Nearing the end of the fourth quarter, Arizona State trailed Colorado 24-17 as their hope for an upset dwindled. With less than a minute to go, redshirt junior wide receiver Troy Omeire hauled in a touchdown to tie the game. A sold-out crowd hoped to see overtime, but with 12 seconds left, the Buffaloes nailed a game-winning field goal to hand the Sun Devils a 27-24 loss.
Arizona State (1-5, 0-3) led Colorado 17-14 (4-2, 1-2) at halftime, but not unlike previous games this season, the offense struggled to score for most of the second half.
The defense, once again, led the Sun Devils through most of the game, forcing a Colorado punt in the fourth quarter. ASU began the drive with the ball on its six-yard line with 3:26 remaining in regulation, leading to the Omeire touchdown.
“It was a good drive. I’m really proud of those guys for responding. We were in a similar situation last week and we didn’t get that done,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “So to respond in that scenario and drive down the field was a positive.”
The Sun Devils were 2-2 on third down and 1-1 on fourth down on their final offensive drive.
“In the second quarter, I missed [Omeire] on a third down,” redshirt junior quarterback Trenton Bourguet said. “Going out of that timeout I told him, I said ‘one-on-one, let’s do it.’”
The Buffaloes immediately responded, and quarterback Shedeur Sanders connected to wide receiver Antonio Javon for 43 yards to get Colorado in field goal range. With 18 seconds remaining, the Buffaloes lined up for the 43-yard field goal, and kicker Alejandro Mata drilled it to cement the victory.
Despite the loss, the Sun Devils defense continued to be a bright spot. After the Buffaloes put up 564 yards of total offense against the USC Trojans, the Arizona State defense held Colorado to 295 yards and its second-fewest points this season.
In most major categories, the Sun Devils outplayed the Buffaloes. Arizona State led the stat sheet in total yards on offense, third and fourth down conversions, and tackles for loss. Despite winning the numbers game, the result at the end of the game didn’t fall the same way.
“Winning football teams make the plays when the games are on the line. And right now, we’re not getting that done,” Dillingham said. “The last two weeks, we’ve played winning football. We’ve won every category but we haven’t won the game.”
Two of Dillingham’s top offensive weapons, junior running back Cam Skattebo and redshirt junior tight end Jalin Conyers, were not completely healthy. Both dealt with illnesses during the week and are continuing to nurse injuries. Despite that, Skattebo rushed for 49 yards and a touchdown and had a 53-yard punt. Redshirt junior wide receiver Elijhah Badger stepped up with a huge game, hauling in 12 catches for 134 yards.
“Right now we’re struggling running the ball in general,” Dillingham said. “Right now our players’ strengths is Badger getting the ball in space, Trenton facilitating in the quick game.”
The Sun Devils started the game strong with a touchdown on their opening drive. Bourguet connected with Omeire on a third down for a 21-yard pickup. At the goal line, Bourguet rushed it into the endzone for a touchdown.
Colorado responded on their second offensive possession with a 16-play, nearly six-minute drive, culminating in a one-yard rushing touchdown for Xavier Weaver on fourth and goal.
ASU broke the tie in the second quarter with a one-yard touchdown touchdown up the middle for Cam Skattebo.
The Buffaloes tied it up again late in the first half, with Sanders rushing for a 16-yard touchdown. The Sun Devils got the ball back with 54 seconds left in the second quarter and a 22-yard completion to redshirt junior wide receiver Xavier Guillory helped Arizona State set up for a field goal. Graduate student placekicker Dario Longhetto made the 33-yard attempt to give the Sun Devils the 17-14 lead heading into halftime.
In the first half, the Sun Devils had more rushing yards, passing yards, and sacks, but were unable to pull ahead and put the game out of reach.
Neither team scored in the third quarter, and Arizona State’s second-half offensive struggles continued. They scored seven points in the final 30 minutes and have scored 39 total second-half points in their six games.
“Being the quarterback, I take great responsibility in not putting up the amount of points we needed to win this game,” Bourguet said. “Offensively, we have to do a better job putting up points.”
The Sun Devils will look to get healthy in this bye week before they face one of the top teams in the Pac-12, the Washington Huskies.
“The last team that beat Washington was us, and they’re one of the top teams in the nation,” Bourguet said. “We’re really sticking together and we know that we can beat anybody.”
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