Mid-Term Grades – Defense

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Mid-Term Grades – Defense

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CU has played seven of its 12 regular season games, with the Buffs resting up during their first bye week with a 3-4 overall record, 1-3 in Big 12 play.

The record alone has to be considered a disappointment by most of the Buff Nation. CU is right on pace for the 5.5 over/under wins set by Las Vegas, but, with close losses to Georgia Tech (6-0, ranked No. 12), BYU (6-0, ranked No. 15) and TCU (4-2), Buff fans spent most of the first half of the season wondering “What if?”.

“The most frustrating part about it is that we’re good”, Coach Prime said after CU’s 24-17 win over No. 22 Iowa State. “And I know this sounds crazy, especially when you say the record aloud, but we’re good, we haven’t really gotten our butts kicked”.

Counterpoint … As Bill Parcells once said: “You are what your record says you are”, and the Buffs are 3-4, with three road games in the final five regular season games. Bowl eligibility is still on the table, with optimism renewed after the Iowa State game.

But plenty of work remains to be done if the Buffs are to win at least three of their final five games and go bowling.

So, how do we rate how the Buffs have done to date? Here are my grades for each unit, based upon not only results, but the expectations we had for those units back in August …

(Mid-term grades for the offense was posted on Friday, and can be found here).

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Defensive Line –

Colorado led the Big 12 conference in sacks a season ago with 39 as the defensive line tore through every opponent in their nine wins. This year, the sky was the limit as CU was projected to have a good mix of new talent to go with the players who made a statement a season ago.

Still, defensive coordinator Robert Livingston said during Fall Camp that the defense might not be the same in 2025. “We’ll do some things defensively that are drastically different from what we did last year”.

Makes one long for the good old days.

The defensive line has been a M*A*S*H unit for much of the first half of the season, with eight of CU’s 16 scholarship lineman for the TCU game listed on the availability report as “Questionable” … or worse.

From Game One, though, the defensive line has been a disappointment. Georgia Tech ripped through the Buff defense for 320 yards rushing, setting the scene for what has been the case for most of the first half of the 2025 campaign.

CU is 118th in the nation in rushing defense giving up 188 yards rushing per game. Among Power Four conference teams, only Kansas and UCLA are ranked lower.

First half grade, based upon August expectations … D- … The CU defensive line has had more than its share of injuries, but every team has injured players.

The Buff defensive line was supposed to be a strength this season. Instead, its been a glaring weakness.

First half grade, based upon results … D … The defensive line has had its moments, like the fourth down stop against Iowa State in the fourth quarter, but those have been too few and two far in between. The Buffs bookended their first half of the season by giving up 230 yards rushing to Georgia Tech … by giving up 236 yards rushing to Iowa State.

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Edge Rushers

CU couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season in regard to takeaways. In the season opener, Georgia Tech had turnovers on its first three offensive possessions.

Since then, however, the Buffs have produced just three turnovers in 69 defensive possessions (not counting end-of-half kneel downs).

“Our super power has got to be that we’ve got to turn the ball over,” Livingston said this past week, in a dramatic understatement.

In addition to forcing turnovers, the edge rushers/outside linebackers are supposed to produce sacks. The Buffs haven’t had a breakthrough in that department this year, either. They’ve had two or less in every game, including zero sacks twice.

Overall, Colorado is 126th nationally in sacks, with 1.14 per game. The Buffs are 87th in tackles for loss, with 5.1 per game.

The Buffs do have 36 quarterback hurries, though, led by Keaten Wade (seven) and Alexander McPherson (five).

First half grade, based upon August expectations … D … The CU edge rushers were supposed to be a dominant force on the team. By harassing quarterbacks and chasing down runners, the edge rushers were supposed to help cover for what was perceived to be the weak link in the defense, the inside linebackers. They haven’t done so.

First half grade, based upon results … C- … “We’re close, and those things come in bunches,” Livingston said of CU’s lack of sacks this fall, adding that teams have used a lot of quick-game passes to avoid the sacks. “The other side of it is we’ve got to finish. I think we probably left six, seven sacks out there that everybody can say where you’re a step away from the quarterback.”

