ASU shakes off four turnovers on the road to cruise past Colorado 42-17

In a season defined by question marks, chaos, and week-to-week whiplash, one thing has stayed consistent: No. 25 Arizona State refuses to play a clean football game.

Within conference play, ASU’s five wins had come by an average of just 3.4 points, with the largest margin a five-point win over Iowa State. Even the losses have followed the same exhausting pattern, from the game-losing touchdown against Mississippi State to the Houston finish, where ASU had the ball down eight with a chance to tie before the comeback fell apart.

It has been head coach Kenny Dillingham’s biggest frustration this season. ASU has not delivered a complete game, and every week has required either a rally or late-game stress. The only true outlier was the blowout loss in Salt Lake City.

Colorado seemed on paper like the perfect chance for ASU to finally escape the cycle. The Buffaloes had just one conference win, were battling injuries, and had not tasted victory since early October.

Yet ASU made it harder than it needed to be, turning the ball over four times and committing mistake after mistake that kept Colorado within a single score as the fourth quarter began. Finally, the Sun Devils found their rhythm, executing the way their talent demanded. They erupted for 21 points in the final quarter, putting the game firmly out of reach. Redshirt junior Raleek Brown led the charge with a career night, totaling 288 yards from scrimmage. ASU (8-3, 6-2 Big 12) finally enjoyed a stress-free finish, scoring its most points of the season in a 42–17 win over Colorado (3-8, 1-7 Big 12).

Despite the final score, this was far from a flawless performance. ASU’s habit of mixing historic offensive bursts with sloppy turnovers was on full display, reminiscent of their win over Iowa State. Redshirt senior quarterback Jeff Sims rushed for 228 yards, setting a school record, and totaled 405 yards of scrimmage, even as he coughed up three fumbles in a game the Sun Devils should have comfortably controlled.

The turnovers were alarming. True freshman running back Demarius Robinson fumbled in the first, Sims threw an interception in the second, and fumbled again near his own red zone, while Raleek Brown added another in the third.

“You can’t lose a turnover battle 4-1,” Dillingham said. “You’re going to win 5 percent of your games if not less, and that happened to be one of the 5 percent that we won. So that’s got to get cleaned up before next week.”

Still, ASU’s mistakes never translated into disaster. Colorado could not take advantage, scoring just three points off four Sun Devil giveaways, while ASU turned a single takeaway into an immediate touchdown. The Sun Devils’ offense struggled for long stretches, managing only 13 points by halftime, but their resilient defense, which has bailed the team out multiple times this season, kept them in the game until the offense finally found its rhythm.

Once the defense set the tone, momentum swung decisively in ASU’s favor. The Sun Devils sacked true freshman quarterback Julian Lewis four times, hurried him four more, recorded 11 tackles for loss, broke up six passes, and forced two fumbles. One of those turnovers immediately turned into a touchdown. 

Senior linebacker Keyshaun Elliott spearheaded the effort with two sacks and seven tackles, setting a new single-season career high in sacks on top of the five he had already recorded. Redshirt senior defensive lineman contributed two sacks of his own, extending a standout season that has seen him tally 4.5 sacks over the past four weeks.

Colorado was limited to just five of 18 on third down and failed on both fourth-down attempts, leaving the offense frustrated and pinned back.

“I think we had 17 possessions, I think they defended,” Dillingham said. “It could be 16, could be 18, but right around there, which is two games. You defend 17 drives, you’re defending a game and three quarters. And to only give up 17 points and roughly 300 yards in a game and three quarters is phenomenal. So, that defense definitely kept us in that thing.”

Big explosive plays eventually defined the game. After a first-quarter field goal, Sims connected with Raleek Brown on a 33-yard wheel route for a score, igniting a breakout performance.

In the third quarter, following a 22-yard touchdown pass from Lewis that gave Colorado a one-point lead, Sims delivered another highlight. Two plays into the drive at their own 32, graduate linebacker Reginald Hughes jumped in the middle of the field, signaling to his sideline, but he did not anticipate the Sun Devils’ next move. Sims hit redshirt sophomore Derek Eusebio on a slant, and Eusebio accelerated 68 yards for a touchdown, swinging momentum firmly back to ASU.

The third quarter closed with a setback when Raleek Brown fumbled on a 20-yard leap, marking ASU’s fourth turnover and leaving the score just 21–17. Yet the miscue seemed to ignite him. On the very next possession, following Colorado’s own fumble, Brown exploded through a hole for an 88-yard touchdown, redeeming his earlier turnover and a 59-yard run where he had previously run out of gas.

“I told everybody I was going to get a touchdown next possession and it happened on the first play,” Raleek Brown said. “I just saw a big hole and then just burst through it. I just followed the pullers and just saw it and just burst, and nobody was back there.”

The score gave ASU firm control and marked the turning point in a game that had threatened to spiral into another late-season heart-stopper.

Raleek Brown’s massive day highlighted ASU’s dominance on the ground, especially without much help from Sims, who rushed for just 12 yards. Sims completed only 11 passes, and the return of redshirt junior Jordyn Tyson proved limited, with just two catches for 61 yards.

“When you can run the football, the game becomes much easier,” Dillingham said. “If you can run the ball and stop the run, you are going to win 90 percent of your games, if not more. By the second or third quarter, we really started to run the ball well and stop the run the way we had on early downs.”

ASU piled up 355 rushing yards at 7.6 yards per carry, wearing down Colorado as the fourth quarter progressed. Redshirt junior Kanye Udoh added 62 yards and a late touchdown, while redshirt freshman Jason Brown Jr. contributed 17 yards and the final score. Raleek Brown alone accounted for 255 of ASU’s rushing yards. The team nearly doubled Colorado’s total offensive output, and Brown himself fell just 12 yards shy of matching the Sun Devils’ total yardage.

Now, the ranked Sun Devils turn their attention to a potential showdown with a similarly ranked Arizona Wildcats in next week’s Territorial Cup back in Tempe. Arizona improved to a matching 8–3 record with a win over Baylor, and while ASU’s Big 12 title hopes are slim, the Wildcats would relish ending the season by handing the Sun Devils a loss and reclaiming the coveted cup.

Title hopes aside, Dillingham is looking at the bigger picture. Sitting at eight wins and playing meaningful football this late in the season is a clear reflection of where the program stands—and where it’s headed.

“It’s remarkable—a testament to these guys. It really is,” Dillingham said. “I’m sure if everybody could sit back and be real and say all of this was going to happen, and we’d be sitting where we are and still playing meaningful football, the last game of the year matters. Not just because it’s the rivalry game, right? It matters to the league. And if we can consistently do that, are we going to win it every year? No. I wish we could. Are we going to win every rivalry game? No. I wish we would. But if we can play meaningful football on the last Saturday every year, I think we’re going to continue to sell out games. And if we continue to sell out games, we’re going to continue to get more investment from the university.”