The Colorado Buffaloes took on the Utah Utes in the 71st edition of the Rumble in the Rockies on Saturday. With a statement 49-24 win, the Buffs secured another conference victory and improved to 8-2 on the season. This time, their spark was ignited on the defensive side of the ball.
The Utes were one of the Buffs’ most anticipated conference opponents in the pre-season, and a must-win as the season progressed. Defensive coordinator Robert Livingston’s personnel were put to the test right away.
After an interception thrown by Shedeur Sanders on the first snap of the game, the defense took the field for the first time inside their 30-yard-line. Trying to minimize the damage of an uncharacteristic start by a usually powerful offense, the defense took the field in a challenging spot and was able to hold the Utes to a field goal. B.J. Green and Arden Walker showed up big, with a combined sack stalling Utah’s offense in ideal field position.
A strong stand under immense pressure, CU limited Utah’s offense to seven positive yards throughout their opening drive that took almost five minutes. This strength and discipline continued throughout the rest of the game and allowed the Buffs’ offense to settle in and ultimately dominate. Midway through the first quarter, Colorado had two touchdowns in two minutes and 25 seconds while Utah had put up three points in six minutes.
Opposing quarterback Isaac Wilson faced pressure from several members of the CU defense, ultimately throwing three interceptions while completing 21 of 40 pass attempts. Wilson was under duress for the entirety of the matchup, with the Utes’ offensive line giving up four total sacks.
CU also contained the run game exceptionally well, as the Utes averaged just over one yard per rush attempt. A week ago, Utah’s ground attack had 147 yards and one touchdown on 30 attempts. This week, that same unit had just 31 yards and zero touchdowns on the same amount of attempts.
The Buffs fed off of big plays over the course of the game with contributions from various players making an impact in every possible way.
Inside linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green was an outstanding presence for CU on Saturday, recording four solo tackles and an interception. Responsible for Wilson’s second pick of the day, sitting patiently in coverage, Hill-Green was able to exploit Wilson’s mistakes and capitalize off of them.
“No matter what, we’ve got to go out there and play to our standards,” Hill-Green said. “We’re both chasing consistency. This is our last go-around.”
The graduate transfer said the Buffs were prepared for a defensive battle and began preparing for the Utah matchup early last week.
LaVonta Bentley was another player who had a big impact for Colorado, contributing four tackles to the team total of 40. Bentley took pride in being a leader and having some of the most experience alongside Hill-Green.
“Us linebackers, we got to be the QB of the defense. We got to know what’s happening before it happens,” Bentley said.
This sense of responsibility served the Buffs well, with younger players having exemplary role models to look up to. The two linebackers said they feed off each other’s energy and push one another to improve every day. Both began their collegiate careers at high-performing championship programs and intend to build that culture at CU.
Hill-Green began his career at Michigan and Bentley began his at Clemson.
“We’re gonna play for our brothers and play for the guy next to us,” Hill-Green said.
Heisman-contender Travis Hunter added to his resumé with an unlikely interception off of a ricocheted pass deflection by cornerback Colton Hood. Showing his commitment to finishing plays, being in the right place at the right time, and consistently laying out and giving effort on plays others had long given up on, Hunter was once again an asset for the Buffs on both sides of the ball.
CU’s final interception came in the fourth quarter. Staying grounded in his coverage as Wilson scrambled, DJ McKinney snagged the last pick to snuff out any hope for a comeback the Utes may have still harbored. Safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig led the CU defense with six solo tackles and a 91.0 run defense grade (per PFF).
In front of a crowd of nearly 55,000, Livingston's defense brought the energy and demonstrated just how dangerous they can be. The Buffs' defense continues to improve each week as they further flip the script from the beginning of the season in the Big 12. While some may think this performance exemplifies what head coach Deion Sanders meant by “We here,” he assured the media that they still have work to do.
“We haven’t even played our best game,” Sanders said. “When I said ‘We Comin’, we still comin’.”
The Buffs will look to win out the rest of their season with two unranked teams left on their schedule in Kansas and Oklahoma State, as they control their destiny to reach the Big 12 Championship game. The new College Football Playoff rankings will be released Tuesday night, but the Buffs jumped up two spots to No. 16 in this week’s AP poll.
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