiving Touchdown, the unquestionable MVP of this game. In the postgame conference, it was reiterated by Deion Sanders, Reggie Hughes, and JuJu Lewis that they just have to keep working harder to win regardless of who they are playing or the circumstances, take for example injuries as Deion relentlessly talked about how all teams have key injuries and they still show up and show out and how that’s a product of roster managements, knowing that Colorado “Shot ourselves in the foot” similarly to the rest of their losses. The most controversial decision was the Ronald Coleman fumble as Deion said himself that it was the momentum swing that won the game for Arizona State, saying that he took a chance and that Coleman did what he was doing in practice but just dropped the ball in doing so. While Julian Lewis undoubtedly had a performance he’ll wish to forget, he showed some maturity in the press conference saying how “Take all the blame on me” and also about how he’ll go to the drawing board and forget about the distractions like the talks revolving around whether he’ll burn his redshirt or not. The belief is still their from Deion and the fanbase, and if there’s anything good to take out of this demoralizing Senior Night loss Julian Lewis stated “I’m a buff through and through” and “I ain’t got no reason to go”. Lewis will look to rally the freshmen in preparation for next year as he believes this program is much more than what the record may insinuate.