:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/61628213/1033914508.jpg.0.jpg)
The Arizona State Sun Devils will have their first Pac-12 South matchup on Saturday. Herm Edwards’ team travels to Boulder to face the Colorado Buffaloes. who find themselves undefeated and in the Top 25.
The Sun Devils will have a hard time obtaining their first road victory of the season if these Buffalo players have good performances.
Redshirt junior quarterback Steven Montez - The veteran starting quarterback is a big reason why Colorado hasn’t lost a game. With a touchdown to interception ratio of 9-to-2, Montez has limited mistakes and been efficient at the same time. Another eye opening stat is last year his completion percentage was at around 60%, through four games this season, it’s at 75%.
The key factor of Montez isn’t any stat however. It’s his experience. The Sun Devil defense is very young, and it’s still making alignment and assignment mistakes. Playing in each of his three seasons, Montez has seen a lot. If the ASU doesn’t do things correctly pre-snap, Montez will know how to take advantage of them.
Sophomore wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. - When you look at Colorado’s passing stats, it’s led by Shenault by a large margin. He leads the team in receptions by 20 and yards by 388. Over the course of their four games, Shenault is starting to breakout as a potential star for the Buffaloes. So much so that even Edwards compared him to ASU wide out N’Keal Harry.
“He’s big, strong, physical they move him all over the place they really do. Run him on bubbles, inside on slot, I mean he does everything,” Edwards said. “He just caught a big pass against UCLA, 50-something plus (yards). I like the way he plays, he’s big about 6-foot-3, 220 (pounds) or something like that. So he’s hard to tackle, he’s a really good football player.”
Sophomore linebacker Nate Landman - Landman leads the Buffaloes in tackles with 42. He also has the most interceptions on the team with two. Landman will most likely have the duties of making sure Eno Benjamin doesn’t get to the next level and stopping big runs.