Lindsay chasing CU's all-time rushing record in final weeks
What: Colorado (5-4, 2-4) at Arizona State (4-4, 3-2)
Where: Sun Devil Stadium (57,078), Tempe, Ariz.
When: Sat., Nov. 4, 7 p.m. MT
TV/Radio: Pac-12 Network (Roxy Bernstein, Anthony Herron, Lewis Johnson); Colorado Football Network (Mark Johnson, Gary Barnett).
After consecutive trips to the Pacific Northwest in their last two road trips, The Colorado Buffaloes head to the southern fringe of the Pac-12’s footprint when they take on Arizona State Saturday night at Sun Devil Stadium. As the calendar turns to November, both teams aim to get bowl eligible and join the growing list of conference schools qualified for the postseason.
SERIES HISTORY: ASU leads the all-time series, 7-1, but the Buffs broke through for their first win against the Sun Devils last year in Boulder with a 40-16 victory. The Buffs have never won in Tempe as ASU owns a 4-0 edge in Sun Devil Stadium. The teams met for the first time in 2007.
GRACE UNDER PRESSURE: Despite being pressured on 35.1 percent of his dropbacks - the 14th-highest total nationally among 80 FBS QBs who drop back at least 50 percent of the time – Arizona State QB Manny Wilkins is 8th nationally with a 92.6 NFL QB rating under pressure, fourth highest among all QBs pressured at least 34 percent of the time and first among all Pac-12 quarterbacks. He has completed 65.8 percent of his passes this season (173-263) for 2,096 yards (262.0 ypg) and nine touchdowns. However, Colorado is one of four teams in the Pac-12 holding opposing quarterbacks under 55.0 completion percentage this year. Opposing quarterbacks are completing 54.9 percent (173-315) of their passes against the Buffs.
ONE AGAINST TWO AT RUNNING BACK: Just like last week against Cal, Saturday night’s contest in Tempe features one team with one running back getting the bulk of the carries (CU) and one that shares the load between two ball carriers (ASU). Phillip Lindsay has 61.4 percent (nation-leading 240 carries out of 391 total) of Colorado’s rushing attempts and has 1,254 yards in 9 games. Contrastly, Arizona State relies on two RBs that have nearly identical stats. Demario Richard has 379 rushing yards on 100 carries, while Colorado Springs native Kalen Ballage has 378 yards on 93 carries.
“Both are big physical running backs that can break out and both big play potential on any play at any time,” Buffs LB Rick Gamboa said. “They break a lot of tackles, make a lot of people miss. As a defense, and especially as a front seven, tackling and staying in our gaps is a big focus for us this week."
Ballage would likely be ASU’s leading rusher had he not missed last week’s loss to USC. He also has 18 receptions for 79 yards, so he is usually the check-down option for the ASU quarterbacks, and serves as ASU’s primary kickoff returner. Richard is currently 11th in Sun Devil history with 2,554 career rushing yards. He needs fewer than 100 yards (63 total) to move into ASU’s all-time top-10.
“They're powerful, big and athletic, MacIntyre said of Richard and Ballage. “I know Kalen and his family really well. We had a long recruitment. He was the first person I ever offered when I came here. I was hoping he was going to come here, but he chose to go to Arizona State.”
KEY TURNOVER BATTLE: Buffs safety Nick Fisher’s 100-yard interception return for a touchdown (longest in FBS this season) with 2:34 left in last week’s 44-28 victory over Cal extended Colorado’s streak of consecutive games with a takeaway to nine. Colorado is one of 22 teams in the FBS that has forced a turnover in every game it has played this season, but is one of only two schools to have played nine games thus far. CU has forced one or more turnovers in 34 of its last 36 games overall (only two turnover-less games in that span are the 2016 Pac-12 Championship game and the 2016 Valero Alamo Bowl.
So far, Colorado has 14 takeaways and 10 giveaways in 2017. Arizona State, though, has committed just seven turnovers this season, an average of less than one per game, and two of those have come on tipped ball interceptions. ASU has significantly reduced its number of turnovers from last season when they had 21 in 12 games. The Sun Devils have the fewest lost fumbles in the Pac-12 (3) and are tied with Washington and Stanford for the fewest interceptions thrown (4).
BUFFS DEFENSE: Arizona State ranks third in the Pac-12 and 13th nationally in completion percentage (65.8 pct.). The Sun Devils will be the fourth team ranked inside the top 15 in completion percentage nationally that Colorado’s defense has faced this year. In the last two Buffs games, Colorado’s defense has held opposing QBs to a combined 52.1 completion percentage (50-of-96). The Buffs had four sacks against California last week, most they've had in a Pac-12 Conference game this season.
