Omarion Miller has a head start on Colorado’s defense, and he’s not exactly eager to hand out the details.
The Arizona State receiver admitted this week that knowing the Buffaloes’ defensive scheme helps him, then stopped short of spelling out how much. When asked in an interview posted to the “Speak of the Devils” YouTube channel whether that familiarity gives him an edge, Miller didn’t dodge the question.
“Most definitely. For sure,” Miller said. “It does, but I’m not really going to, you know, say that right now.”
That little bit of secrecy adds another layer to Saturday’s matchup in Tempe, where Colorado’s secondary will have to sort out not just Miller, but also Reed Harris, the Big 12’s receiving leader at 100.5 yards per game. Arizona State (4-4, 2-3 Big 12) has two wideouts capable of changing the math on any given snap, and Colorado (3-5, 1-4) already saw what happens when a defense picks its poison.
BYU chose Harris last week. Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said the Cougars kept “sprinting a free safety over to Reed (Harris) a lot of the times.”
The result was a quiet night for Harris, who caught one pass for 4 yards on six targets in a 27-20 loss. Miller made the most of the attention elsewhere, drawing nine targets, catching four passes for 37 yards and scoring on a 20-yard touchdown from first-year quarterback Jake Fette in the third quarter.
“They just wanted to double Reed (Harris),” Miller said. “They forgot I’m still on the team.”
Miller’s season has been productive, even if he doesn’t see it as smooth sailing. He has 41 catches for 427 yards and three touchdowns, and he called the opening stretch a “shaky start.” His focus now is simple: “to finish strong.”
Dillingham said Fette, who is making his second career start Saturday, has shown he can read what’s in front of him and deliver the ball accordingly. The coach pointed to the kind of play where a safety leans toward Harris, and the throw goes to Miller instead. Miller said the message from the receivers to Fette is straightforward.
All they want is for him to let it fly, and “we’re going to make you look good.”
Colorado, meanwhile, knows the assignment on the other side of the ball is going to be a grind. Deion Sanders opened his comments Tuesday by talking about Arizona State’s special teams, then shifted to an offense with “a couple receivers and a running back that are really good. I mean really good.”
The person tasked with getting those weapons the ball is Fette, who went 22-of-42 for 166 yards and two touchdowns in his first start. Sanders made it clear the Buffaloes want to make that job harder.
“The quarterback has got to pull the trigger,” Sanders said. “We hope to eliminate him from doing so.”
Colorado’s pass defense has been vulnerable all season, allowing 249 yards per game, which ranks 11th in the Big 12. The Buffaloes have also given up 19 touchdown passes, the most in the conference.
Still, there was some confidence coming out of Saturday’s win over Kansas State, especially from the back end. Randon Fontenette, asked about his partnership with fellow safety Naeten Mitchell, pointed straight to the rough patches the defense has endured.
“(Naeten) is my guy,” Fontenette said. “There’s been a lot of ups and downs this season, bro. Especially on the back end.”
Fontenette has 72 tackles, second on the team, while Mitchell’s 63 ranks third. Sanders said Fontenette has “turned it up to another level,” practicing and playing “like a pro.” Boo Carter leads Colorado with eight passes defended, and in overtime against Kansas State, he and Cree Thomas broke up the Wildcats’ final two throws to force a field goal.
For Ben Finneseth, the trip to Tempe brings a different kind of energy. The sixth-year defensive back from Durango spent three seasons with Miller at Colorado, but he has never actually played in Arizona State’s stadium.
He missed one trip because he wasn’t on the travel squad and another because he was hurt. With family in the Mesa area, he called this one “almost a homecoming.”
“Any time you get to play against a guy that you used to be on a team with, I think it’s so fun,” Finneseth said. “You know, get to talk a little smack, and you know, there’s some heart that gets involved with those games.”
Finneseth described Miller as “a heck of a player” and expects Arizona State to lean on him again, especially with the extra motivation that comes from facing his old team. Colorado, Finneseth said, has to be ready to “take away the things that we’re intending to take away.”
Miller has already seen Colorado from the other sideline. One of his two starts as a first-year came against Arizona State, and in last season’s 42-17 loss in Boulder, he caught three passes for 35 yards, including Colorado’s only touchdown catch.
He still stays in touch with “a handful of guys” from his Colorado days, some of them daily. Playing for Sanders, Miller said, was “a blessing.” Sanders, for his part, said that when Dillingham reached out about Miller, he told him he was getting “a great kid.”
Miller’s own view of the Buffaloes was complimentary across the board. He described a defense that wants “to be disruptive,” linebackers that “come down and hit” and “a really good team, honestly.”
What he knows about Colorado’s scheme, he kept to himself. What he wants from Saturday, he didn’t hide at all.
Asked what he was most excited about in playing Colorado, Miller said, “To beat them real bad.”
In Other News...
Arizona State Faces A Personal Colorado Challenge For Kenny Dillingham
Arizona States trip to face Colorado comes with a few familiar faces for Kenny Dillingham, and not just on the opposing sideline. The Sun Devils coach had plenty of praise for Buffaloes assistants Chris Marve and Brennan Marion, two coaches he knows well from past stops, and he also pointed to the pro-ready talent Colorado has assembled as part of the challenge waiting in Boulder.
There is another layer here for Dillingham, too, because Arizona State wide receiver Omarion Miller has become a key part of the offense after originally being recruited by Colorado. With coaching ties and roster connections running through the matchup, this one carries a little more personal weight than a typical Big 12 game, even before the ball is kicked off. [Read more 🡒]
Colorado Faces A Brutal Defensive Question In Must Win Road Game
Colorados defense could be walking into a tough road test without a couple of familiar pieces, as the Buffaloes head to Arizona State with some real uncertainty in the middle of the lineup. Starting safety Naeten Mitchell is doubtful because of injury, while defensive tackle Dylan Manuel is also on the doubtful list, leaving Colorado with the possibility of reshuffling key spots at a time when every possession matters.
If Mitchell is unable to go, it would mark his first missed game of the season and put more pressure on the depth behind him. Colorado may have to lean on backups such as Ben Finneseth and Samu Taumanupepe to absorb those snaps, a challenge that only adds to the stakes in a game the Buffaloes need to have. [Read more 🡒]
Colorado Brings A Growing Offensive Concern Into Arizona State
Colorado heads into its Week 10 matchup at Arizona State still sorting through a growing list of offensive injury questions, and the timing is hardly ideal. Deion Sanders offered updates on several players this week, including Welch, who will miss another game, while Scudero, Mitchell and Manuel are all dealing with issues that could affect their availability. The Buffaloes have already had to lean on their depth more than they would like, and the latest round of health concerns only adds to the challenge.
The biggest concern is how much longer Colorado can keep patching things together if the absences keep piling up. Welchs situation has become a lingering problem, and the uncertainty around his status is now stretching deeper into the season, leaving the Buffaloes with fewer reliable options as they try to stay on track in conference play. For a team trying to steady its offense, the margin for error is getting thinner by the week. [Read more 🡒]