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How Arizona State football and Jake Fette can beat Colorado
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- How Arizona State football and Jake Fette can beat Colorado
The Arizona State football team hasn't been good enough to think it can overlook any opponent. Still, coach Kenny Dillingham is doing everything he can to guard against overconfidence. His biggest argument? This week's opponent, Colorado, has played better against most opponents than ASU.
The Buffaloes lost to Texas Tech 29-7, but led 7-3 at the half and only trailed 15-7 early in the fourth. ASU lost to the Red Raiders 53-25 after giving up 43 points in the first half.
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ASU lost to Baylor, 55-19. Colorado lost to the same team 23-13.
The Sun Devils will not play Utah, which currently sits first in the Big 12. But Colorado played the Utes tough, losing 27-24.
So despite Colorado being one of the three teams tied for last at 1-4 in conference play, Dillingham expects a battle.
"Offensively, (Colorado offensive coordinator) Brennan Marion does a great job," Dillingham said. "He's always been one of the best rushing teams in the country. They've always ran the ball at a high clip in his entire career.
"I worked with him at Arizona State back in the day. They've been playing really good football on offense. Specifically, the last three weeks, they're moving the football. They've just had turnover issues. This is a very good football team, a very good football team that is dangerous, and I think they've shown that every single week that they've played. They've had the lead in almost every game that they've played."
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Colorado (3-5, 1-4) at Arizona State (4-4, 2-3)
Time/site : 5:30 p.m. MST, Saturday, Nov. 7, Mountain America Stadium.
TV:ESPN2 (Chuckie Kempf, Dustin Fox, Lauren Sisler). Radio: ESPN 620 AM .(Tim Healey, Jeff Van Raaphorst, Kevin Turner, Jeff Munn).
Series history: ASU leads the series 11-4. Colorado won the last meeting in Tempe, 27-24 , in 2023.
Last meeting: ASU defeated the Buffaloes 42-17 in Boulder in 2025. That win came despite four turnovers.
Storylines
Both coaches are in their fourth year at their programs and have been vocal supporters of each other since they came in.
Both have had quarterback issues this season. ASU is on its third different starter, with true freshman Jake Fette holding that job down now . Colorado has used four different quarterbacks and two starters, each of whom has started four games.
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The teams have played three common opponents so far. Both lost to Baylor and Texas Tech, while both defeated Kansas State.
Coaching matchup
Kenny Dillingham, ASU (fourth year, 26-21): Dillingham, 36, was the Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2024, the season when ASU won the conference championship.
Deion Sanders, Colorado (fourth year, 45-32 overall, 18-25 at Colorado): Sanders, 59, took the job at Colorado after three years at Jackson State, in which his teams were a combined 27-6. The former All-American at Florida State played in the NFL from 1989 to 2005, most notably with the Atlanta Falcons. He is a two-time Super Bowl Champion and a former NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
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Colorado will win if . . .
It cuts down on penalties:The Buffaloes are the most penalized team in the Big 12, and only four FBS schools have been called for more penalties. Colorado is averaging 80.4 yards in penalties per game. It only had eight for 53 yards in its 27-24 win over Kansas State last weekend. It had 11 for 84 yards the previous week in a loss to Oklahoma State.
It gets competent play at quarterback: This position is the biggest reason for Colorado's struggles over the past two seasons. Julian Lewis started the first four games of the season, then lost the job to Utah transfer Isaac Wilson, who has started the past four. Wilson has thrown for 1,164 yards but has as many interceptions (7) as touchdowns (7).
It can force some turnovers: The Buffaloes are last in the Big 12 and 137th out of 138 FBS programs in turnover margin. They have only seven takeaways and 17 turnovers. ASU ranks 100th; it has just one more takeaway (8), but has turned it over fewer times (11).
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Arizona State will win if . . .
It creates "chaos" on defense:There is a lot to this. Forcing turnovers is part of the equation, but Dillingham also wants more pressure on the quarterback, saying that is one common denominator that has been missing. He wants to throw different looks at the quarterback. It's all about not letting the opposing signal-caller get comfortable and rush him into bad decisions.
Reed Harris gets more involved in the offense:Last week was the first game in which Harris was not a factor. BYU sent an extra defender over to help with coverage, which is why other receivers saw more targets. Harris has 48 catches for 804 yards, with five games with more than 90 receiving yards. It will be interesting to see if opponents use the same strategy BYU did since it was successful.
The offensive line holds up: The Sun Devils have used a different starting combination in each of the last seven games. The unit has given up 25 sacks, six of those in the first half last week. That is the highest total in the Big 12 and more than all but six FBS schools. The unit has fared alright in run blocking, but pass protection has been the issue.
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Injury report
Colorado:WR Kaleb Mathis, WR Danny Scudero, DB Braylon Edwards, RB Micah Welch are out. DB Naeten Mitchell, DL Vili Taufatofua, DL Dylan Manuel are questionable. DB Cree Thomas, OL Sean Kinney are probable.
Arizona State: DL My'Keil Gardner, TE Khamari Anderson, LB Zyrus Fiaseu, DB Nigel Pringle, S Lyrik Rawls are all out for the season, with Rawls the latest added to this list . Also out for the game are WR Harry Hassmann and WR Uriah Leloms. OL Wade Helton is questionable. QB Mikey Keene, TE Kristian Ingman, OL Suka Lokotui, OL Tana Alo-Tupuola are probable.
By the numbers
3—Games in which ASU's Cardae Mack has eclipsed the century mark on the ground. He is the firsttrue freshman running back at ASU to accomplish the feat since Deantre Lewis in 2010. Mack is recording a first down or touchdown 38.5% of the time he rushes the ball.
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32— Number of quarterback pressures for ASU's Jalen Thompson. That is fourth in the Big 12 and 15th nationally. His 19.3% pass-rush win rate leads the league and ranks 11th nationally. ASU's 2025 team leader had 29 pressures.
222 —Rushing yards for Colorado in last week's win over Kansas State. It was a season-best. Richard Younghad the first 100-yard game of his CU career (24 carries, 120 yards, two touchdowns). The fourth quarter was 14 runs and no pass attempts. Look for Colorado to establish the run to take the pressure off the quarterback.
348—Number of players drafted out or who have played in the NFL out of Colorado
They said it
Dillingham on Colorado counterpart Deion Sanders:"They've won a lot of games since he's been there, and they're playing really good football. I know there's always going to be, no matter who you are, there's going to be critics. There's probably going to be more when you're Coach Prime, right? People are always out for you, but he's done an unbelievable job making it a destination place. They've got multiple NFL guys on this defense, multiple NFL guys on this offense, especially up front at wide receiver. He's put together a good roster, and they're in a better place today than when he took over. That's the measure of a head coach."
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Sanders on ASU:"They have a couple of receivers and a running back that are really good. I mean, they're really good. They can move the ball either way. Quarterback can pull the trigger. We hope to eliminate him from doing so. Defensively, they're sound. They play good football. They want to keep the ball in front of them, rally to the football, and try to eliminate our running game. Everybody we play is gonna try and force Isaac (Wilson) into making mistakes. We know that. We gotta run the ball."
Who will win and why
Arizona State 28, Colorado 20: The Sun Devils typically play better at home, and Fette should be more comfortable with a full game and another practice week under his belt. Colorado has played well on defense, but it has had issues at quarterback, which has forced the Buffaloes to lean on the running game. The Sun Devils have done a much better job lately of stopping the run.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How Arizona State football and Jake Fette can beat Colorado
