ARIZONA STATE FOOTBALL

‘More complete game’ leads ASU to win over Colorado in Pac-12 opener

Sep 26, 2021, 12:02 AM

Running back Alex Fontenot #8 of the Colorado Buffaloes is tacked by defensive lineman Anthonie Coo...

Running back Alex Fontenot #8 of the Colorado Buffaloes is tacked by defensive lineman Anthonie Cooper #96 of the Arizona State Sun Devils as he rushes the football during the second half of the NCAAF game at Sun Devil Stadium on September 25, 2021 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

TEMPE — Arizona State played its cleanest game of the year in Saturday night’s 35-13 win over the Colorado Buffaloes at Sun Devil Stadium.

Minimizing self-inflicted wounds was a big point of emphasis for head coach Herm Edwards and Co., as ASU was averaging 12 penalties for 106.3 yards per game coming into the contest after committing 36 fouls for a total of 319 yards through the non-conference part of the 2021 slate.

But in the Pac-12 Conference opener, Arizona State only committed seven penalties for 90 yards while taking care of the football with no turnovers. However, B.J. Green II’s targeting penalty resulted in an ejection, the second for the Sun Devils through the first four games of the season.

Compare those metrics to the likes of Colorado’s eight penalties for 84 yards.

“Well for us it was more of a little bit of a complete game, but still there were some fouls on special teams that really hurt some big returns,” Edwards said postgame. “We have a lot of young players playing on special teams — I’m not making excuses for them — their emotions got the best of them and they retaliated and you can’t do that.

“We talked about that all week, that was kind of the message this week. I didn’t want us to play cautious. I wanted us to play free and not tight and not worried about making a penalty or making a mistake.”

Despite ASU matching its least-penalized game this season, Edwards knows that his team still needs to improve in the yellow laundry category in order to have a chance at winning the Pac-12 South.

“Hopefully we learned a lesson and we got better this week with it. We still had seven penalties and that’s too many,” he said. “You’d like to keep it five or less in there. If you can do that, you have a shot, you have a chance. …

“We’re going to play Sun Devil football. We’re going to play physical, we’re going to play fast, we’re going to play smarter. And for the most part they did a nice job of that.”

The Sun Devils’ offensive line also did a good job of keeping quarterback Jayden Daniels clean by not allowing a single sack to the Buffaloes on 18-of-25 passing for 236 yards.

Defensively, ASU stuffed nearly everything Colorado tried to do in the first half after only giving up 65 yards on the ground and 36 through the air for a total of 101.

And while the Buffaloes may have found some success on their 75-yard scoring drive to open the second half, the Sun Devils finished the night allowing a total of 250 yards, only 67 of which came through the air.

“We mixed some gaps. We had a lot of young guys in there trying to give them some reps,” Edwards said. “We have to do that because we’ve lost some guys on the D-line.

“So that’s important to get those guys in games, along with our corners. We put some young corners out there too, some young guys out there trying to play as well. I think it was a good game for guys to be involved in. It was a tight game when we put them in the game and for the most part, we came out of it OK.”

And while ASU failed to get any takeaways, the defense came up with three big sacks on third downs to force Colorado to punt the ball back to the Sun Devils.

“We needed to get our confidence back as a football team and keep our poise,” Edwards said. “The whole thing I talked about all week was when you play a game like this, after coming off a game like we had (vs. BYU), we needed to play a clean game.

“But we didn’t want to play a cautious game. I didn’t want them to be cautious, worrying about making mistakes. I just said, ‘Play free, free yourself and just play football and see what it looks like.’ And I think for the most part we were able to do that.”

EXTRA POINTS

Arizona State running back DeaMonte “Chip” Trayanum (ankle) and corner back Chase Lucas (head) did not play due to their respective injuries.

UP NEXT

The Sun Devils travel to Los Angeles to take on the UCLA Bruins at the Rose Bowl on Oct. 2.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Catch all the action on ESPN 620 AM or 98.7 FM HD-2.

TEMPE, ARIZONA - SEPTEMBER 25: Running back Rachaad White #3 of the Arizona State Sun Devils carries the football en route to scoring on a 11-yard ruching touchdown against the Colorado Buffaloes during the first half of the NCAAF game at Sun Devil Stadium on September 25, 2021 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) Arizona State linebacker Darien Butler (20) wraps up Colorado State tailback Jarek Broussard (23) from behind during the first half of an NCAA college football game Sat, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Colorado State wide receiver Dimitri Stanley (14) hauls in a pass against Arizona State defensive back Jordan Clark (1) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Sat, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Arizona State defensive back Jordan Clark (1) drags down Colorado State wide receiver Dimitri Stanley (14) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Sat, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Arizona State defensive back Jordan Clark (1) deflects a pass intended for Colorado State wide receiver Dimitri Stanley (14) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Sat, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) runs for a first down against Colorado State's defense during the first half of an NCAA college football game Sat, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Arizona State defensive players Merlin Robertson (8) D.J Davidson (98) and Darien Butler (20) smother Colorado State tailback Alex Fontenot (8) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Sat, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Colorado State quarterback Brendon Lewis (12) runs for a first down against Arizona State's defensive during the first half of an NCAA college football game Sat, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Arizona State running back Rachaad White (3) and tight end Jalin Conyers (12) celebrate White's touchdown against Colorado during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Arizona State defensive lineman B.J. Green (35) pumps his chest after sacking Colorado State quarterback Brendon Lewis (12) for a loss during the first half of an NCAA college football game  Saturday, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) smiles at Colorado State safety Mark Perry (5) as he runs in for a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game  Saturday, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Quarterback Jayden Daniels #5 of the Arizona State Sun Devils throws a pass during the first half of the NCAAF game against the Colorado Buffaloes at Sun Devil Stadium on September 25, 2021 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) Colorado State tailback Alex Fontenot (8) gets wrapped up by Arizona State defense during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Colorado tailback Alex Fontenot (8) dives across the goal line scoring their first touchdown against Arizona State defense during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Colorado tailback Alex Fontenot (8) finds running room against Arizona State's defense during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Colorado tailback Alex Fontenot (8) is mobbed by teammates after scoring a touchdown against Arizona State during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Colorado tailback Alex Fontenot (8) signals touchdown with his offensive tight end Matt Lynch (84) and lineman Jake Wiley (60) after scoring against Arizona State during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday Sept. 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Arizona State wide receiver LV Bunkley-Shelton (6) is brought down by Colorado safety Mark Perry (5) and linebacker Nate Landman during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Colorado head coach Karl Dorrell reacts to an Arizona State touchdown against his defense during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Colorado head coach Karl Dorrell watches his defense against Arizona State's offense during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) 
              Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) runs for a first down against Colorado State's defense during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)
            
              Arizona State defensive back Jordan Clark (1) deflects a pass intended for Colorado State wide receiver Dimitri Stanley (14) during the first half of an NCAA college football game  Saturday, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)
            
              Arizona State defensive players Merlin Robertson (8) D.J Davidson (98) and Darien Butler (20) smother Colorado State tailback Alex Fontenot (8) during the first half of an NCAA college football game  Saturday, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)
            Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) throws against Colorado during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) rolls out to throw a pass against Colorado during the second half of an NCAA college football game Sat, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Arizona State head coach Hern Edwards talks to his offense during the second half of their game against Colorado in an NCAA college football game Sat, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb) Arizona State head coach Hern Edwards smiles after their 35-13 win over Colorado in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept 25, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

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