The Sun Devils, in the cold of the Colorado mountains, rode a career-best performance from redshirt junior running back Raleek Brown to win an ugly but dominant game over the Buffaloes 42-17.
A career day for Brown highlighted the Sun Devils' offense despite a sloppy performance. ASU turned the ball over four times, the most all season, but Brown's career-high 255 rushing yards overshadowed these mistakes. The Sun Devils amassed a season-high 580 total yards en route to their largest win of the season.
"We just had to get a feel for the defense and see what they were doing," Brown said via Speak of the Devils. "Then once we got a feel, we were just on one."
Brown's biggest play of the game came in the fourth quarter, where he scored an 88-yard touchdown for his first rushing touchdown since Oct. 18 against Texas Tech. He also added 33 receiving yards and a touchdown for 288 total yards and two touchdowns.
The Sun Devils' defense played well, holding Colorado to exactly 300 yards. Senior Keyshaun Elliott and redshirt senior Justin Wodtly each had two sacks in the win. The Buffaloes were held to 5-18 on third down and 0-2 on fourth down, something the defense has done well all season long.
READ MORE: ASU football's third down struggles stall offense while defense succeeds
Most impressively, ASU only allowed three points off of the four turnovers the offense committed. The defense bailed out the offense multiple times, and head coach Kenny Dillingham saw their effort.
"To only give up 17 points and 300 yards in a game in three quarters is phenomenal," Dillingham said, via Speak of the Devils. "So that defense definitely kept us in that thing."
After winning the Big 12 offensive player of the week two times in three weeks, redshirt senior Jeff Sims had an up-and-down game. He threw an interception and fumbled the ball, but passed for 206 yards and two touchdowns.
Redshirt junior Jordyn Tyson made his return to the playing field after missing the last three games due to a hamstring injury. The former Buffalo caught two passes for 61 yards.
Redshirt sophomore Derek Eusebio led all receivers with four receptions for 87 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown.
"(Tyson) gave a speech before the game," Dillingham said via Speak of the Devils. "All he talked about was this isn't about him and this is about the team. This is about the team playing their best football game."
There was deja vu from the 2025 Peach Bowl as sophomore punter Kanyon Floyd converted a fake punt pass to redshirt junior Blazen Lono-Wong. The Sun Devils' special teams had a solid game overall, after a difficult year so far. Redshirt senior Jesus Gomez went 2-2 on his field goals.
ASU will now look to welcome the Arizona Wildcats to Mountain America Stadium for the Territorial Cup. The Sun Devils will need to defeat the Wildcats and need help from around the rest of the Big 12 to make the championship game.
"If we can play meaningful football on the last Saturday every year," Dillingham said via Speak of the Devils, "we're going to continue to sell out games. If we continue to sell out games, we're going to continue to get more of an investment from the University."
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf and Pippa Fung.
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Niall Rosenberg is a lead Sports Reporter at the State Press. He has previously worked with sports teams such as the Rockford Rivets of the Northwoods League. He is in his 2nd semester with the State Press with the chance to cover football and other sports.