The Buffs have talent on the edges, but to date they have produced little in results … and CU is 3-4.

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Inside Linebackers

If the Colorado defense was perceived to have an Achilles heel to open the 2025 season, it was at the inside linebacker position. With Nikhai Hill-Green off to get a paycheck playing for Alabama, and LaVonta Bentley having used up his eligibility, the Buffs were seen as lacking in both talent and depth at the position. It then didn’t help matters when the CU coaching staff whiffed on several Transfer Portal linebacker targets this past off-season.

The hope was that Reginald Hughes and Jeremiah Brown would be serviceable enough to not be a liability for the defense. To date, that has held partially true. Hughes is second on the team (to safety Tawfiq Byard) in tackles, with 41 (26 solo), while Brown is third in tackles (37; 18 solo).

The problem isn’t so much that the linebackers are making tackles, but where on the field they are being made.

Colorado has been giving up chunk plays, in, well, chunks. So far this season, the Buffs have allowed 109 plays of 10 yards or more. Nationally, only winless Sam Houston (113) has allowed more.

That ain’t good.

First half grade, based upon August expectations … C+ … Considering the linebackers were considered to be the weak link of the defense, linebackers Hughes and Brown have done their jobs. If the Buff defensive line was as ferocious as advertising, and the edge rushers were wreaking havoc on opposing quarterbacks, Hughes and Brown wouldn’t have to be called upon as often to make plays.

First half grade, based upon results … C- … While Hughes and Brown have been making tackles, they haven’t contributed much else to the production of the defense. Neither has a sack. Neither has an interception. Neither has a pass broken up nor a forced fumble. Getting their names on the stats sheet in the second half of the season in those categories could go a long ways towards the Buffs picking up some much needed wins.

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Defensive Backs –

“Is my hair a lot grayer now than it was when we first started the season? Yeah, it is,” said defensive coordinator Robert Livingston, 39, in his second season at CU. “But if you can take the ball away, you can win consistently. That’s what we’ve got to do a better job of.”

In the first seven games of the season, opposing passers have thrown 202 passes.

CU has intercepted only three. Tawfiq Byard’s interception in the fourth quarter against Iowa State – wearing a hand cast as he did – was the Buffs’ first takeaway since game two against Delaware.

D.J. McKinney had a baptism of fire last season. Playing cornerback opposite Travis Hunter was no picnic, as opposing teams made a point of avoiding throwing the ball anywhere near CU’s Heisman trophy winner. As a result, McKinney saw a disproportionate number of passes thrown his way. For the most part, McKinney acquitted himself well, leading Buff fans to believe that this fall, McKinney would become the Buffs’ shut down corner.

McKinney hasn’t played poorly, but he hasn’t been a star.

Which pretty much sums up the play of CU’s defensive backfield this fall.

CU is 61st in the nation in passing yards allowed. Not bad, but not great (especially when you consider how much yardage the Buffs are allowing on the ground).

If CU is to go bowling this fall, “not bad” needs to turn into great.

First half grade, based upon August expectations … D+ … Along with CU’s deep and talented defensive line, the defensive backfield was supposed to be a force, keeping defenses from exposing CU’s lack of depth and talent in the linebacker corps.

That hasn’t happened.

With the defensive line being a major disappointment, there hasn’t been as much attention paid to the lack of production on the back end. Tawfiq Byard has been a standout, but there have been few other highlights. Only 30 out of 130 teams in the FBS have fewer interceptions than CU’s three.

First half grade, based upon results … C- … Passing yards allowed per game are acceptable, but the secondary only gets to claim that as a benefit because the Buffs are 118th in the country against the run. There are no shut down corners, and a safety is leading the team in tackles because the defensive line and linebackers aren’t making tackles closer to the line of scrimmage.

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Overall … C-. The only stat keeping this from being a D grade is the fact that the Buff defense has been fairly efficient in the red zone. In 26 red zone opportunities, CU opponents have only 15 touchdowns. Keeping the opposition out of the end zone, and keeping CU in games. Giving up 23.71 points per game is not bad … but it needs to be even better if CU is to win at least three of its final games and go bowling in 2025.

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This post, about the Utah game, from the 2025 Season, is filed under Article.
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