College Football Recap: Wildcats Defense Key in Win Against Colorado; Sun Devils Stun Notre Dame

By Francisco Romero.- Colorado scored on the first play of the game. Shay Fields caught a 75-yard pass from Sefo Liufau to give the Buffaloes 7-0 lead with just 11 seconds into the game.

Picture Courtesy of Arizona Athletics

The play surprised the Arizona defense and quieted the more that 50 thousand fans at Arizona Stadium.

The Wildcats Defense was able to overcome that first play and was key in Arizona’s 38-20 win over Colorado.  By game’s end the Cats had scored 28 points off four-forced turnovers.

“We’re happy to get that one and proud of our guys,” Arizona’s head coach said after the game. “It was a good win and I told the team the more you win, the more is at stake.”

Quarterback Anu Solomon finished the game completing 21 of 38 passes for 211 yards, he also ran for 115 yards.

“Anu Solomon really competed and ran well. His running was probably the difference for us offensively,” said Rodriguez.

Freshman Nick Wilson ran for 153 yards on 21 carries.

Samajie Grant caught a pair of touchdown receptions for his first career multi- touchdown performance.

On the defensive Side Linebacker Scooby Wright, recorded 10 tackles, 2.0 for loss and 1.0 sack. Wright now has 107 tackles, 13.0 sacks to go with five forced fumbles.

Colorado’s quarterback Sefo Liufau finished the game with 252 passing yards but was intercepted twice.  He left in the fourth quarter and was replaced by Jordan Gehrke.

Arizona improves its record to 7-2, 4-2 (Pac 12), while Colorado remains at the bottom of the standings with a record of 2-8, 0-7 (Pac 12).

Sun Devils Over Notre Dame 55-31

After beating Notre Dame 55-31 on Saturday, the Arizona State Sun Devils football team is now in the National Championship conversations, well, at least the play-offs conversations. 

ASU jumped to an early 31-point lead only to see it vanish to a 3-point lead. 

Picture Courtesy of ASU Athletics

The Sun Devils answered with 21 points in the fourth quarter to seal the victory against the Fighting Irish.

No. 9 ASU improved to 8-1, 5-1 (Pac 12) while No. 10 Norte Dame record is now at 7-2.

Sun Devil’s quarterback Taylor Kelly completed 17 of 28 passes, and in doing so passed Jake Plummer (632) for third all-time in completions in school history (638).

Jaelen Strong caught five passes for a total of 58 yards on Saturday.

On the defensive side Arizona State recorded a total of seven sacks by seven different players for a combined loss of 64 yards.

Notre Dame’s quarterback Everett Golson finished the game with 446 passing yards, completing 22 of 41 passes; he also threw a career-high three interceptions.  

The Sun Devils outscored Notre Dame 28-7 in points off turnovers.