Here are the statistical leaders for the Buffs defense going into Week 8:
Tackles: Drew Lewis (88)
Tackles For Loss: Leo Jackson (10.5)
Sacks: Leo Jackson (5.5)
Interceptions: Evan Worthington (3)
Pass Breakups: Isaiah Oliver (10)
QB Hurries: Jacob Callier (11)
Fumble Recoveries: Five tied with 1
Forced Fumbles: Afolabi Laguda (3)
NOTES
-- Arizona State LB Christian Sam is currently ranked 3rd in the nation and
first in the Pac-12 with 6.9 solo tackles per game He is eighth nationally and first in the conference in averaging 10.4 tackles per game. He is ranked sixth in the country (and 1st in the Pac-12) among inside linebackers with a 13.3 run-stop percentage with 30 total stops on 225 run snaps played.
-- Another Arizona State LB, D.J. Calhoun, Calhoun is third nationally among all inside linebackers in tackling efficiency with 70 tackles this season compared to just one missed tackle. He is fifth in the Pac-12 with 8.8 tackles per game this season. “They have some of the bigger linebackers that we've seen,” Buff WR Shay Fields said. “Their defense is well coached. I feel like it will be a good matchup between their defense and our offense."
-- TE/DE George Frazier has been on the field for 365 snaps this season (40.6 snaps per game) in all three phases. He’s played 197 plays on offense, 103 on defense and 65 on special teams. Frazier is the first Buffs player to play over 200 snaps on both offense and defense in the same season since the platoon era ended with the 1964 season.
-- This season marks just the fourth time ever the Buffaloes have had a 2,000-yard passer and a 1,000-yard runner in the same season, and the first time it’s been done back-to-back years. QB Steven Montez (2,059 yards) and Lindsay (1,254) have joined this very exclusive club in 2017, which Lindsay joined last year (1,189 yards) with QB Sefo Liufau (2,171).
-- Buffs QB Steven Montez now has Colorado’s sixth-longest streak of passes thrown without an interception at 134 over the last six games. It’s the ninth such streak in Colorado history of 100+ passes. Montez is the seventh different quarterback to do it). Montez currently has the longest active streak of passes without an interception in the nation.
-- Dating back to 1985, Colorado is 54-19 against unranked teams in the month of November.
-- Believe it or not, the Buffs are technically still alive to tie for the Pac-12 South Division title, but they lose all tiebreakers for a return trip to the league championship game. It would take a lot of wacky things to happen, but we could see a five-way tie for first with every team in the Pac-12 South except Utah owning a 5-4 conference mark.
COLORADO DEPTH CHART
OFFENSE
QB – Steven Montez (Noyer)
RB – Phillip Lindsay (Bisharat)
Z WR – Shay Fields (Winfree)
X WR – Bryce Bobo (Shenault)
H WR – Devin Ross (Nixon)
Y WR – Jay MacIntyre (Winfree)(Utilized when in 4 wide set)
TE/HB – George Frazier (Bounds)
LT – Jeromy Irwin (Kaiser)
LG – Gerrad Kough (Sherman)
C – Tim Lynott Jr. (Eggers)
RG – Aaron Haigler (Lynott Jr.)
RT – Isaac Miller (Kaiser)
DEFENSE
LDE – Leo Jackson (Franke)
NT – Javier Edwards (Tuiloma)
RDE – Chris Mulumba (Franke OR Frazier)
OLB – Derek McCartney (Mathewes)
JACK – Drew Lewis (Landman)
MIKE – Rick Gamboa (Jones)
OLB – Terran Hasselbach OR Jacob Callier (Coleman INjured)
BUFF – Ryan Moeller (Worthington)
CB – Trey Udoffia (Blackmon)(Isaiah Oliver injured)
FS – Afolabi Laguda (Fisher)
SS – Evan Worthington (Moeller)
CB – Dante Wigley (Udoffia)
INJURIES:
OL Jonathan Huckins – concussion (day to day)
CB Isaiah Oliver – leg (day to day)
OLB Tim Coleman – sprained ankle (day to day)
OLB Terran Hasselbach – concussion (day to day)
S Kyle Trego – high ankle sprain (questionable)
TE Dylan Keeney – back spasms (Out - limited to non-practice rehab)
OLB Shamar Hamilton – knee (Out for season)
WR Jaylon Jackson – ankle (Out for season)
S Jaisen Sanchez – torn pec (Out for season)
ILB Jacob Stoltenberg – torn ACL (out for season)
PAC-12 WEEK 10 SCHEDULE (Nov. 3-4 )
UCLA at Utah, 8:30 p.m. (FS1)(Fri.)
Stanford at Washington State, 1:30 p.m. (FOX)
Oregon State at California, 3 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Colorado at Arizona State, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Oregon at Washington, 8 p.m. (FS1)
Arizona at USC, 8:45 p.m. (ESPN)
(All Times Mountain)
PAC-12 SOUTH STANDINGS:
USC 5-1 (7-2)
Arizona 4-1 (6-2)
Arizona State 3-2 (4-4)
UCLA 2-3 (4-4)
Colorado 2-4 (5-4)
Utah 1-4 (4-4)
