TEMPE, Ariz. — Can Colorado keep the game competitive into the second half?
That’s the overriding question facing the Buffaloes (1-7, 0-4 Pac-12) in today’s 4:30 p.m. matchup with No. 23 Arizona State (5-2, 3-1) at Sun Devil Stadium.
After falling behind early in recent games against Stanford (48-7), Washington (52-24) and Oregon (45-2), the Buffs will begin a stretch of five consecutive games against divisional foes in the Pac-12 South to close out the season.
Colorado, meanwhile, looks at times like a freshman team. Starting quarterback Tyler Hansen (concussion) was held out, so Buffs started redshirt freshman QB Nick Hirschman, who will hand off to a tailback that’s either a redshirt freshman (Tony Jones) or true freshman (Malcolm Creer).
This is another difficult draw for a CU team decimated by injuries, with Arizona State the favorite to win the South Division and qualify for the first Pac-12 championship game, especially with Southern California being ineligible for postseason play this year due to NCAA penalties. A crowd of about 55,000 is expected in Sun Devil Stadium for ASU’s homecoming.
The Sun Devils are a veteran unit, with juniors and seniors comprising the entire starting lineup on offense and eight of 11 starters on defense.
For the fourth consecutive game, CU’s top receiver, sophomore Paul Richardson (knee) is not expected to play, leaving yet another redshirt freshman, Keenan Canty, as his replacement.
“We’ve got to get these guys ready for next year,” offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said of all the freshmen seeing action.
It’s no surprise that Colorado is considered a 30-point underdog. It hardly seems like a fair fight. But the Buffs say they don’t look at it that way and will come battling.
“Things haven’t worked out like we had planned. It seems like if we didn’t have bad luck, we wouldn’t have any at all,” Bieniemy said. “But some of these young kids have a great opportunity to gain some experience and learn how to play college football right.
“That’s going to help us now and in the future.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
