Valedictorian: Redshirt senior linebacker Antonio Longino
Longino entered Saturday's game with zero sacks on the season out of the pass-rushing "Devilbacker" spot. He had 2.5 of ASU's eight sacks by himself against Colorado, finishing with eight total tackles (4.5 for loss) and a forced fumble in what head coach Todd Graham called the best game of his career.
ASU's offense followed up its season-best performance against No. 7 UCLA with another solid outing. The running game did struggle — the two of the game's three top rushers (senior D.J. Foster and redshirt senior Mike Bercovici) technically are not listed as running backs, and sophomore running back Demario Richard left the game with an apparent leg injury.
Bercovici matched his career high with five touchdowns and the offense picked up 491 total yards, but failed twice to convert in the red zone and put the ball in jeopardy three times (two fumbles, which were both recovered in addition to Bercovici's interception).
ASU did have eight sacks on Saturday and managed to force two turnovers, but repeatedly got burned for explosive plays. Two of Colorado's three scores came immediately after a big play allowed by the Sun Devil defense, and one of them was a 68-yard pass to Devin Ross, who streaked past safety Kareem Orr to get open for the deep ball.
Longino was impressive, as mentioned earlier, and the Sun Devils also saw strong performances from redshirt junior Salamo Fiso and sophomore DJ Calhoun. ASU also held its opponent to less than 100 rushing yards for the third consecutive game (vs. USC, UCLA).
The special team unit played probably its best game of the season on Saturday, excelling in nearly all areas. Junior kicker Zane Gonzalez nailed both of his field goal attempts, junior punter Matt Haack was only needed twice and redshirt freshman Dasmond Tautalatasi came up with a punt block that helped shift the momentum in the second quarter.
Reach the reporter at fardaya@asu.edu or follow @fardaya15 on Twitter.
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