Arizona State Dominates Buffaloes 42-17 Behind Raleek Brown
Looking to move up in the rankings, the Sun Devils took down Freshman Julian Lewis in his first start at Folsom Field. Arizona State dominated the ground game, as the Colorado Buffaloes couldn’t find a way to stop Raleek Brown, who had over 270 total yards. The Sun Devils will return home for their final game of the season next Friday against the Arizona Wildcats.
Arizona State Dominated the Ground Game
Arizona State’s game plan was simple: keep pounding the rock until Colorado shows that it can stop it. On 22 carries, Brown had 255 rushing yards and two total touchdowns. After having just 38 rushing yards last week, Brown responded in a big way and now has over 1,000 rushing yards for the first time in his college career.
Jeff Sims threw for 206 yards in the win over the Buffaloes, throwing for two touchdowns. He threw for the second-most yards he has all season, falling short of a season high by one yard when he had 207 last week against West Virginia. With Sam Leavitt having season-ending surgery to repair a lingering foot injury, Sims has filled in nicely in his second season with Arizona State. He is currently 3-1 on the season and will look to finish strong against Arizona next Friday.
Arizona State did a nice job putting pressure on Lewis and shutting down Colorado’s offense. Lewis threw for just 149 yards, one touchdown, and was sacked four times. The Buffaloes’ offense and defense have been a disaster all season long, with another losing season coming to an end against Kansas State.
Buffaloes Nightmare Season Continues
Deion Sanders has completed another challenging season during his tenure with Colorado. The Buffaloes are currently near the bottom of the Big 12, only ahead of the 1-10 Oklahoma State Cowboys. Areas such as coaching and roster development have contributed to Colorado experiencing a step back from last season.
The good news is that they’ve figured out the hardest part: finding the right player to take the helm. Lewis has demonstrated strong decision-making, poise under pressure, and impressive arm strength in limited action this season, and Sanders needs to do everything he can to build around the freshman quarterback. It’ll be good for Lewis and many others in Colorado if they can end their season on a positive note against Kansas State and hit the ground running in recruiting this offseason.
Sanders will need to add several players to the defense, an area that has presented challenges since he took the job and left Jackson State. In addition, the offensive line should be a top priority. The team possesses an abundance of weapons for Lewis to throw to, but improved protection is needed to allow him the time to get the ball to his playmakers.
