By the string of their trousers, the Colorado Buffaloes kicked the 2024 season off Thursday night with a 31-26 win over the North Dakota State Bison. And while starting the season 1-0 is one of the most universal sighs of relief in any sport, this win, as imperfect as it was, said more of CU than any surface details would indicate.
The first full offseason of the Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders era following a 4-8 campaign in 2023 was as arduous, divisive and headline-filled as it could have been. Regardless of one's opinion on any of it, this team needed to get on a football field, and fast.
CU spent much of that offseason overhauling the units that grew from an ugly underbelly of its first three magical weeks to a downright liability to varying degrees as the season wore on, perhaps the most glaring of which was defense. 176.4 rushing yards allowed per game, the horror stories caused by simple drag and crossing routes and a lukewarm pass rush negated vast amounts of the elite play on the offensive side of the ball.
Pedigree was direly wanted, and pedigree was indeed found. Robert Livingston brought nearly a decade and a half of NFL experience with his hire as defensive coordinator in February, higher-profile replacements from nose tackle to free safety were recruited through the transfer portal and an increased general emphasis on that side of the ball gradually upped expectations that were in the gutter just a few months prior to stepping under the Folsom Field lights on Thursday.
"The defense is coming, man," Coach Prime proclaimed at fall sports media day earlier this August. "I wish we could push fast forward, because I'm ready to get going, I'm ready to play."
The more things changed, however, the more they started to feel the same.
Any way you slice it, North Dakota State is a Football Championship Subdivision school that scouts and opposes FCS competition 99% of the time. A power four school with two likely first-round NFL draftees in quarterback Shedeur Sanders and wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter should have little issue taking care of business at home against a historic, yet injury-riddled program trying to rebuild their glory days with just one matchup against an FBS opponent since 2016. Right?
Well, as Colorado’s defense was the first unit to take the field, it only took a few plays to notice both its bright spots and its black holes.
On the second play of the season, running back TK Marshall cruised by safety-turned-linebacker Trevor Woods, lacking any secondary help behind him, on an angle route for a 48-yard gain.
That kind of chunk play, typically a death sentence for CU in 2023, merely amounted to a field goal. NDSU’s eternal specialty, running the ball until the cows come home, was contained then completely stuffed on third down.
This sequence became a bit of a trend as the first half marched on. Quick passes ate into the one-high safety shells Livingston called on nearly every down, yet the front seven rendered the run-first Bison mostly inefficient.
Considering the philosophy of their opponent, Colorado's run defense should be considered a major area of pride for their performance.
Discounting a 20-yard touchdown off a quarterback scamper, the Buffs held NDSU to just 3.26 yards per carry. For comparison, the black and gold allowed 4.7 yards per carry to their opponents last season.
There was a catch, though: even with the run quelled and the periodic chunk plays, a lack of forced mistakes and a nearly nonexistent pass rush kept North Dakota State on the field enough to go punch-for-punch with the Buffs' explosive offensive performance.
Early third down conversions (4-for-6 in the first half) built up frustration within a unit anxious to prove themselves, and an early concussion to Cam’ron Silmon-Craig kept the starting safety and vocal leader out of the contest after the first few drives. This discontent manifested itself in the form of costly penalties, a scattered secondary and a lack of the discipline Coach Prime has preached since his hire in December of 2022.
“We had to get our eyes in the right place," noted Hunter of the game's opening stretch. "We already knew what we had to do, but we took them as a fool."
While the unit, as a whole, adapted from their early blunders to put together a much more sound second half, NDSU still managed to come up just five yards of a Hail Mary away from pulling off the upset. And while the fact that the close call happened at all may have been more on poor clock management by their offensive counterparts moments prior, that was not the only reason.
Colorado relied on their corners all night long, consistently playing more man coverage (“cover one” with one safety playing deep) than the soft zone sets seen under the Charles Kelly regime last season. This coverage, paired with little contain of the pocket, worked as a blessing against the run but a curse against the pass. It kept the perimeter at bay while opening up the middle of the field for crossers early and quarterback scrambles late that kept the Bison locking horns with the Buffaloes until the clock hit zero.
"I don't think the ball went outside the numbers, maybe a couple of times even in the first half, but the kid was lighting it up," Coach Prime said of senior NDSU signal-caller Cam Miller, who finished 18-for-22 with a 202.6 passer rating. "He did a great job of getting the ball to the necessary receivers."
Despite these concerns presenting a lack of promise on how the defense will fare against the rest of the FBS, including the Big 12, it's important to note situational factors: CU’s offense was scoring with ease in the first half, but almost too much ease, giving defenders little time to rest and strategize against the physical, methodical, motion-filled Bison offense. When the black and gold's defense had sustained time to adjust, they did so more successfully.
"It's complimentary football," mentioned Shedeur. "When we need them to show up, they'll be there. When we have to show up, we'll be there."
Were there shimmers of promise? Absolutely. Encouraging strides were made in the run game that somewhat singlehandedly lost the Colorado Buffaloes several key games last season. Flashes were seen across the board, from grizzled vets to complete newbies.
Perhaps most importantly, a lesson on simply how to win a football game has never hurt a defense, especially one that has not done so as a program in nearly 11 months.
In order to sustain success, however, schematic adaptations will need to be consistent. Lack of poise, unpredictability, discipline in critical situations and knowledge of competition are just a few mental areas in need of improvement as well.
If Colorado's defense will take the next step to become anything more than a conundrum, one large mystery in need of solving on a week-to-week basis, it does not fall on any one player or coach. It must be cooperative, communicative and passionate. Mysteries are solved best with a detective, but an entire team of detectives sharing a common goal can solve just about anything.
Cover photo by Talus Schreiber/Sko Buffs Sports
Comments