In what was a Pac-12 match up for the past decade, the Colorado Buffaloes and Arizona Wildcats met in Tucson on Saturday for the first time as members of the Big 12 Conference. Colorado came into the game looking to bounce back from their late loss at home to Kansas State last week, while Arizona was looking to snap a two-game slide after falling to BYU last Saturday.
Colorado came in right in the thick of the Big 12 race at 2-1 in conference play, while Arizona was looking to stay in the race, coming in at 1-2. But on Saturday, it was all Buffaloes, who dominated from start to finish on their way to a 34-7 win.
Here are the top three takeaways from the game.
Shedeur Sanders Shines
Shedeur Sanders has been one of the best quarterbacks in the country for the first half of the college football season, and that continued on Saturday at Arizona. The Colorado quarterback was feeling for most of the afternoon in Tuscon. His offensive line gave him more time than he’s had most of the season, and you saw Sanders effectively spread the ball around to nine different wide receivers. Sanders finished 23/34 for 250 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Colorado even did a better job of running the ball as well. Their 3.8 yards per carry was well above their conference average of 2.1 yards per carry. However, we know the strength of this team, and as long as Sanders gets halfway decent protection on a given Saturday, this Buffaloes team is continuing to prove it can play with anybody in the Big 12 Conference throughout the rest of the season.
Arizona’s Offensive Struggles are Brutal
Arizona came into the game averaging only 21.3 points per game in league play, which was only ahead of Utah and Houston. No Arizona or Big 12 fan would have predicted such a pedestrian offense coming into the 2024 season since the Wildcats were returning some of the most talented playmakers in the conference.
But the offensive woes continued on Saturday for Noah Fifita and company. Despite Colorado struggling vs. the run in league play (176 yards per game allowed), the Wildcats could not get the running game going finishing with 107 rushing yards for 3.1 yards per carry.
And the passing attack remains a shell of what it was under Jedd Fisch. The big-play explosiveness is completely gone from this offense. The Wildcats averaged 5.3 yards per pass in this game. Fifita finished 16/26 for 138 yards, while Tetairoa McMillan had five catches for 38 yards, with the longest catch of 10 yards.
Colorado Wins the Line of Scrimmage… on Both Sides
The trenches were an issue during the entire 2023 college football season for the Buffaloes, their final in the Pac-12. This season, Colorado appeared to be getting better along the defensive line, while the offensive line remained an issue.
But as Colorado’s group of transfers continues to mesh and come together, both sides of the line of scrimmage looks better with each passing game. On Saturday, Colorado’s defense had seven tackles and seven tackles for loss, while Colorado’s offensive line only gave up one sack and three tackles for loss.
Colorado entered the game with the most sacks in the Big 12 in league play, with 10 in three games. They’re going to continue to likely lead in that category after Week 8. And they were dead last in sacks against, giving up 18 in three games. They’re doing their best to get out of the basement.
If they can continue to improve on both sides, watch out Big 12.
