BOULDER – Trenton Bourguet set a Sun Devil Football record for most yards in a first career start, finishing with 435 yards and three touchdowns on 32-of-43 passing as Arizona State (3-5, 2-3 Pac-12) defeated Colorado, 42-34, on Saturday evening in Boulder, Colo.
Jalin Conyers became the first Sun Devil tight end in program history with three touchdown grabs in a single game and finished with six catches for 108 yards. Elijah Badger added eight catches for 137 yards. X Valladay reached the prestigious 4,000-yard rushing mark for his career, adding three touchdowns on the ground and finishing with 118 yards.
Colorado had closed the gap to 35-20 and was driving with momentum late in the third quarter, but Chris Edmonds was not fooled on a flea-flicker and picked it off to swing the pendulum back in the Sun Devils' favor.
Picture perfect INT by @cre__3 with :40 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.#ForksUp | #O2V pic.twitter.com/jlJL7ipyE2
— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) October 30, 2022
Bourguet delivered the dagger moments later when he found Conyers for a 20-yard score and his third of the night, extending the Sun Devil lead to 42-20 with just over 12 minutes remaining.
Bourguet completed his first nine passes on the evening and ASU had taken a 28-17 lead at the half on his 251 yards passing and Badger's six catches for 103 yards. An efficient first two quarters of play gave them an 11-point cushion at the break, courtesy of Xazavian Valladay's three rushing touchdowns and one Conyers score.
After both teams went three-and-out to start the half, ASU marched 53 yards on nine plays, capped by a 5-yard connection from Bourguet to Conyers, to make it 35-17 with 8:11 remaining in the third. Colorado answered with a late third quarter field goal, plus a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, but it wasn't enough to halt Bourguet's groove. He eclipsed 300 passing yards early in the third quarter to become the first Sun Devil to do so since the upset win over No. 4 Oregon in 2019.
He connected with nine separate Sun Devil receivers on the night, finding Badger for a game-high eight catches. Badger now has back-to-back 100-yard receiving games, the first Sun Devil to do it since Aiyuk's 100-plus yards against No. 4 Oregon and Oregon State in November 2019.
Arizona State started the ballgame with a three-and-out on defense and then went 64 yards in eight plays in just 3:23 to take a 7-0 lead. Bourget was perfect in four pass attempts and threw for 52 yards, a sign that a promising first career start for the Tucson native was in the cards, and Xazavian Valladay punched it in from four yards out to get the Sun Devils on the board first.
After ASU allowed a field goal for Colorado's first points of the night, the offense went 75 yards in seven plays in 3:12 to take a 14-3 lead with 2:39 left in first quarter. The Buffaloes responded with their own seven-play scoring drive, capping the 52-yard drive with a seven-yard passing touchdown that cut the score to 14-10 early in the second quarter.
Valladay added two more rushing touchdowns in the second quarter -- the first from 42 yards out -- and the Buffaloes connected on a 58-yard passing touchdown to wrap up the first half.
Valladay posted his fourth multiple touchdown game on the year, after doing it just three times in 38 games at Wyoming, to add to his 118 rushing yards on the night. He eclipsed the 4,000 yard mark for his career with his second quarter touchdown.
?? How @Xfactor4_ hit 4,000 career rushing yards.#ForksUp | #O2V
— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) October 30, 2022
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SERIES
Arizona State now leads the all-time series over the Buffaloes, 10-3, including a 35-13 victory in Tempe last season. Prior to that, CU had won three of the previous four contests. It's also the Sun Devils' first victory at Folsom Field since 2014, having lost the last two contests played there.
UP NEXT
The Sun Devils will return home to host No. 12 UCLA on Saturday, November 5.