BOULDER, Colo. — Arizona State opened the Pac-12 schedule with a win and a loss.

The loss could end up being more costly to the Sun Devils.

Taylor Kelly threw for 195 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a fourth score before leaving with a right foot injury to lead No. 16 Arizona State to a 38-24 victory over Colorado 38-24 on Saturday night.

D.J. Foster had 147 yards rushing and 59 receiving yards and scored two touchdowns for the Sun Devils (3-0, 1-0).

If Kelly’s foot injury is serious, the ripple could be felt for weeks. The only bright spot for the Sun Devils is they have an open date next weekend before hosting UCLA for their first home game in nearly a month.

Kelly showed his value before leaving. He threw for two scores in the first half, passed to wide receiver Jalen Strong for another early in the third quarter and then put it away with a 50-yard touchdown run midway through the quarter that made it 38-17.

Kelly left the game after the Sun Devils went three-and-out late in the third quarter, and his absence was felt in the fourth quarter.

Kelly sat on the bench with a protective boot and a towel over his head while backup Mike Bercovici ran the offense. Arizona State had 371 yards of offense in the first three quarters but stalled in the fourth.

Kelly left the field on crutches after the game ended.

“All is I know is he’s out tonight and we’ll evaluate it tomorrow,” Sun Devils coach Todd Graham said. “I’m very concerned. It was tough for us tonight, that’s part of it. You have to be able to respond. This is the adversity we talk about.”

Sefo Liufau was 31-for-46 passing for 278 yards and three touchdowns for the Buffaloes. Wide receiver Nelson Spruce had 86 yards receiving and two touchdown catches for Colorado.

“We should have won that game, flat out,” said Liufau, who threw two interceptions. “Too many turnovers, too many mistakes. We should have beat that team. Point blank.”

The Buffaloes (1-2, 0-1) used Kelly’s absence to cut the lead but couldn’t come all the way back. Liufau hit Spruce on a 31-yard scoring strike to reduce the lead to 14 with 8:38 left.

Colorado was driving again, but linebacker Christian Sam intercepted Liufau at the Arizona State 34 to seal the win with 4:44 remaining.

The Sun Devils are averaging 47 points per game this season, with Saturday’s total being their lowest of the three games.

That’s with Kelly running the show. He has more than 7,300 career passing yards and 63 TD throws, one behind Danny White for fourth in school history.

So far this season, he and Foster have formed a solid tandem for the Sun Devils.

Foster followed up his first 200-yard rushing game with another strong one. He had 109 yards rushing and a touchdown by halftime. He also caught a pass for a score that gave Arizona State a 24-14 lead at intermission.

“I thought we finished the game,” Foster said. “I thought ‘Berc came in and did what he could. I thought our team had a lot of passion and that’s what I wanted to see, our team bond together when we had someone go out.”

Kelly took advantage of the soft coverage by Colorado with passes all over the field. His 38-yard scoring strike to running back Kalen Ballage in the first quarter gave the Sun Devils a 14-0 lead.

It was 17-0 when the Buffaloes came alive. Liufau hit wide receiver Shay Fields with a 5-yard slant pass to make it 17-7, and the defense forced Arizona State’s first three-and-out of the game on the ensuing possession.

Colorado then drove 77 yards on eight plays, capped with Liufau’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Spruce that made it 17-14 with 5:39 left in the half.

The Buffaloes lost momentum when running back Michael Adkins fumbled at the Colorado 9-yard line late in the half and the Sun Devils turned it into seven with Kelly’s second touchdown pass of the game.

“Got to hold onto the ball there, but we’ve got to stop them,” Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre said. “We’ve got to make them kick a field goal and we didn’t.”

NOTES: Arizona State sophomore LB Viliami Moeakiola left the game in the first half with an injury and didn’t return. … The Buffaloes have lost 15 straight games against ranked team. Their last win was 34-30 over Kansas in 2009. … With his 52-yard rush at the end of the first quarter, Arizona State RB D.J. Foster has three runs of 40 or more yards in the first two games this season. No Sun Devil had more than two in 2013.