The loss of senior inside linebacker Nate Landman in the middle of the Utah game doubtless came as a shot to the abdomen to Colorado.
When the dust settled after CU's 38-21 loss at the hands of the Utes, it was revealed that the Buffs had been deprived of their defensive leader and a major locker room presence to a ruptured Achilles.
As we now know, that injury will sideline Landman for Colorado's first bowl appearance in four years — set to be Landman's first as a Buffalo since his freshman year in 2017 — in Tuesday's Valero Alamo Bowl vs. No. 20 Texas.
While coaches and players alike feel for Landman and are there for him during this difficult time, at the end of the day, there's a football game to win early next week.
Knowing the kind of teammate Landman is, he'd likely be pretty upset with his teammates if he knew his injury was causing them to lose focus ahead of the team's return to the postseason for the first time since 2016.
It doesn't appear that that is the case, however, as the Buffs have been strategizing on how to best replace Landman's presence on the field since he went down mid-game against Utah.
As Colorado inches closer towards taking the field in San Antonio vs. Texas, it appears that juniors Jon Van Diest and Quinn Perry plus redshirt freshman Marvin Ham will all be splitting reps aside senior Akil Jones.
"They’re excited — I was just talking to them before practice (Thursday)," Karl Dorrell said. "They have a little skip in their step and they’ve got some energy because they know they’re playing and they know they’re going to play extensively. I'm excited to watch those guys play.”
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Van Diest began the 2019 season aside Landman as a starting inside backer but struggled to stay 100% healthy, as Jones gradually began assuming a greater percentage of the defensive snaps.
Out of the aforementioned three though, Van Diest does lead the pack in snaps this fall (81) as well as in tackles, with nine solo and two assisted.
After seeing a total of two defensive snaps in the season opener vs. UCLA and playing just special teams against Stanford and San Diego State, Van Diest has figured more prominently into the equation over the last two weeks, playing 39 snaps at Arizona and 37 in the Buffaloes' loss to Utah.
Perry has played on 40 defensive snaps this year, logging 12 against the Aztecs and a season-high 25 at Arizona.
Ham, the youngest of the group, is also the greenest, having just seen a total of three plays on defense in 2020.
Dorrell has indicated that the three of them are seeing a level of action in practice indicative of seeing the field often vs. the Longhorns Tuesday night.
While there's simply no replacing the kind of on-field presence that Landman brings to the table, Colorado's first-year head coach is confident in the trio of Buffaloes who will try their utmost to do just that.
“I think it’d be a committee approach," Dorrell said. "All three of those guys know both spots at the Money and Mike backer. They know those spots and have all had reps in there and we’re going to rotate those guys in there."
"Those three are doing a lot of good things for us — they’re involved in all of our packages, our sub-packages and personnel groups," Dorrell said.
