Arizona State quarterback Jeff Sims is no stranger to Folsom Field and the Colorado Buffaloes. Saturday night, he’ll be back under center at the scene of one of his worst games.
Sims, the former Georgia Tech signal caller who transfer to Nebraska for the 2023 season, was leading Matt Rhule’s first Husker squad into Boulder to face Deion Sanders’ first Buffs team in week two of that season. Colorado was coming off a scintillating 45-42 upset win over TCU in the season opener, a game that served as the coming out party for Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. Sims and the Cornhuskers were the victims of a late game field goal – set up by Sims third interception of the game – and had lost at Minnesota 13-10. Sims threw his only touchdown pass of the season on a broken play against the Golden Gophers.
The following week, the turnover parade continued in Boulder for the fleet footed Sims. Against the Buffs, he fumbled three times, including dropping a perfect snap, and threw his fourth INT, greatly helping Colorado to a 36-14 win.
Before he was replaced in the Huskers starting lineup, Sims turned the ball over an astounding 11 times in five games, with five fumbles and six interceptions.
After Turnover-Prone Start, Sims Transferred from Nebraska
After the season, Sims transferred to ASU. Now, in his graduate senior season, he’s taken over for the injured Sam Leavitt and has kept the 25th-ranked Sun Devils alive in the Big 12 title chase. A win over the Buffs is critical to those hopes.
So far in 2025, Sims is doing a much better job of taking care of the football. He’s tossed five touchdown passes and just one interception, throwing for 566 yards with a respectable quarterback rating of 116.9.
Sanders expects to see a much different Jeff Sims than he saw back in September of 2023.
“They’ve got a quarterback (Leavitt) down, and they’re still fighting through the storms,” Sanders told the media this week while assessing the Sun Devils. “They’re using his skill set. They’re using it to make sure he’s successful and this offense is successful, and they’re using him in the best way they possibly can, trying to highlight his strengths and not his weaknesses. And they’re doing a great job of it, they really are.”
Sims is a skilled runner, as Sanders saw when he broke off a 57-yard TD run in the 2023 game. His dual threat capabilities are what intrigues Colorado’s third year coach, who hinted that the Buffs made a run at making Sims a Buff before he landed at ASU.
“We were close to being on the same sidelines at one point, Sanders smiled. “We had a tremendous amount of conversations alluding to that.”
Make no mistake, when Sims isn’t turning it over, he’s a legitimate weapon. At Georgia Tech, he was twice voted ACC rookie of the week. At Nebraska, he did complete almost 60% of his passes while rushing for 189 yards after accounting for yardage lost on sacks. That includes 91 rushing yards against Minnesota.
A Former Buff Also Returns to Folsom
Sims won’t be the only familiar face returning to Folsom Field on Saturday. Former Buff Jordyn Tyson, who was electric as a freshman kick returner and pass catcher in 2022 before injuring his knee, will be back with the visiting Sun Devils. Nursing a hamstring injury, ASU coach Kenny Dillingham says it will be a game time decision on whether or not Tyson plays against his former team.
Tyson never played for Sanders, electing to transfer shortly after the new coach arrived. Nevertheless, Deion has voiced support for the former Buff.
Colorado (3-7, 1-6 in Big 12 play) is out of the postseason consideration. The defending Big 12 champs, Arizona State (7-3, 5-2) still has a remote chance to return to the conference title game and will be playing in a bowl game.
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