Buffs Notes: WR Antonio Has Big Game At ASU
October 07, 2023 | Football
TEMPE, Ariz. — Every week, it seems another Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver has a breakout game.
Saturday, it was Javon Antonio's turn.
After catching just three passes in CU's first five games (he missed two games with an injury), the 6-4, 225-pound grad transfer had a five-catch, 81-yard effort in the Buffs' 27-24 win over Arizona State. Antonio had a 9-yard touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter that gave the Buffs their first lead of the day, 21-17, and then added a clutch 43-yard reception on CU's last possession that put the Buffs in position for the game-winning field goal.
"It was awesome," said CU's Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders. "It was awesome because he didn't have a great game last week. But I love his resilience and he bounced back. I believe in him 100 percent. I'm glad he got back in there and was able to do what he did because he's a grown man and he's a dog. Plays his butt off. Never complains. A really good kid, was raised tremendously right."
SLOW STARTS … Saturday wasn't CU quarterback Shedeur Sanders' best game, but he still finished with 239 yards passing a touchdown, and he also rushed for a touchdown. But he was also sacked five times and was under pressure on many other instances as Colorado managed just 14 points in the first three quarters.
"We know it's the problem so we just got to find a solution," Sanders said. "All 11 players gotta do the right thing on each play. It can't be 10 players and one player is not. We gotta get together and put a stop to the badness that's going on, the slow starts. We just can't afford to keep doing that."
AND FAST FINISHES … Saturday was Sanders' third fourth-quarter comeback this season. He rallied the Buffs to a victory at TCU in the season opener and engineered the game-tying drive against Colorado State before getting the win in overtime.
That puts him in ninth place on CU's list of all-time career fourth-quarter comebacks and just one away from the single-season record.
John Hessler (1995) and Joel Klatt (2004) hold the single-season record with four. Klatt also has the career record with nine and Hessler is second with seven. Others on the career list include Steven Montez (six); Kordell Stewart and Darian Hagan (five); Gale Weidner, David Williams and Cody Hawkins (four); and Sanders and several others with three.
BUFFS BITS: Sanders is now 5-of-5 passing for 99 yards and two touchdowns with five first down conversations on fourth down this season … Wide receiver Xavier Weaver had two catches for 17 yards and his first rushing touchdown of his career, a 1-yard scoring burst in the first quarter … The Buffs finished with eight penalties for 65 yards … CU did not force a turnover, the first game this year the defense hasn't recorded a takeaway … ILB LaVonta Bentley finished the game with a game-high 11 tackles, including two tackles for loss, a sack and one pass breakup.
