The Colorado Buffaloes’ defensive performance has been a red-hot area of focus this year. They are coming off a tough 4-8 2023 season (1-8 in the Pac-12)—many football analysts don’t blame their offense for the negative record. Now that the Buffs are back in the Big 12, they want their defensive performance to be competitive even more. This article provides an in-depth look at how the Buffaloes’ defense has improved this season and how they will keep their losses at a minimum.
CU Buffs Are Coming Hot Off A Difficult 2023 Season
Last year, the Colorado Buffaloes allowed 34.8 points per game (124th nationally) and 453.3 yards per game (130th). They finished 110th pressing the run (176.4 yards per game) and 127th in passing allowed (276.9). Chidozie Nwankwo, the veteran transfer from Houston, comments on his colleagues playing for CU’s revitalized defensive line.
“I feel like there’s nobody under the radar, to be honest,” the Houston transfer with 32 career starts told CU BuffZone. “We all just some dawgs. We all gonna go get it. It’s gonna be a great season for everybody in my opinion.”
The most enormous hole in the Colorado Buffaloes’ defense last year was their defensive line, so the defensive front includes the most significant buff. They pumped in eleven new transfers, including Nwankwo, BJ Green from Arizona State, and former Pittsburg pocket inflators Dayon Hayes and Samuel Okunlola, among many others. Furthermore, CU hired a new defensive coordinator, Robert Livingston – the same game, but with different tactics. He comments on what to expect from his team this year:
It’s our job as coaches to get these guys ready, whether they’re a one, a two, or a three, Livingston told BuffZone. And then, all things considered, if everybody’s healthy, let’s put the best 11 on the field. It gives us the best chance to win.
CU Buffaloes Defense Lock In Tight Week-1 Victory
During their first game against the North Dakota State University Bisons, the Colorado Buffaloes took home a tight victory. During the first quarter, the Buffs let four consecutive scores slip through the holes in their strategy. Thankfully, for the Buffs, their defense locked down during the second half. This performance gave their offense the momentum to finish with the win, even though the game came down to a completed Hail Mary pass in the last play. The Buffs’ defense will want to learn from their loose first-half performance and continue their secure second-half performance.
We knew we were going to get it together soon,” head coach Deion Sanders told BuffZone. (NDSU) called about every darn play that they ran. The defensive coaches are doing a wonderful job, we just have to do a better job of executing the scheme and being where we’re supposed to be.
The Colorado Buffaloes gave the Bison 449 yards, including 49 yards with the last play. The Bison sweated out a stressful 88 yards for their last drive. CU capped one of the best run games in the FCS with 157 yards on the ground. NDSU QB Cam Miller characteristically led this rushing attack. Last year, the Bison averaged 237.3 rushing yards per game and 5.77 yards per carry. During week one, they averaged 3.7 yards per rush.
CU focused on their run defense during training season, and this game progressed. They tackled seven for a loss from seven different players.
We had to get our eyes right in the right place,” CU defensive player Travis Hunter told BuffZone. I mean, they came out, we already knew what we had to do, but somehow we took them as a fool. We didn’t respect them enough to come out there and just play how we needed to play in the second half, how we did in the first half. Coach chewed us out at halftime, let us know what we got to do. We got to stop them, we got to get stops, let our offense go to work, and that’s what we came out to do.
Final Thoughts
Hunter explains the magic that sparked the defensive performance in the second half. Their offense was relatively consistent and put up solid numbers throughout the game. They finished with 504 total yards, 445 passing yards, 59 passing yards, and 23:16 time of possession. While the Buffs’ defense might be their Achilles’ heel, their offense cooked the competitive NDSU defense like butter. However, the Bison are no joke.
The Colorado Buffaloes did not force any turnovers, but they had two sacks – Bently and Nwankwo. To be fair, Cam Miller is a hard guy to sack. He ran around and out of the pocket like it was recess. Trevor Woods and Shilo Sanders led the team in tackles with ten and nine, respectively. The Buffs safeties were the stars on defense as the Bison struggled to make deep-passing gains.
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