A sliver of hope for Colorado State was sprinting up the seam just before halftime of the Rocky Mountain Showdown on Friday night.
Rams quarterback Nick Stevens, afforded a rare clean pocket, unleashed a deep pass for receiver Michael Gallup, who appeared to have a couple steps on Colorado cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon. Only the daylight didn’t last. Witherspoon turned on the jets and by the time the ball was about to hit Gallup’s hands inside the red zone, Witherspoon was in the air, hovering and waiting to knock the ball down.
The play became a footnote, if that, during CU’s 44-7 rout of its in-state rival, but it illustrated the speed and talent of a defense that has made head-turning strides over the past two seasons. Yes, faster, stronger and more talented opponents are awaiting the Buffs, but the defense under second-year coordinator Jim Leavitt appears to have the horses to keep up.
“They were playing faster than us, they were tackling and had a lot of hats to the ball,” CSU coach Mike Bobo said after the game. “You have to give their defense a lot of credit.”
The contributions came at all levels. Stevens and, late in the game, backup Faton Bauta were rarely afforded open passing lanes. Not with Kenneth Olugbode, who finished with a sack, a tackle for a loss and a fumble recovery, and Jimmie Gilbert (one sack) flying in from their linebacker spots. Not with Afolabi Laguda wreaking havoc from the nickel position. Not with nose tackle Josh Tupou, playing his first game after a season-long suspension, pushing CSU offensive lineman into the backfield.
“I think our front seven got after them,” said CU cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, who led the Buffs with eight tackles and an interception Friday. “There’s been a lot of talk about our front seven. We have some guys back. Last year, our run defense wasn’t great but this game, they really showed a glimpse of what they could do and how great they could be.”
In the 2015 Rocky Mountain Showdown, the CU defense was gutted for 218 yards on the ground, 118 from running back Dalyn Dawkins. CSU gained 162 yards rushing Friday, but only 57 came in the first half. By the time the Rams finally found some traction, they were already down by more than four touchdowns.
The Buffs may have one of the Pac-12’s top secondaries, a cohesive, talented group led by Awuzie and safety Tedric Thompson, who also came away with an interception in the victory. But that unit knows it can’t really thrive without the players in front of them swarming all year like they did Friday night.
“We haven’t even made a statement yet,” Laguda said after the game. “We made plenty of mistakes. We want to set the bar high. We’re chasing that Pac-12 championship, nothing less. We don’t want to go to some random 6-6 bowl game. We want to get to a championship, and (to do it) we need to play championship level football.”
It’s too early to tell if CU’s defense is championship level. The Buffs, though, appear to have the talent to contend.
