Colorado Secondary Impresses in Rocky Mountain Showdown
The Colorado Buffaloes' secondary as a whole looked impressive in the team’s 17-3 victory over the Colorado State Rams in the annual Rocky Mountain Showdown on Friday.
Cornerback Isaiah Oliver, who is expected to be the Buffs go-to lockdown guy this year, did an excellent job covering Rams top wide Michael Gallup, essentially neutralizing him for much of the game, and holding him to only 67 yards on five catches.
Oliver’s ability to play tight man coverage, put together with his top notch athleticism, is what ultimately allows him to change direction and reach his top speed at a remarkably quick rate when in coverage.
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INSTANT ANALYSIS: Buffs hold on, knock off CSU 17-3
Colorado beats CSU behind Lindsay, flurry of flags
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This was a big statement from Oliver to open the season, showing that he is ready to be one of the top cornerbacks in not just the Pac-12, but in all of college football, too. Perhaps Oliver’s best play of the day was an athletic pass breakup in the endzone against Gallup, right after Colorado State cornerback Kevin Nutt intercepted a Steven Montez pass intended for Devin Ross.
While Oliver shined for much of the opener, fellow cornerback Trey Udoffia had more of a up-and-down game in his Buffs' debut. On several instances in the first half, he struggled in man-to-man coverage, getting juked out on a few comeback routes by Rams receiver Olabisi Johnson. In addition, he got beat twice on longer passes by Dietrich Clark, both of which got called back on questionable pass interference calls. In the first instance, Clark seemed to have Udoffia fooled on a comeback route, and on the second penalized play, Clark appeared to gain some separation in the end zone.
Udoffia rebounded strongly in the second half though, getting a hand in to cause a breakup on two separate deep balls intended for Johnson in the third quarter. He appeared to have made an adjustment at halftime, playing much tighter in man coverage, and allowing his receiver to get much less initial separation off the line of scrimmage.
Udoffia’s impressive 2nd half was captivated by a impressive forced fumble in which he held up wide receiver Warren Jackson and ripped the ball out of his hands with 5:09 left in the game. He also had the game sealing interception on a desperation throw towards the end zone by quarterback Nick Stevens with 2:58 left.
One factor that surely didn’t help the Rams receiving corps was the inconsistent accuracy of Stevens. On several crucial situations, he misfired on his open intended target. One of the worst instances where this happened was when he overthrew open receiver Cameron Butler on a third-and-ten from the Buffs thirteen yard line.
On the third level of the Buffs defense, Afolabi Laguda, Evan Worthington, and Ryan Moeller all looked solid in their season debuts.
Laguda did an exceptional job on several occasions - reading the Rams formation and sniffing out the play call perfectly to align the defense and stop Rams' tailback Dalyn Dawkins behind the line of scrimmage.
Worthington did a good job using his big frame to his advantage when combating both dimensions of the Rams offensive attack. He used his long wingspan to make a few solo tackles in the backfield, as well as several plays around the ball - including his first interception of the season when the Rams were driving just short of midfield.
Moeller looked solid once again in the hybrid Buff backer role (which has fit him well in the past), making several crushing hits on both Dawkins and fellow back Izzy Matthews.
Overall, the backend of the Buffs defense looked good in the season opener, which is a large reason why they held the Rams offense to just three points. Although the secondary got beat on several instances (several of which got wiped out by penalties), that’s expected for every defensive back, and they rebounded excellently.
This was also the first time this relatively new group played together this season, and there’s naturally going to be some areas where they can improve and progress. The secondary showed the ability to play tight man coverage, stack the box and make plays at all three levels, and most importantly limit the number of big plays from the offense.
Overall Grade: A-