ASU Football: Buffs’ Shenault too much for Sun Devils

ASU football‘s game featured two of the best receivers in the country in N’Keal Harry and Laviska Shenault Jr. with Shenault shining brighter Saturday.

In a game with the Pac-12 South on the line, it came down to which team’s top playmaker would step up in a big way to alter the outcome.

For No. 21 Colorado, that player was Laviska Shenault Jr. who entered the divisional contest with 38 catches for 581 yards. His success continued against Arizona State on Saturday afternoon.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound wide receiver finished with 13 receptions for 127 yards and four total touchdowns. His four scores determined the final as the Buffs secured a 28-21 victory in Boulder.

Shenault was utilized to max in the Colorado offense. The true sophomore lined up on the outside, in the slot, and even took snaps at quarterback in the wildcat formation to earn two rushing touchdowns at the goal-line.

ASU defensive back Chase Lucas was tasked with covering the quick and strong athlete that is Shenault. Unfortunately for Lucas, Shenault won the one-on-one battles most of the game proving to be a match-up nightmare for the Sun Devils.

The Buffs’ star wideout has emerged as one of the Pac-12’s elite and his play provides a boost to the confidence of junior quarterback Steven Montez.

On the other side, ASU’s comparable weapon was N’Keal Harry who stacks up very evenly compared to Shenault. However, Harry was limited to just three catches for 62 yards and never saw the end zone.

When the Sun Devils put their number one playmaker out on the field in different ways, the decision seemingly backfired when Harry returned a punt and took a huge hit that removed him from the action for a bit late in the game.

Harry was limited to only 13 of ASU’s 22 offensive snaps in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Manny Wilkins also left the field with an injury as the game slowly favored Colorado down the stretch.

Now, the task ahead for ASU is finding a win on the road. The Sun Devils are now 0-3 on the road in the 2018 season, and each loss has been by one score.

The Sun Devils receive a much-needed bye week as the team looks to heal up after the very physical game in Boulder. ASU returns home to host No. 14 Stanford looking to build on its 3-0 record at Sun Devil Stadium this season.