Brad Cesmat
Open the trap door, here comes Colorado for Arizona State. With unbeaten and 5th ranked Utah on the schedule the following week, this Saturday’s game with the Buffaloes is no sure thing for the Sun Devils. Sure, they SHOULD roll them to set up a showdown in Salt Lake City on the 17th, but this is a “buyer beware” matchup. 
Trap games are part of any season, being able to get 18, 19, 20, 21 year olds to be focused and ready on a weekly basis is a challenge. Looking back on the first five weeks of the season for Arizona State, Todd Graham has had his fair share of adversity. Moving Mike Norvell upstairs then back downstairs. Not having his wrecking ball running back Kalen Ballage available, injuries at wide receiver, poor tackling vs USC. Yet, if you add it all up, Arizona State isn’t in the worst position in the Pac-12 South. Don’t look past Colorado, or the tone will be much different.
Arizona has gotten rolled the last two weeks. Injuries to Scooby Wright and Anu Solomon have hurt Rich Rodriguez. Take two leaders off any team(ask UCLA about losing Myles Jack) and you’re going to struggle. No bye 
week for the Wildcats is an absolute killer. With two L’s already on their conference record, Saturdays home game against Oregon State is in the “must win” category. Stanford gashed Arizona for 314 rushing yards and 256 through the air. I watched most of the game and felt like Rich Rod was going to blow a gasket on more than one occasion. Here’s the good news for Arizona, the schedule smooths out considerably over the next month. Oregon State, at Colorado, home to Washington State, and at Washington on Halloween. If Solomon is over his concussion and Scooby Wright gets back on the field by the first part of November, the Wildcats could be facing USC on November 7th with quite a bit on the line. It’s too early to throw dirt on the Wildcats.
