QB Trenton Bourguet sets ASU school record in 1st start vs. Colorado
Oct 29, 2022, 5:33 PM | Updated: 10:35 pm
Quarterback Trenton Bourguet #16 of the Arizona State Sun Devils passes against the Colorado Buffaloes in the first quarter of a game at Folsom Field on October 29, 2022 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
(Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
New quarterback? No problem.
In his first-ever collegiate start, Arizona State QB Trenton Bourguet led the Sun Devils to a 42-34 win over the Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday.
With interim head coach Shaun Aguano taking over play-calling duties for offensive coordinator Glenn Thomas, Bourguet came out and threw three touchdown passes and one interception on 32-for-43 passing (74%).
His 435 passing yards on the day also broke the school record for the most by a Sun Devil in his first start and are the most in a game for ASU since Mike Bercovici threw for 510 in the Jael Mary game in 2014.
“Coach Aguano calling great plays, just trusting in what he calls,” Bourguet told reporters postgame. “We had a great week of practice, kind of a new scheme, but just trusting in what we practiced all week.
“It translated to the field today and we were able to put up a good amount of points. We still left another couple touchdowns on the field that you know I want to take back, but other than that, we had a great game and the defense did their thing. It was a great team win.”
Bourguet was a perfect 8-for-8 for 124 yards and one touchdown pass on the Sun Devils’ opening two drives.
Both of ASU’s first two possessions resulted in TDs and a 14-3 lead over the Colorado Buffaloes at the end of the first quarter in Boulder.
Bourguet was 4-for-4 for 52 yards on Arizona State’s opening drive and 4 of 4 with 72 yards and a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jalin Conyers on the second.
The quarterback’s perfect streak ended at nine completions in a row, with the first incompletion coming on the first play of the second quarter.
The most noticeable difference to the offense under Aguano as a play-caller was the lack of huddling and high tempo from the Sun Devils in addition to multiple passes to both TEs Messiah Swinson and Conyers.
The tight end duo combined for nine catches for 163 yards, with Conyers reeling in six grabs for 118 yards and three touchdowns — a single-game school record for a TE.
Tight end Upic.twitter.com/Vnz4taHICj
— Jake Anderson (@jwa1994) October 30, 2022
“He’s a big mismatch problem,” Bourguet said of Conyers. “He’s big but fast and has great hands. So just trying to give him a chance, a 50-50 ball. I trust in him to come down with it — just giving him a chance and he did the rest.”
Elijhah Badger was Bourguet’s favorite target, as the wide receiver led all pass catchers on the day with eight receptions for 137 yards. Bourguet also spread the football around to nine different teammates.
ASU running back Xazavian Valladay added three touchdown runs and 118 yards on 23 carries and now has over 4,000 career rushing yards, becoming the 123rd player in FBS history to achieve the feat.
“I think it makes it harder on defenses because they want to key in on X (Valladay) and you want to play one high (safety),” Bourguet said of the tight ends helping the rest of the offense.
“But then if you play one high, I’ve got a tight end running the seam and if you press (Elijhah Badger), I’m going to take a go ball. So we just have answers for everything and it’s going to make defenses really think. Just control what we can and we came out with a great win.”
