Colorado at Arizona
It’s hard to believe but at the pace Colorado Sophomore RB Jarek Broussard is rushing, 733 yards in 115 attempts over four games, with two games remaining he actually has a chance to rush for 1,000 yards in a season containing only half the normal games played. Of course part of that bloated average of 180+ yards per game is this lastest effort on the road at Arizona where he ran for an astounding 301 yards on 25 attempts, averaging 12 yards per carry, inflated by individual runs of 75, 72, and 59 yards—all towards Colorado’s total of 407 yards on the ground—most of the rest of those yards coming from Senior QB Sam Noyer and Freshman RB Ashaad Clayton along with all three Colorado rushing TD’s. Colorado, picked to be in the basement just above Arizona, remains undefeated knocking the Wildcats off 24-13 in Tucson while head coach Kevin Sumlin continues his winless season.
Getting off to a slow start, trailing 10-0 after the first Qtr and down another three points in less than three minutes into the 2nd, the Buffaloes came back quickly before the half with two long but quick back-to-back drives of 95 and 78 yards respectively, both in under 2 minutes, and both culminating in TD runs by Ashaad Clayton to go up 14-13 at the break. As it turns out that’s all the scoring they needed as they held Arizona scoreless in the 2nd half while adding another TD and field goal to their own total.
After throwing for over 600 yards and 4 TD’s in his first three games, Noyer never got it going against the Wildcats connecting on 12 of 19 for under 100 yards, no scores, and two interceptions. Freshman QB Will Plummer, in his 2nd start for Arizona after throwing for 151 yards and 2 interceptions in their loss against UCLA, connected on 19 of 32 for 154 yards and 1 interception—a little improvement there but still no points. His performance and his team’s inability to score in the 2nd half was in a big part caused by Colorado’s 5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss. If not for Broussard’s outrageous numbers Arizona’s ground game was solid if not light on points, rushing 43 times for 268 yards and 1 TD.
In the AP review of the game as reported by ESPN the “Take Aways” were as follows: “[For] Colorado, it’s another solid win for the Buffaloes, who found lots of success on the ground and decided to stick with what works. Broussard is an emerging star after four straight 100-yard games. Colorado should certainly get some consideration for the AP Top 25 after the fourth straight victory. [As far as Arizona goes,] the frustration continues for the Wildcats, who couldn’t hold on to the early lead. Their rush defense is a real problem right now and shows no signs of improvement.” Both teams are at home this next week with Colorado hosting Utah on Friday while Arizona will have home field against their in-state rival Arizona State in what as known as the Duel in the Desert. One of the longest football rivalries created 121 years ago in 1899, the winner will receive the Territorial Cup.
UCLA at Arizona State
On 2nd and goal at the one yard line with just 4:26 left to play in the 4th Qtr, Arizona State QB Jayden Daniels ran into the end zone to finally put the Sun Devils ahead 18-17 after trailing the entire game. But, after not scoring another point since just before the break, UCLA QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson and RB Demetric Felton teamed up for an 11 play 75 yard drive to take the lead back on a 2 yard TD run by Felton with just over a minute left in the game. A DTR pass to Chase Cota for a 2-point conversion put the Bruins up by seven, 25-18—a score that stood up thanks to the UCLA defense which kept the game from going into overtime by sacking Sun Devil QB Jayden Daniels twice in the last minute of play and Quentin Lake breaking up his last ditch pass on 4th and 19 with 20 seconds left. With the 25-18 victory secure UCLA Head Coach Chip Kelly finally, in his third season, has a winning record. How long it lasts remains to be seen
After spending a couple of weeks quarantined due to the COVID PAC-12 protocol, UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson returned to the helm of the ship seemingly no worse for wear connecting on 75% of his passes for slightly under 200 yards, one TD, and no interceptions. Thompson also rushed 15 times for 49 yards and another score on the ground, while Felton added 41 yards towards the UCLA total of 171 rushing yards against 165 for the Sun Devils. Most of those came via Freshman RB DeaMonte Trayanum who gained 108 yards on 15 attempts. Arizona State QB Jayden Daniels connected on 21 of 35 for 225 yards 1 TD and 1 pick and, like DTR, also recorded a rushing TD.
Due to COVID, this was only the Sun Devil’s 2nd game of the year and the lack of practice and playing time showed up in sloppiness and lack of discipline. As noted in the AP Recap of the game; “Arizona State was penalized 12 times for 83 yards, including three times for having an ineligible man down field—one wiping out a 5-yard touchdown pass from Daniels to Johnny Wilson.” The Sun Devils had more first downs and more total yards–offset by more turnovers and more penalties. Both teams recorded 5 sacks and at least 7 tackles for loss while Arizona led in the turnover department with four–three fumbles and that one interception.
The PAC-12 is called the Conference of Champions for a reason as Stanford, UCLA, and USC sit at 1, 2, and 3 respectively in NCAA Division 1 team championships and being located only 12 miles apart within the same city the rivalry between the Bruins and the Trojans is palpable. This next Saturday UCLA will host the unbeaten Trojans in the Rose Bowl in what is often referred to as the Los Angeles City Championship while the Sun Devils will head to Tempe to play for the Territorial Cup against their in-state rival Arizona.