It might be fair to say that for Buffs senior defensive tackle Mustafa Johnson, one of nine scholarship seniors on the team, Colorado's path to exceeding the across-the-board low external expectations has two components.

The first has to do with the fact that despite looming questions at quarterback, on the defensive side of the ball, in more areas than not, there is returning depth and talent.

Now that being said, certainly looking at the secondary, 'returning depth and talent' comes in the form of a lot of true sophomores (Mark Perry, Chris Miller, KJ Trujillo and Tarik Luckett) who granted have mutually been described as far less green than they were in 2019 as true freshmen.

However, at the end of the day, if there is a weak link on the defensive chain, so to speak, it is undoubtedly the DBs corps.

There are a lot of younger, experienced players that seem primed to have good seasons in 2020 — along with a nice little group of true freshmen — but compared to the experienced and depth at DL and LB, the DBs are lacking.

In other words, there is more margin and perhaps expectations for error for them.

But the way Johnson sees it, quality depth on the defensive line and at linebacker has the potential to alleviate pressure from the Buffs' DBs.

“We have a lot of experience and we don’t have as many young guys in the secondary so I think that builds a lot of confidence," Johnson said. "Another way we’re gaining confidence is that we’re getting after the quarterback a lot more so we don’t have to put so much pressure on our DBs to guard for so long and cover for so long. We’re definitely more confident in that aspect, as well.”

Johnson rings the same bell that we've heard a number of his fellow d-linemen as well as position coach Chris Wilson say thus far into camp regarding the necessity of penetrating the backfield as often as possible.

For Wilson, doing so is a pillar of his coaching style and the expectations he has for his players.

“He’s very intense, he knows what he’s talking about, he has a certain way that he wants it done and he’s going to get it that way whether you do it or not," Johnson said of Wilson. "It’s either you do it right, or the next man’s up and he does it right. It creates a lot of competition and a lot of intensity between the group.”

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Other than more depth and experience on defense, the second aspect Johnson sees as key to the Buffs overachieving, so to speak, is simple: cancel out the noise and get the job done.

In this day and age, where social media has a grip on the vast majority of young adults, namely young athletes, it would be intellectually disingenuous to suggest that any player, coach or team is completely capable of cancelling out 100% of the outside noise, opinions and gossip surrounding a program.

Sure, you can take viable steps to dial the volume down, but in many respects, unless you're moving to central Pennsylvania to join an Amish community, that noise seeps in to some extent.

Johnson said the Buffs try to keep a happy medium with all the preseason predictions, outside expectations and general thoughts on how Colorado will do in 2020.

“I wouldn’t say we shield ourselves from it, but we also don’t absorb it," he said. "Everyone on the team has social media, everyone sees what people say and everyone sees where (media) ranks us. I don’t think there’s an emphasis to focus on what everyone else is saying. It’s more of a focus on: we have a job to do, we have a game plan that we need to execute. I don’t think we let it affect how we’re going to play.”

At the end of the day, Johnson and the Buffs will need to smoothly translate the apparent positives happening during training camp on a daily basis to Folsom Field on Nov. 7 and beyond.

“We have to go out there and execute everything that we’ve been practicing all camp basically," he said. "We have to go out there, set a tone, be physical and let them know what Colorado football is about. We have to set an example and let them know that we’re no joke. We need to get rid of that stigma that Colorado is weak.”