The pass was dropped, as Walker lost sight of the ball in the midday sun, but the meaning of the throw was not lost on anyone in the Rose Bowl crowd.
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“It used to be nine or 10 plays, now it’s down to one or two or three”, MacIntyre said.
UCLA’s struggles on third down were well-documented against Arizona State.
The Sun Devils hope to build off it, starting with Saturday’s home game against Colorado.
Turnovers. OK, another given – but it’s no coincidence that the Buffs win when they win the turnover battle. “If they don’t turn the football over, they could really easily have beaten Oregon last week”. Demario Richard carried the ball 14 times for 131 yards and scored the only two touchdowns for the Sun Devils in the loss.
ASU’s early season problems were never a matter of talent. They know they had a vulnerable Oregon team at Folsom Field.
ASU has been susceptible to a good passing attack.
Over the past three games, a pattern has appeared to develop in Mazzone’s play-calling on first down. Perhaps Todd Graham and his staff will have Foster line up as a tailback at times but if he’s mostly positioned out wide CU’s secondary is capable of matching up with him in coverage. That would come courtesy of sophomore running back Kalen Ballage, making just his second appearance of the year after missing the first three games dues to illness.
Bercovici has completed 60 percent of his passes and averaged 6.7 yards per pass attempt, which is down a yard from last season’s average.
As Ballage kept going, his teammates started latching onto the pile, one pulling him from behind, several others pushing from the front. They average 233 rushing yards per game, good enough for 17th in Division I. The Sun Devils defense usually doesn’t head in the right direction in the second quarter. They just suffered their first defeat (to Arizona State), and these are insane times around here.
Arizona State’s defense stacked the line of scrimmage to thwart UCLA’s running game, and the Bruins managed a paltry 62 yards. And with an expanding United States talent base and growth of the USA junior leagues, there’s definitely room for more college hockey programs in Division I. No matter what happens, the college hockey world will be paying very close attention to what happens in the desert this season. Aside from one big drive through the air and the work done on Glen Ihenacho by Nelson Spruce, the Buffs were unable to fully capitalize on that weakness. Oregon should keep winning for a while, playing Washington State and Washington before launching a tough stretch of the schedule. White followed up the Sun Devils’ first safety in two years by returning the kickoff 65 yards and then rumbling in with a 14-yard TD catch. Lisella has shown promise, but he’s still adapting to dealing with the speed of Pac-12 defensive ends.
Running game. The Buffs actually outgained the Sun Devils on the ground a year ago, running for 232 yards, including 118 from Christian Powell. They disguise their pressure exceptionally well and have the athletes to break down almost every form of offensive protection.
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“I think that we’re just so frustrated right now and with ourselves mostly because of the way we ended last week, kind of the way we played especially on the offense, the way we started which was really frustrating and the way we ended too which was not the best”, said CU quarterback Sefo Liufau. First, Bercovici is able to find a hole and run the ball 34 yards for a touchdown.
