It was only one game, and it came against an offense that’s never been labeled as explosive, but for the Colorado Buffaloes, last week felt like a turning point.
After getting shredded during the first five games of the season, the Buffs’ defense was dominant in Saturday’s 20-13 overtime win against California. They will face a tougher test this Saturday when they visit Oregon State (6:10 p.m., Pac-12 Network), but they’ll go into that test with more confidence.
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“Ever since this past weekend, the rest of the season has just been an eye opener,” defensive tackle Jalen Sami said. “We have a lot to do. We can prove ourselves and we’ve shown the world that we aren’t one of the worst rushing defenses in the country. We just got to continue. We have to prove that again.”
CU did have the worst run defense in the country through the first five games of the season, but held Cal to just 35 yards on the ground, and 297 overall.
It was CU’s first game after a staff shakeup on Oct. 2, when head coach Karl Dorrell and defensive coordinator Chris Wilson were fired. Mike Sanford took over as interim head coach and defensive line coach Gerald Chatman as coordinator.
The Buffs gave up runs of 12 and 23 yards to Cal standout running back Jaydn Ott, but the Bears finished with 0 yards on their other 20 rushing attempts.
“I take pride in that,” said Sami, who had two tackles and two quarterback hurries against Cal. “There’s a big emphasis that coach Chatman has enforced on us, and Sanford, is just stopping the run and being an attack front. Have aggressive mindset and attacking instead of just playing the box.”
Overall, CU compiled 10 tackles for loss and created two turnovers. The Buffs were also aggressive tacklers throughout the day.
Cal, which ranks 11th in the Pac-12 in scoring and 10th in rushing offense, didn’t have the luxury of seeing CU’s revamped defensive scheme on film before last week. Oregon State has now seen the Chatman defense in action – and the Beavers have a better offense (seventh in scoring, fourth in rushing) – so the Buffs face a different challenge this week.
Sanford recognizes the challenge, but also said the Buffs didn’t show everything in their new defense.
“I think there’s some things (Chatman) held back in this game,” Sanford said. “They know they can be even better systematically, schematically. … We’ll make more adjustments, and there will be tweaks and nuances week in and week out.
“Clearly, our players on defense showed with a really sound scheme that allows them to play fast and free that they can handle the nuance changes. I mean, they handled basically an entire new structure over the course of 10 days of preparation. … We’re expecting to play a really good offense (at OSU), so we’ve got to stay ahead of the curve and continue to add wrinkles.”
Eyes on Colletto
CU is well aware of how dangerous Oregon State senior Jack Colletto can be at times.
Listed as a linebacker, Colletto is also the Beavers’ short-yardage specialist on offense. And, he actually made one career start at quarterback, at CU, on Oct. 27, 2018.
Against CU in 2018, Colletto completed only 6-of-14 passes for 35 yards before being replaced. Although he didn’t finish the game at quarterback, he did score two rushing touchdowns, including the game-winner in overtime, as OSU rallied from a 28-point deficit to stun the Buffs.
Colletto, who has thrown only three passes since that 2018 game at Folsom Field, also scored a touchdown against the Buffs last year.
“He’s a big, tough, physical, really hard-nosed football player,” CU linebackers coach Mark Smith said. “When he’s back there, especially in the short-yardage and goal line situations, they like to try to get him the ball, so we’ve just got to be aware of that.”
Colletto has 22 touchdowns on 101 career rushing attempts. This season, he’s rushed 17 times for 72 yards and six touchdowns, while adding 14 tackles as a backup linebacker.
“You’ve gotta be wired differently to do that,” Sanford said of Colletto playing both sides of the ball. “There’s not many humans on planet earth that can do this in Power 5 football. Obviously I have a lot of respect for No. 12, the way he plays the game of football.”
Notable
Offensive line coach Kyle DeVan said he’s pleased with the overall progress of his group this season. A lot of that has to with guards Casey Roddick (left) and Tommy Brown (right), who have been rocks up front. “You have those two that have done a really good job and continue to do that and continue to be the leaders,” DeVan said. … John Canzano, who covers the Oregon schools, reported Wednesday night that OSU quarterback Chance Nolan (concussion) will miss his third consecutive game. Ben Gulbranson is expected to start against the Buffs.
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