Linebacker Martavius French shines as diamond in rough for CU’s defense amid loss

Martavius French transferred to Colorado for his senior season by way of the UTSA Roadrunners, with Friday marking his Buffs debut. (Photo by Ryan Asaro/Sko Buffs Sports)

In the Colorado Buffaloes’ 27-20 loss to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Friday, their defense struggled as a whole and the stats reflected that. The Jackets amassed 463 yards of total offense by improving substantially as the game went along, being able to poke holes in every defensive set the Buffaloes presented them with by the fourth quarter.

There were very few bright spots, but one man that stood out and gave this team much to be excited about defensively was linebacker Martavius French. The senior transfer by way of UTSA recorded six tackles, five of which were unassisted, along with two fumble recoveries and 1.5 tackles for loss.

“He played with passion, he played with fire, he made some plays,” Colorado head coach Deion Sanders said postgame.

Namely in the first quarter, French was a sparkplug for the defense; but the overall disappointment generated by the unit as a whole made that hard to focus on for long.

“It’s hard to applaud the defense when we gave up durn near 500 yards,” Sanders continued. “That’s kind of tough.”

But even with the lack of positive things to say about his defense, French’s performance will be one that Coach Prime will eventually have to look back on in a positive light. He emerged into the anchor role for the unit that was occupied by the likes of Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig and Nikhai Hill-Green last season and with those two on their way out the door, it’s encouraging to see French filling the void they left.

This type of play is what he became known for in his time with the Roadrunners as he garnered 164 tackles in just three years with the team. That same ability to fly to the ball and make plays was on display tonight with his fumble recoveries, as his positioning and awareness ensured the ball wound up in the hands of his team.

While he led the Buffs well with his play, it was still clear their defense lacked a vocal leader to rally around late in the game.

“Defensively, we have to clean up all of that,” Sanders added. “We just got gashed for 463 yards, their quarterback is looking like a Heisman candidate right now. We made that happen for him.”

If French can make strides in using his senior leadership to emerge as a vocal leader, he will eventually be looked at as not just the anchor of this defense, but its entire heart and soul.