BOULDER — When a defense hits rock bottom, the sound it makes isn’t “Splat!” as if it ended its misery. It’s the scraping sound of guys digging the hole they made for themselves even deeper, just so they have a place to hide.
For whatever heights eventually reached by Jon Embree’s program — and early in Year 2 it’s a rocket launch away from ground level — this defensive unit must live with what goes down as one of the most humiliating performances in school history. Colorado gave up 466 yards and a game-winning field goal drive to a Sacramento State team picked ninth in the Big Sky in losing 30-28 at the buzzer.
“For them to go out there and do what they did is embarrassing,” junior defensive end Chidera Uzo-Diribe said.
Putting this loss in perspective makes it even worse. This is the same Sacramento State that New Mexico State blew out 49-19 in Week 1. It’s the same one that’s considered less talented than last year’s disappointing, albeit injured, 4-7 squad.
Yet a 6-foot-1 sophomore named Garrett Safron shredded Colorado’s secondary on 25-of-37 passing for 312 yards and two touchdowns. A.J. Ellis, a running back not listed on the two-deep, rushed for 73 yards in the first half.
It was the most points the FCS school had scored on an FBS or Division I-A team since scoring 43 against Pacific in 1993.
“For whatever reason, the team that’s practicing isn’t necessarily coming consistently to Saturday,” a downcast Embree said before rushing into a hastily called staff meeting. “That’s one of the things I need to look at and figure out why.”
If Colorado’s defense is inexperienced — it played three true freshman defensive backs much of the game — it should at least hold its own where FCS schools struggle: in the trenches. Sacramento State’s large offensive line opened gaping holes for a running game that averaged 4.4 yards per carry.
“We couldn’t stop them running the football,” Embree said. “You can’t win if you can’t stop them from running, and we did not do a good job defensively. It shouldn’t have been that severe.”
Nowhere did the defensive collapse look worse than the last 2:26. The Hornets took the ball at their own 14, down 28-27. One defensive stop, one turnover — Sac State had none all day — and Colorado (0-2) survives.
Safron threw for three first downs on three quick slant plays, and a pass-interference call on freshman nickel back Marques Mosley took it down to the Buffaloes’ 34. Another Safron first-down pass took it to the 17. This was not a case of the Hornets being too fast.
It was a matter of the Buffs being too out of position in man-to-man coverage.
“It’s tough on the defender because he can’t take away everything,” defensive captain Jon Major said. “He has to take one side. You pick your spots as a quarterback when you’re in man coverage. That’s what any quarterback can do.”
The sad part? Sacramento State knew it all along. They just looked at the film of Colorado’s upset 22-17 loss to Colorado State.
“We saw that they left the middle of the field open,” Safron said. “We wanted to attack that area.”
Safron, a part-time starter last year from Santa Monica, Calif., was 4-for-4 for 54 yards on that last drive.
Colorado true freshmen Kenneth Crawley, Yuri Wright and Mosley played much of the game. Not that it’s any excuse against Sacramento State.
“I don’t care what year they are,” Embree said. “They’re going to make mistakes, but there are other guys playing. We knew coming in we were going to play a lot of young guys. It is what it is. They also made some plays.”
They’d better make more. A defense is at a crossroads, and heading straight for it in two weeks is the oncoming train that is the Pac-12.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299, jhenderson@denverpost.com or
