Colorado (3-2) at Arizona State (1-4)

When/where: Saturday, 4:30 p.m./Mountain America Stadium

TV/Radio: Pac-12 Networks/850 AM, 94.1 FM

BetMGM Line: CU -4.5, 59.5 over/under

Weather: 90s at kickoff, mostly sunny.

Five storylines

Pac-12 Breakthrough: After the banner 3-0 start, Deion Sanders’ Buffs came back down to earth with a 42-6 shellacking in Oregon and then a 48-41 loss, however promising, to USC at home last week. This Saturday presents a golden opportunity for Coach Prime to get his first Pac-12 win against a program that is playing under a self-imposed bowl ban coming off the tumultuous end of Herm Edwards’ regime in Tempe. ASU’s lone win is against Southern Utah. This is a conference gimmie.

On the ground: The Buffs finally got the run game going in the loss to the Trojans, breaking the 100-yard mark for the first time this season with a 193-yard output. Anthony Hankerson led the way with 74 yards, and Dylan Edwards added 49 yards. That duo needs to continue to emerge this Saturday as a two-pronged tailback threat for the Buffs. The scrambling ability of Shedeur Sanders, who had 76 yards and a TD on the ground last week, is an added bonus.

Swiss-cheese D: CU’s defense has given up 35-plus points in three straight games. Last Saturday, Heisman candidate Caleb Williams diced the Buffs’ secondary for 403 passing yards and six TDs. Against a stagnant ASU offense that’s struggled to demonstrate consistency, the CU defense needs to make a statement. Junior safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig, who picked Williams and has a team-leading three interceptions on the year, is central in a bounce-back showing by the injury-affected secondary.

Bowl eligibility tracker: The Buffs missed out on bowling the last couple years, but still they’re ahead of the curve to get back to one this year. However, that means CU needs to take care of business vs ASU. That would put them at four wins with Stanford, UCLA, Oregon State, Arizona, Washington State and Utah left. The Buffs should be favored against the 1-4 Cardinal at home next week, and with a victory at Folsom, would need just one more win against a schedule that includes three teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25.

Series History: CU is 3-10 against ASU and 3-7 in Pac-12 play. The Buffs’ last win in Tempe came in 2019, a 34-31 triumph thanks to James Stefanou’s late fourth-quarter field goal that represents the smallest margin of victory in the series.

Predictions

Kyle Newman, sportswriter: CU 35, ASU 21

Biding time until the return of Travis Hunter, the Buffs get big performances out of Xavier Weaver and Jimmy Horn Jr. Both receivers go over the 100-yard mark against a suspect ASU secondary, and Shedeur Sanders’ athleticism and scrambling ability are also tough for the Sun Devils to contain as the QB accounts for four total TDs.

Sean Keeler, sports columnist: CU 33, ASU 27 (OT)

What do you get when the team (CU) ranked No. 104 nationally in defensive efficiency visits the team (ASU) ranked No. 98? Well, ideally, you better hope you get the ball last. My gut leaned with Sparky on this one, until I looked at one specific uh-oh stat for the hosts: ASU leads the Pac-12 in giveaways (13) and ranks last in turnover margin (minus-12). The Buffs are No. 2 in takeaways (12) and tops in turnover margin (plus-7). If CU can force the Sun Devils into a mistake (or three), they’re probably home free.

Matt Schubert, sports editor: CU 31, ASU 28

The Sun Devils offense has been frisky since head coach Kenny Dillingham took over play-calling two weeks ago — and started using Sacramento State transfer Cameron Skattebo as a wild card out of the backfield. While that might be enough to keep pace with the Buffs deep into the fourth quarter, it isn’t enough to score an upset.

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