At his weekly press conference Monday, Karl Dorrell relayed the gloomy news that senior inside linebacker Nate Landman would in all likelihood be unavailable this upcoming weekend when the Buffaloes are visited by Oregon State (5-3, 2-2 Pac-12).
Landman, who missed CU's most recent game at No. 7 Oregon, got banged up the week prior at California, sustaining an injury that threatens to keep him sidelined as the Buffs enter the final third of the year.
“Nate’s, I call it week to week, but I want to make sure he’s healthy — I’m not going to put him at risk, even though he would probably try to play with one arm if it was up to him," Dorrell said Monday. "I’m not going to let him do that. I just don’t want to put guys at risk doing that...he’s feeling better but I don’t think he’s capable of — I’d say he’s doubtful this week to play.”
Despite Landman's injury, he still comfortably leads the Buffs in a number of defensive statistical categories, including total tackles (71), unassisted tackles (52) tackles per game (7.1), tackles for zero (9) and third down stops (7).
Landman also was named one of 16 Butkus Award semifinalists Monday for the second year in a row.
But all of his individual accolades aside, Colorado needs to figure out how to play stout defense in his absence.
After all, this is Landman's last year in a CU uniform, regardless of when he manages to return from injury this season.
Soon, his Colorado career will inevitably come to an end and at the moment, the Buffs' defense has not proven it can operate at a high level without him on the field.
Looking at the two recent games in which Landman was unable to play — last year's Valero Alamo Bowl and this past weekend's game against Oregon, CU has been rocked for 107 points, allowing an average of 603 yards of total offense.
Granted, Texas was ranked No. 20 in the nation at the time of last year's Alamo Bowl while Oregon was ranked No. 7, but still, it has become a proven fact that Landman's presence on defense elevates that unit's potential considerably, especially against the run.
With Landman looking like he'll miss this Saturday's game against the Beavers, Dorrell will be looking for other players to step up and meet the challenge head-on.
"They know that one guy doesn’t make a defense," Dorrell said. "Nate knows that, too, and he expresses that with those guys, too. But we just need our guys to do their role and increase their communication within that role...they just need to step up and make sure everybody’s on the same page."
Adding to the loss of Landman will be that of starting outside linebacker Guy Thomas, who Dorrell formally ruled out for the OSU game this weekend on Monday.
At the beginning of the season, Oregon State was likely looked at by CU fans as an opponent in which the Buffs would have a good shot to beat.
Suffice to say those thoughts have have slid away. While the Beavs may not be as explosive as Oregon, they boast the No. 11 rushing offense in the nation, which, behind workhorse junior tailback B.J. Baylor, averages 5.71 yards per carry and 231.1 yards per game.
Before Saturday's loss at Oregon, CU had allowed 4.70 yards per carry to opponents.
The Ducks found wide open holes to burst through Saturday, averaging an alarming 7.1 yards per carry, gaining a total of 256 yards on the ground against the Buffs.
"They can run the ball in every personnel group pretty effectively, whether it’s 11 personnel or 12 personnel with two tight ends," Dorrell said of Oregon State. "A lot of the time, they roll out 13 personnel, which is three tight ends and a receiver out there. I would say that their best attribute is that they have that balance."
"They can run the football and they have certain countermeasures off of those run actions to make a defense try to defend both the play action game and in the run game."
Quinn Perry and Robert Barnes formed Colorado's primary inside linebacker duo at Oregon, with Marvin Ham and Jack Lamb also seeing action in Eugene.
Dorrell believes any and all of the above players have the potential to plug holes.He also alluded to CU's defensive players being far from pleased having allowed 52 points to the Ducks last weekend.
Whether that frustration can be channeled into a more shutdown performance against the Beavers remains to be seen but needless to say, against the Pac-12's top rushing offense, Colorado's shorthanded defense will have a tall task ahead of it.
“There’s some capable players, for sure," Dorrell said. "We challenged them all about those guys stepping up, getting everybody on the same page, and they’re eager to do that. When you have a performance like that, which I believe is not characteristic of our defense, they want to get it right and I think you’re going to see the difference this week.”
