Trenton Bourguet threw for 435 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start, leading Arizona State to a 42-34 win Saturday at Colorado.
Bourguet, a former walk-on who has been a backup to Emory Jones, was declared the starter by Arizona State interim coach Shaun Aguano before the game.
Bourguet completed 32 of 43 pass attempts with three touchdown passes to Jaylin Conyers, who finished with six catches for 108 yards.
Elijhah Badger had eight receptions for 137 yards.
Colorado (1-7, 1-4 Pac-12) trailed 42-20 with 12:40 remaining when Bourguet completed his third touchdown pass to Conyers.
A 1-yard touchdown run by Deion Smith that capped a 14-play, 71-yard drive and an 88-yard punt return for a touchdown by Jordyn Tyson cut Arizona State’s lead to 42-34 with 3:50 left.
Bourguet then engineered two first downs, allowing Arizona State to run out the clock on its final possession.
Xazavian Valladay, who had a 26-yard run in that possession, finished with 118 yards on 23 rushes.
His three touchdown runs in the first half helped Arizona State (3-5, 2-3) take a 28-17 lead at halftime.
Aguano took over the play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Glenn Thomas.
He went with Bourguet as the starter after a weeklong competition with Jones.
Aguano stepped into the interim head coaching role after Herm Edwards was fired.
Colorado also has an interim head coach — Mike Sanford — who replaced the fired Karl Dorrell.
Bourguet completed his first nine passes for 161 yards. He connected with six different receivers during that span.
He finished the first half throwing for 251 yards while completing 17 of 23 pass attempts.
Bourguet’s second touchdown pass to Conyers, a 5-yard throw with 8:11 left in the third quarter, gave Arizona State a 35-17 lead.
Colorado cut the lead to 35-20 on Cole Becker’s 27-yard field goal, his second of the game.
The Buffaloes drove for another potential score on their next possession.
Chris Edmonds stopped that possession, intercepting a pass from J.T. Strout at the Arizona State 10.
Strout completed 13 of 34 passes for 222 yards.
Smith finished with 111 yards on 24 carries and Tyson caught five passes for 115 yards.
–Field Level Media