Takeaways from Colorado football's embarrassing loss to Arizona State

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The Colorado Buffaloes' 2025 season of misery and despair continued Saturday evening as they dropped yet another Big 12 matchup. This time it came at the hands of No. 25 Arizona State, with the Buffs falling 42–17 in their final home game of the year.

Here are five takeaways from Colorado's showing at Folsom Field against the Sun Devils.

The Colorado run defense is dreadful

Another week brought another 100-plus yard rusher carved straight through Colorado's defense. Junior ASU running back Raleek Brown delivered a monster performance with 22 carries for 255 yards and a touchdown. As a team, Arizona State piled up 355 rushing yards on 45 attempts with three scores. There are simply no words for how horrific that is. It has been the same story all season. Colorado cannot stop the run, and that trend continued without hesitation against ASU.

Julian Lewis looked like a freshman

It was another less-than-ideal outing for Julian Lewis. The offensive line was once again missing pieces, although he did a better job escaping pressure and avoiding sacks. He still took four, which is far from ideal but an improvement from the West Virginia game. Lewis led a few promising drives, yet the box score tells the fuller story. He finished 19 of 38 for 161 yards and one touchdown while averaging only 4.2 yards per attempt, a number that reads more like a running back stat. He did protect the football, which matters, but the ceiling is clearly higher. If he returns to Boulder next season, the hope is that a new offensive coordinator and playcaller can help him grow and achieve sustainable success.

Colorado's inability to capitalize on turnovers

The Buffs forced four turnovers and gained almost nothing from them. They intercepted Jeff Sims once and recovered three fumbles. Of those four gifts, they manufactured only three points. When you force that many turnovers, you have to score. Colorado failed again, and it remains a defining theme of their season. Takeaways are valuable, but if you cannot turn them into points, they lose almost all meaning in competitive games.

Colorado's fourth-quarter collapse needs answers

This game was close for three quarters, with Colorado trailing only 21–17 heading into the fourth. Then everything collapsed in fifteen minutes. Colorado fumbled on the opening drive, and ASU immediately scored. The Buffs punted, ASU scored again. Colorado punted once more, and the Sun Devils delivered a third straight touchdown. In that short window, the score flipped from 21–17 to 42–17. That kind of collapse highlights a significant lack of consistency and stamina across the board. Both the offense and defense came apart, and the Buffs dropped to 3–8 as a result.

Colorado must evaluate its coaching across the board

Deion Sanders noted that the team showed what it is capable of in the first half, but sustaining that level is an entirely different challenge. Allowing three straight touchdown drives in a close game is unacceptable. Colorado's failure to capitalize on turnovers points to offensive play-calling issues in critical moments, and the defensive struggles are impossible to ignore. The play-calling on both sides of the ball has been perplexing all season and has left much to be desired. That will be a major storyline this offseason, as Colorado may be searching for both a new offensive and a new defensive coordinator.

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This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Colorado football takeaways Arizona State loss, Ronald Coleman fumble

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