Colorado defeated No. 24 Arizona State, 34-31, Saturday night on the road, ending a 29-game losing streak against ranked opponents away from Folsom Field. The offense was potent while the defense once again gave up some chunky plays before settling down.
Below are 10 takeaways from the game in the aftermath of the win.
CUSportsNation was live in Tempe, AZ. as Colorado beat the Sun Devils, 34-31. The offense was as good as its been in 2019. More below:
CU's offense finally played a full, efficient game last Saturday
1. A strong offensive greatly line opens the door to Colorado's offense performing in league with preseason expectations:
***No sacks on Steven Montez allowed, plenty of time for him to throw, and on the ground, Colorado was the most successful it had been since playing CSU in week one.
If there was one defensive front that seemed poised to cause confusion and disrupt Colorado's run game, it would have been the Sun Devils, but the Buffs, who have now started the same offensive line in every game this season, performed well.
While ASU held the Buffs to 3.5 yards per carry, that was notably better than the 2.8 average the Sun Devils were riding heading into the game.
I don't think it's even debatable that last Saturday saw the most time of Montez having a sound passing pocket around him to make a throw in all year. And look what happened — 23-of-30 through the air, 337 yards and three TDs. Hard to find an element of Montez's game to complain about.
2. Tony Brown is becoming invaluable to CU's offense:
***A year after coming in third in yards and receptions for the Buffaloes, Brown with Saturday under his belt just notched a college career-high 150 yards, nine receptions and three touchdowns. He was everywhere for Colorado. He and Montez looked like the shared the same brain, evidenced in not a single incompletion resulting in a pass intended for Brown.
During August camp, Brown, although certainly noted as capable, was considered a complimentary piece of the WR puzzle. He's quickly becoming the main attraction in that group.
3. There should be no illusions left about CU's defense:
***Colorado's D through four games has given up 31, 30, 31 and 31 points. Expect more of the same. We've seen it every week: the secondary is prone to getting beat. They have and frankly will continue to do so. But in all four games, the points allowed, yards given up, big plays surrendered — however you want to analyze it — have not been catastrophic enough to ruin games.
The ASU game seemed more in line with what many thought 2019 would be: the D letting up significant amounts of points but the offense's talent makes up for it. Seems fair to anticipate more offensive shootout games for the Buffs this season.
4. While Colorado's D consistently gives up big plays, it consistently takes the ball away from enemy offenses and is capable of producing shutdown sequences:
*** Derrion Rakestraw got the call for Colorado at strong safety for the Buffs Saturday and ended up leading the team in tackles while recording an interception. The Buffs now have gotten takeaways in all four games of 2019.
Make no mistake, Colorado almost had at least two others. There were two plays that were very nearly fumbles CU could have recovered. Whatever negatives (and being fair, there certainly are some negatives) that we can identify with the defense, Colorado leads the FBS and Pac-12 in forced turnovers. That's a good reality to have given the shortcomings in the pass defense department.
