September Grades – Defense & Special Teams

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September Grades – Defense and Special Teams

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Colorado entered the first bye week of the 2024 season at 4-1, with a 2-0 conference record in the Buffs’ first season in the Big 12 since 2010. In a September to remember, the Buffs opened with a top FCS team, went on the road to face their two biggest rivals, came home for a “White Out” overtime win none of us will be forgetting anytime soon, and played their best overall game in memory in their first-ever game against Central Florida.

The 4-1 record is at least a slight surprise to many of us (in my preseason picks, I had CU at 3-2 in September. The first four games I picked correctly; happy to be wrong about the UCF road game). The 4-1 record raises questions as to what the new ceiling for Colorado may be this fall. Was the big win over Central Florida the new floor for the program? Or a once-in-a-season effort? Is a bowl bid now a certainty? … Or is there a chance for a second half collapse the Buff Nation endured in Coach Prime’s first season?

Time will tell. But, before we move on to October and a “Gold Rush” game against a ranked Kansas State team, let’s take a bye week look back at the first month of the 2024 campaign …

Colorado Defense – September, 2024 … 

Defensive Line

It may be hard to say some of the names along CU’s defensive line, but their impact is making their names easier and easier to remember.

Chidozie Nwankwo is a 5-11, 290-pound Nwankwo is a space eater. He’s been credited with just five tackles but he has one sack and a tackle for loss, but, more importantly, he occupies a couple of offensive linemen on every snap.

That opens up the tackling lanes for linebackers LaVonta Bentley and Nakhai Hill-Green to make plays. Nwankwo gives the Buffs a much-needed rock in the middle of the run defense, and is helping make stars of other defensive linemen.

Edge rushers Samuel Okulnloa, BJ Green, and Dayon Hayes, together with Shane Cokes and Taje McCoy, are making CU’s defense better.

Okunlola has 3.5 tackles for loss. Hayes also has 3.5 tackles for loss with two sacks, while Green had four tackles for loss. Overall, Colorado finished September with 38 tackles for loss, 17th in the nation.

Cokes is a good example of the line’s improvement. After not recording a single sack or tackle for loss last season, he has 2.5 TFLs and a sack in the first five games. McCoy, a redshirt freshman, had two sacks against Central Florida, giving the Buff Nation reason to be optimistic about the future.

Overall, that’s the production the Buffs have been needing from the players up front and a big reason why Colorado’s defense is much improved.

September Grade … B+

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Linebackers 

Nikhai Hill-Green, like the linebacker corps as a whole, entered the season as a question mark. Yes, Hill-Green had been at Michigan, but he had only six starts in three seasons in Ann Arbor. Yes, he had started 11 games for Charlotte in 2023, and was the 49ers second-leading tackler … but that was Charlotte.

How would Hill-Green’s game translate to CU’s defense?

Through his play in September, Hill-Green has justified the CU coaches’ belief in signing him. A starter since Game Two, Hill-Green is second on the team in tackles with 32, including a team-leading five for loss. He also has a sack, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. He has been particularly stout against the run, and, now paired with fellow inside linebacker LaVonta Bentley, gives the Buffs a nice one-two punch in the middle.

Hill-Green has played so well that first game starter, Trevor Woods, has decided to red-shirt and preserve his final season. Another inside linebacker, Jeremiah Brown, has also decided to redshirt (though, notably, has not entered the Transfer Portal, remaining a Buff, at least for now).

The linebacker corps remain a question mark, and depth remains a concern, but the unit is not the liability the Buff Nation feared it would be a month ago.

September Grade … B

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Defensive Backs

As with the wide receivers, the discussion of the CU defensive backfield has to begin with Travis Hunter. With teams decidedly avoiding Hunter (Baylor didn’t throw a single pass to a receiver covered by Hunter), his defensive stats are not otherworldly (15 tackles, three passes defended), but, when teams dare to come his way, Hunter has been a human highlight film, with two impressive interceptions and a game-winning forced fumble against Baylor.

