The Colorado Buffaloes (5-0, 2-0 Pac-12) knocked off Arizona State (3-2, 1-2) in a crucial Pac-12 South matchup by the score of 28-21. CUSportsNation.com gives its postgame reaction with this 5 Takeaways story.
Postgame Sound Off: The Buffs are 5-0
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1. Buffs' defense stands tall in second half
This is my first point and the most important one for me. You can obviously talk about Laviska Shenault and Steven Montez a lot, and I definitely will do that, but it starts with the defense.
This game was looking like a shootout. ASU scored touchdowns on three of its first five drives, but the two drives where they didn't score were taking a knee before halftime and a missed field goal. ASU had no problems moving the ball.
But the Buffs' defense was solid in the second half. Really solid. The Buffs allowed a quick four-play, 75 yard touchdown drive early in the third quarter that gave them a 21-14 lead, but the Sun Devils wouldn't score after that drive.
They sure did get close as a 72 yard bomb got them inside the Buffs' five yard line, but CU forced a turnover on downs, which gave the Buffs huge momentum.
ASU didn't score on its final five drives. The Buffs' defense was stout.
While the Buffs did allow 367 yards, Arizona State came into the game averaging 426 yards per game. 367 may sound like a lot, but in today's offensive driven game, it's really not a ton.
2. The rise has returned
In 2016, the Buffs lost a close game against USC but were still ahead of them in the Pac-12 South standings. Colorado hosted Arizona State the following weekend.
Both teams were 2-1 in Pac-12 play, and the Buffs needed to get the win over ASU to stay ahead of USC. Colorado crushed ASU 40-16, which started a six game winning streak for the Buffaloes.
The 2016 team was electric, and while this CU team may not be as good as the "Rise 2016" season, the 2018 Buffs are off to a 5-0 start and Folsom is rocking.
Colorado's first four opponents of the season turned out to not be as good as we thought they'd be preseason, but this win over ASU told us a lot about Colorado.
At the very last, CU is definitely a bowl team. This is definitely one of the better teams in the conference. But are they a top three team in the Pac-12? The Buffs play at USC and at Washington the next two weekends. We will learn a lot more about this team.
