Coach Prime's Buffs Aim For Fast Start Against ASU
October 03, 2023 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — After back-to-back games in which they were three-touchdown underdogs against top 10 opponents, the Colorado Buffaloes finally find themselves back in the favorites role this weekend.
Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders' 3-2 Buffs head to Arizona State on Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. matchup with the 1-4 Sun Devils (Pac-12 Network) and the Buffs are a slight favorite to pick up their second road win of the season.
Coach Prime made it clear Tuesday at his weekly press conference that he expects the Buffs to end their two-game skid and add another check mark in the win column.
"This week is more about expectations than in many of the other weeks, because that's the expectation that we have of ourselves — to go in and win this game," Sanders said. "You want to win every game but I mean, you really expect to win some games a lot more than others. This game, we expect to run the football. We've shown that we could last week. We expect to throw the ball successfully. We've shown that we can in totality during the whole season … Our expectations of ourselves are a lot more lofty than expectations that you may have of us, but we have tremendous expectations for this season. And we are just getting started with it. We really are."
The Buffs' aim is to pick up where they left off in last weekend's 48-41 loss to then-No. 8 Southern California. The Buffs came back from a 48-21 second-half deficit to pull within one score late in the fourth quarter — and had Colorado not squandered a couple of timeouts earlier in the half, CU could very well have had a chance to get the ball back one more time and tie the game.
Now, CU needs to figure out a way to not wait until the second half to put its offense in high gear. In the last four games, the Buffs' offense has produced just four touchdowns and two field goals in the first half.
"We just have to have a consistency and a continuation," Coach Prime said. "Especially early. The challenge and the goal is we have to win the first and second quarter. That's the challenge."
Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who is second in the nation in passing yards per game (356.2) said a fast start has been a focus this week.
But he also added that he believes Colorado's offense is on the verge of hitting another gear — a scary thought for opposing defensive coordinators.
"I feel like we're now settling in with the offense with everything that's going on, with the nuances of it," Shedeur said. "Now we know what we like, what we don't like. I feel like this is the second half of the season and we're getting real comfortable."
One major improvement for the Buffs last week against USC was CU's rushing attack. Colorado ran for a season-high 194 yards — nearly three times CU's average headed into the game — led by a 74-yard, one-touchdown effort from Anthony Hankerson.
The game also marked a breakout moment for true freshman receiver Omarion Miller, who earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors after catching seven passes for 196 yards and a score.
"I'm having fun playing this game," Shedeur said. "Each week we're faced with different battles and really it's just getting comfortable within the offense. Week by week I feel like we're improving as a whole. And I feel like this is the second half of the season and now you'll be able to see what this offense is."
INJURY UPDATE: Coach Prime said the Buffs won't have the services of two-way star Travis Hunter for probably at least two more weeks. Hunter suffered an injury three weeks ago in Colorado's win over Colorado State.
"He was out of practice today coaching his butt off," Coach Prime said. "He's one of the best coaches we have … But it would be my dream and desire for him to stay out until after the bye week."
The Buffs have two more games — Arizona State this weekend, followed by a home game Friday, Oct. 13, against Stanford — before getting a week off.
Sanders did say that safety Shilo Sanders was back at practice Tuesday morning and fellow safety Myles Slusher continues to improve.
But Coach Prime said the Buffs won't have starting right tackle Savion Washington this week. Washington was injured halfway through the USC game and was replaced by Reggie Young, who played 46 snaps.
WASTED TIMEOUT: One issue Sanders addressed with the team this week was the squandering of timeout because of personnel issues. Colorado was forced to call a couple of timeouts midway through the second half against USC when CU needed a substitution and the Buffs were late getting those players on the field.
Those timeouts would have been critical down the stretch when Colorado was trying to regain possession one more time for a possible game-tying drive.
"We had one timeout (on CU's final drive) because we had exhausted them on foolishness of personnel," Sanders said. "It's foolish. There's things that we went over this morning in our team meeting. We can't dismantle ourselves with that foolishness of personnel …If somebody goes down we can't have the coach going to find somebody."
FIRST LOOK ASU: Saturday's game should be an interesting matchup for the Buffs. After a season-opening 24-21 win over Southern Utah, first-year head coach Kenny Dillingham's Sun Devils have dropped four in a row, including back-to-back Pac-12 losses to USC (42-28) and Cal (24-21).
The Sun Devils have had three different starting quarterbacks in five games — Jaden Rashada, Trenton Bourguet and Drew Pyne — as injuries have taken a toll. Rashada, a true freshman, isn't expected to be ready this week and Bourguet is expected to get the call against Colorado.
Because of the uncertainty, ASU's offense has struggled. The Sun Devils are averaging just 17.6 points per game — 124th in the nation — and two weeks ago, Dillingham took over play-calling duties after a 29-0 shutout at the hands of Fresno State.
Bourguet did throw for 362 yards against Cal, but the run game — which hasn't surpassed 100 yards fore the last three contests — managed just 68 yards against the Bears.
Defensively, the Sun Devils have produced 29 tackles for loss, including 13 sacks. D-lineman B.J. Green has 5.5 of those tackles for loss, including three sacks.
But the Sun Devils have been atrocious in the turnover department. ASU has not intercepted a pass this year while throwing eight and the Sun Devils have recovered one fumble and lost five, making them a minus-12 for the season.
