The rubber meets the road this weekend for the Buffs when they travel to Tempe to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils in Sun Devil stadium. The game kicks off at 8:28 Mountain and will be on TV nationally on FSN.
Both teams are coming off first week wins against weaker schools. ASU pitchforked the San Jose State Spartans 45 -3. The Buffs managed an OT win against CSU. Neither opponent should have been a test of the respective team’s mettle but should have served as a good tune up to this Saturday’s battle.
What we saw from the Buffs at Mile High last weekend was promising. Redshirt Frosh Cody Hawkins completed only 58% of his passes which sounds less than ideal but relative to what CU fans are used to over the last few years it was stellar. Shoddy blocking by the offensive line is more to blame for Hawkins’ low completion totals than Hawkins himself. When given enough time Hawkins can pick a secondary apart with a laser arm and great reads. No doubt the O-Line has been working its collective big butt off this week. Assuming Hawkins gets the time this weekend look for him to find Scotty McKnight and Patrick Williams, his two favorite targets last weekend. And just in case the O-Line is still struggling this Saturday, Hawkins will look to incorporate TEs Riar Geer and Joe Sanders in the flats as safety valves, both ends feature soft hands and the ability to pick up the tough YAC. Hugh Charles is listed day-to-day after a hamstring pull against CSU. If he’s not able to go I’d expect Demetrius Summler to have possibly earned himself a start over Byron Ellis; but I’d also expect both backs to sub in and out frequently.
On defense the Buffs will have its hands full. Just like last year, when the Sun Devils lit our D up on the ground and in the air, ASU is still featuring a very balanced attack. Last week ASU QB Rudy Carpenter (the same Rudy Carpenter that torched the Buffs for nearly of 250 yards in 06) killed the Spartan’s secondary to the tune of 197 yards and 2 TDs last week. Meanwhile, Ryan Torain (80 yards against the Buffs last year) ripped up the ground game amassing 123 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Spartans. So, the ASU offense is capable. However, the Spartans didn’t bring the pressure like Buffs George Hypolite (1 sack, 2 tackles for loss, 6 total tackles against CSU) and Maurice Lucas (2 sacks, 8 total tackles against CSU) can. And I wouldn’t give Torain’s problems to a monkey on a rock if he manages to get through the D-Line. He’ll have to face linebackers Jordan Dizon (a ridiculous 22 tackles against CSU), Brad Jones (8 tackles against CSU) and R.J. Brown (6 tackles last week), not a pretty sight for a running back. Unfortunately, as usual, the Buffs will feature our normal weak spot: the secondary. Even with Terrence “NFL” Wheatley shutting down one side of the field last weekend the Rams were able to pick our secondary apart, even in nickel and dime packages. The key to stopping Carpenter and the ASU passing game will be pressure on Carpenter. Our DBs can run with nearly anyone so look for them to play up and do some bumping to try and give the defense line and blitz packages time to get to Carpenter.
The game breaker this week, just like last week, will be special teams. Thanks to huge returns by Wheatley and Chase McBride the Buffs had an average field position at the 44 to start its 11 drives last week. There’s no indicator that kind of return production won’t continue for the rest of the season. The only upside of Hugh Charles getting hurt was T-Wheat getting the nod as a kick returner.
Prediction: on paper it ain’t pretty for the Buffs but paper doesn’t play the game…CU 35 ASU 28. Go Buffs!

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