BOULDER — By the time Shilo Sanders crunched Utah quarterback Isaac Wilson late in the fourth quarter, forcing a fumble that set up another score to fuel the blowout, the point had been made repeatedly on Saturday at Folsom Field.
This CU defense, a critical part of the program’s turnaround this fall into a College Football Playoff contender, is as salty as the offense is glitzy.
“We know (Utah) is on their third or fourth quarterback; we understand that,” CU head coach Deion Sanders pointed out. “But we’re happy with where we are (defensively) and we know where we could be. That’s the thing — we’re not even where we could be right now. You see the mistakes and the little things we could clean up, even though when you look at the statistics you could say, ‘Dang, that was phenomenal.’”
In the 49-24 blasting of the Utes that moved the Buffs to 8-2 and within a couple of wins of a berth in the Big 12 championship game, CU’s defense consistently suffocated and flummoxed the disjointed Utes offense.
CU held Utah to just 31 rushing yards on 30 attempts. Only 3.8 yards per play. The Buffs had four sacks for -29 yards, five hurries on top of that, and limited Wilson to a 53% competition rate, a percentage that was much lower in the first half before the freshman settled in.
Factor in three interceptions and a fumble recovery, and CU’s defense made limiting Utah to a pair of field goals off two Shedeur Sanders turnovers in the first half look like light work.
“I may have to take them out to dinner this week for saving me,” the CU quarterback quipped.
Defensive coordinator Robert Livingston’s unit had an array of stars on Saturday.
There was the usual suspect, Travis Hunter, who picked off Wilson on a pass that caromed off the hands of Utes wideout Munir McClain after an impressive last-second pass breakup by fellow cornerback Colton Hood.
The linebacker duo of Hill-Green and LaVonta Bentley set the tone. Linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green and cornerback DJ McKinney added interceptions in the second half, before Shilo Sanders’ knockout punch. Add in seven total tackles by safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig and stout performances by linemen BJ Green and Arden Walker (each had a half-sack and 1.5 tackles for loss), and there were very few cracks in CU’s defense on Saturday.
Coach Prime called Hill-Green and Bentley “the heartbeat of the defense.”
“They’re lights-out versus the run, and we needed improvement on the pass (which they’ve brought),” Deion Sanders said. “They’re making tremendous plays. … Cam, he’s the guy. He’s our defensive attitude. But (Hill-Green and Bentley) make plays every week and they’re physical. When we get a lead, they smell blood, and they attack.”
As Sanders alluded, there are still improvements to be made despite the Buffs’ overall domination of Utah. Hunter gave up a touchdown in coverage on a go route down the sideline, his first such offense of the season. And Wilson was able to find a bit of a rhythm in the middle of the third and early fourth.
“We’ve got to be more consistent on deep plays,” Sanders said. “We shouldn’t give up that much yardage up the seam. They kept throwing the same darn route every time with the tight end going up the seam — how many times are we going to allow that to happen? We’ve got to get somebody on him, hold him up, reroute him.”
But when compared to last year’s unreliable defense that failed to close out numerous close games, much less help accelerate blowouts, what the unit is doing this year is a breath of fresh air in Boulder.
And, coupled with offensive firepower and what Coach Prime asserts is “the best receiving corps in the country” at the disposal of No. 2, this defense again appeared good enough on Saturday to take CU to the Big 12 championship game — and beyond.
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