In Week 6, ASU football faces its third ranked opponent of the season in No. 21 Colorado, but are the undefeated Buffaloes contenders or pretenders?
Rarely do games at the midway point of the college football season have implications on a conference’s outlook come late November. However, that appears to be the case as Arizona State prepares for Colorado.
Coming into the week, CU is one of 14 FBS teams without a loss. As of Thursday, ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI), a measure a team’s results to date as well as predicting performance for the remainder of the season, ranks the Buffaloes 53rd. Rated No. 12 among undefeated teams, only Cincinnati and South Florida are slotted lower.
Projected 7.2 wins in spite of a 4-0 start, the question at hand here is whether or not Colorado was dealt a favorable hand to open 2018. To properly evaluate, each of Colorado’s four opponents will be examined in addition to how the Buffaloes performed over the first month.
Solely analyzing wins and losses, the schedule looks light. Opponents Colorado State, Nebraska, UCLA and FCS foe New Hampshire are a combined 1-16 with CSU possessing the lone win.
Coach Mike MacIntyre has the offense stampeding in Boulder to the tune of 40.3 points per game with consistency. CU has scored at least 33 points every week over the season’s first month.
Defensively, the Cornhuskers’ performance stands as an anomaly with a 28-point showing that challenged Colorado down to the final minutes in Lincoln. Outside of that, CSU, UNH, and UCLA all failed to score more than 16 points.
The CU offense deserves some recognition, notably due to the emergence of wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. A sophomore, his 581 receiving yards are currently the fifth-most nationally.
Overall, each of the three FBS opponents Colorado has faced all rank among the bottom 20 teams in Division-I on both sides of the ball.
The Sun Devils on the other hand, possess experience with ranked opponents, having previously faced both No. 10 Washington on the road as well as then- No. 15 Michigan State at home in September.
Though ASU does not post gaudy offensive numbers, expect Colorado to struggle early with a unit that shows resistance to a defense that has not been faced with much thus far.
Is it possible for Colorado to start 5-0? Absolutely. The Buffaloes match up well to ASU with a passing attack capable of exposing a young secondary and a defense that could be as good as advertised.
But only time will tell.