Ralphie, Colorado’s live bison mascot, has run across the field before, and in the middle, of every Buffaloes home game since 1967.
In No. 25 Arizona State’s 42-17 win over the Buffaloes Saturday, running back Raleek Brown broke a record 70 years older than that Folsom Field tradition.
Brown ran for 255 yards, setting an ASU record for most single-game rushing yards on the road.
That is more yards than Ralphie runs in one night.
He also erupted for an 88-yard touchdown run following a Colorado fumble to make it 28-17 with 13:43 left in the third quarter.
“I just seen a big hole and then just burst through it,” Brown said. “Nobody was back there.”
Colorado coach Deion Sanders said afterward that “two plays to me changed the whole course of the game – a fumble and an explosion right after the fumble.”
As Brown reached top speed, a referee appeared to pull a hamstring trying to keep up with him and had to exit the game.
As a team with the fifth longest FBS average time of possession at 33:31, the Sun Devils have struggled to consistently create explosive plays on offense until Saturday.
“Week 11, better late than never,” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said with a chuckle into a facepalm. “Hopefully we can build on that into next week because (Arizona) is playing really good football.”
Brown’s career night didn’t stop there.
The USC transfer also reached a career 1,000 rushing yards, a feat he admitted he hasn’t achieved since high school at Mater Dei.
A second-half awakening by an ASU offense that outscored the Buffaloes 29-10 outshined an otherwise sloppy performance.
“We turned the ball over in back-to-back possessions which you can’t do,” Dillingham said. “We gave them a short field twice … you’re not going to win many games like that.”
Before Brown’s big touchdown run, he committed one of the three fumbles on the night to pair with an interception thrown by quarterback Jeff Sims.
The defense came through, like it has all season, and held Colorado to just a field goal off four giveaways.
“That defense definitely kept us in that thing,” Dillingham said. “To only give up 17 points in 300 yards in a game-and-three-quarters is phenomenal.”
The window of opportunity for a Big 12 Championship appearance is not completely shut on ASU. Tied for third place with Utah, who clobbered the Sun Devils 42-10, ASU still needs some help.
No. 5 Texas Tech, whom ASU defeated 26-22, and No. 11 BYU sit atop the conference with one loss each.
But, before looking ahead, the Sun Devils will relish this win over Colorado.
“It’s huge … getting to eight wins, with everything we’ve been through and keeping meaningful football alive,” Dillingham said. “There’s not many teams still in college football playing meaningful football.”
On Friday, ASU will host its rival Arizona and look to repeat as Territorial Cup winners for the first time in five years.
Utah also plays Kansas Friday with West Virginia hosting Texas Tech and BYU hosting UCF Saturday.
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