Strong Buffs secondary help, but Coach Prime wants more sacks from defense – BuffZone

Colorado Buffaloes cornerbacks Travis Hunter (12) and DJ McKinney (8) bring down Colorado State Rams running back Justin Marshall (29) in the first quarter at Canvas Stadium in Ft. Collins, Colo., Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)

When Central Florida head coach Gus Malzahn watches Colorado’s defense on film, he sees a group that could give his offense fits.

“It’s an aggressive defense. They challenge you,” Malzahn said this week during a press conference with UCF media. “They’re really aggressive and they’re going to put you out there.”

CU’s defensive philosophy under first-year coordinator Robert Livingston has the Buffs (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) playing better on that side of the ball than last year, and they will be tested Saturday when They visit UCF (3-0, 1-0) in Orlando, Fla. (1:30 p.m. MT, Fox).

The talent in the secondary allowed the Buffs to play man coverage on receivers, giving the front seven opportunities to be aggressive.

“It’s complementary football at the end of the day,” CU defensive lineman Shane Cokes said. “Just knowing you can trust Preston (Hodge), Travis (Hunter), Cam (Silmon-Craig), Carter (Stoutmire); it doesn’t matter who’s there, to be honest. Trust them, then it gives us time to rush, and vice versa, you know? It gives us time to rush and then takes it all off their plate.

Hunter and DJ McKinney have played almost every snap at cornerback this season and have shined in man coverage. Overall, the Buffs’ pass defense has improved significantly from last year – although the Buffs did give up some big passing plays against Baylor last week.

“(The strong secondary) was a big problem until last week when we got our butts kicked a few times on deep balls, which is unlike us,” CU head coach said , Deion Sanders. “That’s not who we are. We’re trying to consolidate that right now. … But we have guys who can play hard and they’ll do a better job in the future, I promise you that. But it helps us enormously.

The only problem with complementary football at this point is that CU doesn’t have the quarterback sacks to show for it. The Buffs have generated just five sacks this season, ranking 14th in the 16-team Big 12. They are, however, tied for sixth in tackles for loss (25).

“We just need to get to the house more with the pass rush,” Coach Prime said. “We need to get more hits against the quarterback. We need to come home more often. We need to apply more pressure on the quarterbacks because we have the passers to do it. At that point, I thought we would be deeper with sacks and put pressure on the quarterbacks. But we do a great job of getting to the ball and getting there as a group and making things happen.

Make progress

While the Buffs haven’t had a dominant running game under Coach Prime, they have shown improvements — both in commitment and success — over the past two weeks.

CU rushed for a season-high 109 yards against Colorado State on Sept. 14 and totaled 91 yards on a season-high 42 carries against Baylor on Saturday. A year ago, CU rushed for at least 80 yards only three times and never two games in a row.

Coach Prime, however, said this is just the beginning.

“We still have a long way to go,” he said. “We could do so much better. We just have to hold our blocks. We must remain discreet. We have to be a lot more physical, and not just the coaches, the players. You have to commit to it. When you hear that call signal from the sidelines, you have to say, “All right, it won’t be me (who gets beaten); I’m going to shout my man. You gotta have that thing in you to know it’s coming behind you, let’s go.

Notable

Against Baylor, CU shuffled its line in the game for the first time this season as the group went through some struggles. Coach Prime, however, said he would like to see more shuffling. “The goal and the dream is really to play eight of these guys, to rotate them,” he said. “That’s what you want to do.” You want to keep guys fresh, keep them consistent, keep them hungry, keep them physical. Just keep them competitive. … CU is seeking its first Big 12 road win since Oct. 27, 2007 at Texas Tech. The Buffs lost their last 13 Big 12 road games before leaving for the Pac-12 in 2011.