Saturday's 20-17 win over Washington featured an interesting defensive performance by the Buffaloes, who let up a number of big plays to UW in addition to allowing the Huskies to go 14-of-21 on third down.

But Colorado generated four critical turnovers in the game, contributing significantly to the winning effort.

Two of those turnovers, one interception and one fumble recovery, were by grad transfer Robert Barnes, and he was far from the only CU linebacker to have an impactful performance.

Quinn Perry has continued to step up at inside linebacker in the absence of Nate Landman, the latter of whom has been unable to play due to injury now for four straight games.

With nine tackles against the Huskies, including one for loss, Perry now has 73 on the year, eclipsing Landman (71) for the team lead.

"He's doing a great job defensively," Landman said of Perry. He gets other guys going. He, along with Carson Wells and Rob Barnes and those guys who made plays (against UW) gives him confidence. And then, in return, he gives them confidence. I think he's done a great job these last couple of weeks."

Landman hit the nail on the head as far as mentioning Barnes' and Wells' performances Saturday.

The former, having transferred to CU from Oklahoma earlier this year, was used sparingly over the first six weeks of the season, failing to eclipse 30 snaps played on defense until the Buffs' Oct. 23 game at California.

But since then, and in part due to Landman's extended absence, Barnes has found a larger role within the Buffaloes' defense, as he played a season-high 50 snaps last weekend at UCLA.

Saturday, Barnes tied Perry for the team lead in tackles with nine and also contributed two key turnovers for CU in the third quarter.

He managed to pick off UW's Dylan Morris on a pass that was deflected by safety Mark Perry and at the end of the third quarter, recovered a fumble on Washington's 7-yard line that set up a Cole Becker field goal early in the fourth.

"I never wavered in my preparation," Barnes said. "I prepared the same way every week and I knew my time was going to come, I told (Wells and Matt Lynch) before the game that I was going to give them everything I had and I'm just happy that I was able to go out there and contribute."

Fellow graduate transfer Jack Lamb had a similar early-season lack of playing time that Barnes experienced, as he played less than 10 defensive snaps in four of CU's first seven games.

But Lamb undoubtedly made his presence known against the Huskies through an 88-yard scoop and score fumble recovery that he took to the house, neutralizing a promising UW drive that had penetrated the red zone and to CU's 3-yard line.

Lamb's return was the third-longest in Colorado program history.

As for Wells, he had a dominant performance vs. Washington, evidenced by his two sacks of Morris, three tackles for loss, two pass breakups and two quarterback hurries.

Wells, who led the Buffaloes leading into Saturday with 3.5 sacks, now has 5.5 on the year to go along with his 11 tackles for loss, also best among CU's defenders.

He harassed Morris all afternoon and had a consequential quarterback hurry late in the game on 4th-and-5, leading to a turnover on downs by UW that sealed the win for Colorado.

"The whole time, we kept telling each other that we were playing for each other," Wells said. "The first turnover inside the 5-yard line, that Jack (Lamb) took all the way back, we just kept playing the whole time. It was bend but don’t break — we kept fighting the whole game.”

On the whole, Colorado forced just two punts by Washington throughout the entire game, allowing an alarming 67% conversion rate on third down. The Huskies had the ball for 36:07 in the game, but through all the defensive lapses, the Buffaloes managed to pull off a win, with turnovers and contributions by their linebackers playing a major role.

"We definitely have a lot of work to do," Karl Dorrell said after Saturday's win. "...We found a way to overcome it and get a victory, and I think that at least makes us be able to swallow that fact. But we still have a lot of work to do.”