Colorado’s defense improves, but still shaky in Kansas State win
Following a crushing defeat to Oklahoma State where they gave up 57 points, the Buffs’ defense wanted to make a statement against Kansas State on Halloween.
Facing a third-string quarterback in Blake Barnett, Colorado had early success limiting the Wildcats’ offense when putting pressure him, en route to a 27-24 win. Kansas State kept the game tight later on when that pressure became less consistent and Barnett had time to find his open receivers.
The defense came out strong, forcing three consecutive three-and-outs including two third-down sacks on the Wildcats’ first drives of the game. Kansas State tried to establish their running game early, but the Colorado defensive line stood strong and consistently made plays around the line of scrimmage. They were able to hold the Wildcats to just 2.6 yards per carry on the ground during the first half.
Barnett replaced Dillon Duff early on in the game for the Wildcats, and the Buffs' defense worked to make the pocket uncomfortable for Barnett. They brought extra rushers with the linebackers, but the Wildcats were able to get around it through quick slant passes and checkdowns.
When asked about the importance of the front seven generating pressure, safety Randon Fontenette praised their performances.
“Yeah that was big. Those guys had a day. I'm happy for them. I'm happy the way they came out and attacked them,” Fontenette said.
They played a much more complete game than they did in a 57-24 loss against Oklahoma State, but the defense still struggled to maintain consistent pressure against the Wildcats as the game went on.
“We have to get pressure on a young quarterback but he still had 200 (yards). We didn't get enough pressure, but we won the game,” said Fontenette.
Yemen Talib and Gideon Lampron were both standouts on defense for the Buffaloes, combining for four sacks and 23 total tackles. Lampron was able to get through Kansas State’s offensive line regularly when rushing and helped with forcing a high rate of pressure.
“I’m so proud of him, he was hurt for a decent amount of the season and for him to step into a tough conference game and perform like he did with two sacks,” Lampron said about Talib's performance.”I think that speaks to the defensive coaches, defensive line, their mentality and his toughness to be able to come in and step up to make those plays.”
Missed tackles also continue to be a problem for this defensive unit, with several of them coming in key plays late in the game and on the Wildcats’ touchdown drives. They also struggled with limiting explosive plays. Kansas State scored two of their three touchdowns on 28-yard and 33-yard touchdown catches, and took a kickoff 48 yards in the first half.
With Avery Johnson at helm, the Wildcats have been one of the best teams in the Big 12 at converting on third downs. With Barnett, their 43.8% conversion percentage on Saturday was below their season average, but Kansas State still converted on seven out of 16 third-downs, a stat the Buffs would have liked to be lower against a quarterback making his first career start.
Colorado’s defense faced eight third-and-shorts, which took pressure off of Barnett to make down-field throws in those situations. They need to do a better job in the future of setting up long third-downs and limiting extended drives from developing late in games.
Arguably the defense's biggest stand of the game came in overtime, when they held Kansas State to a field goal before the Buffs scored the game-winning touchdown on the following possession.
Colorado’s defensive unit wasn’t exceptional by any means this week. They showed both flashes of their potential to be great and their inability to play a complete game. The front-seven did a great job applying pressure throughout most of the first three quarter, but they ultimately let Kansas State back into it with in lapse in sharpness by the secondary.
Going into their next game on the road against Arizona State, it’s possible that the Buffs will be facing an inexperienced freshman quarterback once again in Jake Fette. Fette made his first career start last week in their loss to BYU.
Colorado’s defense will need to bring heavy pressure as they did to start the game against Kansas State, and try to force the quarterback into making quick decisions in the pocket. The secondary’s ability to limit explosive plays will also be key for the Buffaloes to come out of Tempe with a win.
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