The Buffaloes connected on a 44-yard field goal by James Stefanou that ultimately stood as the difference between the two teams, and lifted Colorado to their first win over ASU in Sun Devil Stadium.
"We knew coming in, this was a very good offense that we were facing," head coach Herm Edwards said of the Buffalo offense. "We were going to have to score some points. Defensively, I did not think that we were going to allow them the first four-or-five possessions to go down and score on us. I think we only made them punt once early. In the second half, we kind of slowed them down, only gave them ten points. Not a lot of pressure on the quarterback and when you do not have pressure on he (Steven Montez) can pick you apart. He did a nice job moving the ball on us."
Colorado jumped out to an early 14-0 lead before ASU's offense responded, scoring 14 unanswered points in under three minutes of play. Brandon Aiyuk highlighted the first half scoring, hauling in a 53-yard touchdown pass. The Sun Devil special teams unit did there part on the ensuing kickoff, forcing a fumble that set up one of two Eno Benjamin first half touchdowns.
We'll take that back ????
— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) September 22, 2019
Case Hatch forces a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Sun Devis recover on the Buffs 44 yard line?? pic.twitter.com/6ZlDdK6suL
Benjamin, a preseason Doak Walker Award Preseason Watch-List honoree, finished the night with 83 yards in the game and eclipsed 2,000 career rushing yards and has 2,076 yards in his third year as a Sun Devil. He also notched his 20th career touchdown which tied the game at 21 with 5:23 left in the first half.
TD no. ?? for @eno_benjamin5 pic.twitter.com/wf0QKZ3Skl
— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) September 22, 2019
Daniels threw for a career-high 345 yards and two touchdowns.
300 PASSING YARDS BY A SUN DEVIL FRESHMAN
467 - Rudy Carpenter vs. Rutgers, Dec. 27, 2005
432 - Jeff Krohn vs. Oregon, Oct. 28, 2000
401 – Rudy Carpenter vs. Washington, Oct. 29, 2005
381 – Rudy Carpenter at Washington State, Nov. 5, 2005
345 - Jayden Daniels vs. Colorado, Sep. 21, 2019
334 – Rudy Carpenter at #14 UCLA, Nov. 12, 2005
304 - Jayden Daniels vs. Sacramento State, Sept. 6, 2019
304 – Rudy Carpenter at Stanford, Oct. 22, 2005
302 – Dillon Sterling-Cole at Oregon, Oct. 29, 2016
In the fourth quarter, he connected with Frank Darby in the corner of the endzone for a 39-yard touchdown that tied the game for the fourth time.
DEEP THREAT ????@JayD__5 ?? @_SavageSZN8
— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) September 22, 2019
?? @Pac12Network pic.twitter.com/khPtsyavXn
"We know the type of receivers that we have," Daniels said. "They have a freak ability, and I say nobody in the country can guard them. We just have to give them a chance."
Daniels once again failed to play like a first-year quarterback, delivering throws under pressure and staying in the pocket. The true freshman found nine receivers on the night, including first-career receptions for Nolan Matthews, Jordan Kerley and A.J. Carter.
"It is the first time these guys have lost all year," Edwards said. "How we regroup is very important. It is a short week, and we start practicing again on Monday and, then we leave on Thursday. It is a very short week, we have to get some things in. We have to get some things to straighten out too, especially on defense. We have to play a lot better if we are going to contend and try to win games."
The Sun Devils look to rebound next Friday night as they travel to Berkeley, CA for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff against California. ASU's first conference road game can be viewed on ESPN and heard on ESPN 620 AM.
Things to know:
- Eno Benjamin has now recorded a touchdown in six consecutive games
- ASU recorded a takeaway for the 10th- consecutive outing
- Cam Phillips recorded a career-high 10 tackles
- It is the fifth time Benjamin has rushed for two or more touchdowns in a game in his career and the sixth time he has been responsible for two-plus touchdowns
- Case Hatch recorded his first forced fumble of his collegiate career