With half of the field unavailable, opposing offenses have been concentrating on the other side of the field. As a result, cornerbacks DJ McKinney and Preston Hodge have been getting plenty of attention, and have been playing well.

Hodge has a pair of interceptions, including a first quarter interception against Central Florida which turned the momentum to CU’s favor. McKinney, meanwhile, has 31 tackles, including two for loss, and a team-best five pass breakups as the opposing team’s favorite target.

At safety, Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig has become a fan favorite. A starter in 10 games a year ago, Silmon-Craig was nevertheless overshadowed by fellow safety Shilo Sanders.

But when Sanders left the Nebraska game early with an injury, Silmon-Craig grabbed the spotlight and has been a force every week since. He leads the Buffs in tackles with 36, including 30 solo stops and three tackles for loss. He also has four quarterback hurries, a pass breakup and last week recorded a 95-yard fumble return for a touchdown in CU’s 48-21 win at UCF, tying the second-longest return in Colorado history.

“Cam’s the heartbeat. I love that dude,” defensive coordinator Robert Livingston said. “Cam is everything you want from a player. He wears his emotions on his sleeve. He speaks, people listen. He’s our unquestioned leader. We go as Cam goes, and he does a great job setting the tone, and he’s everything you want in a player and a person. So super glad we have him, and excited for the rest of the year for him.”

Sophomore Carter Stoutmire has been the starter in Shilo’s absence, and has acquitted himself well. With Sanders slated to return after the bye, the back end of CU’s defense will be even deeper and more talented.

September Grade … A-

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Special Teams

The only “unit” which had returning starters from last season was in CU’s kicking game, with kicker Alejandro Mata and punter Mark Vassett returning.

Both have had their moments … and both have had their issues.

Vassett shanked a few punts early, but is seemingly righting the ship. His 43.7 yards per punt average ranks him 29th nationally, but CU opponents have been averaging 46.8 yards per punt in those same five games. Vassett to date has had five punts going for over 50 yards; CU’s opponents have had nine. Vassett has put eight punts inside opponents’ 20-yard line; opponent punters have had nine.

Alejandro Mata has made five-of-seven field goals, but also struggled. His early kicks were low, and one was blocked.

The return game was supposed to be a decided advantage for Colorado, with Jimmy Horn joined by All-American punt returner LaJohntay Wester. But … CU has had only three kickoff returns to date, and, other than a 27-yard punt return by Horn late in the second quarter against UCF, setting up a field goal, the return game has been quiet.

Meanwhile, CU has allowed ten kickoff returns for 245 yards, including a kickoff return for a touchdown against Baylor, and seven punt returns for 126 yards.

Oh, and don’t get Buff fans started on kickoffs not going for touchbacks … and that was before Jace Feely was injured and lost for the season.

September Grade … C

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Overall 

Here are the numbers through CU’s first five games of the 2024 season:

• Rushing defense … 156.0 ypg. 85th in the nation (2023 – 176.4 ypg. 107th)
• Passing defense … 223.6 ypg., 84th in the nation (2023 – 276.9 ypg., 124th)
• Total defense … 379.6 ypg., 88th in the nation (2023 – 453.3 ypg., 127th)
• Scoring defense …  23.0 ppg., 64th in the nation (2023 – 34.8 ppg., 121st)

CU’s defensive numbers have not been great, but they are a significant step up from last season. Is a mediocre defense – at least in terms of stats – good enough for the Buffs to compete for a Big 12 title? Probably not.

But is a mediocre to good defense, one which is improving game over game, good enough to get Colorado to a bowl game and a winning season?

Definitely.

The CU defense is not dominant, but it is a definite improvement over what the Buff Nation has seen on the field for, well, years (probably not since 2016). The defense can keep the Buffs in games long enough for the CU offense to score points.

The next two months will be fun to watch, as the Buffs will be competitive in every game they play.

When was the last time we could say that?

September Overall Grade … B.

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… Previously posted … September Grades – Offense …

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This post, about the Kansas State game, from the 2024 Season, is filed under Article.
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