As the 2019 season went on, Colorado without a doubt tightened some bolts on defense.

Late-year November victories vs. Stanford and Washington in back-to-back weeks bore fruit in terms of helping to convince numerous recruits visiting Boulder at the time — Christian Gonzalez and Jason Harris included — to eventually commit to CU.

Those games also proved to contain convincing evidence that things were starting to click within first-year defensive coordinator Tyson Summers' defense.

Players appeared to be understanding their roles better, explosive plays plagued the secondary to a lesser degree and overall, Summers' defensive 11 began to forge an identity.

Now, with Summers preparing for his second year in the defensive play caller's seat, he is confident that continuity and his own firmer grasp of personnel will make up for some youth on defense, namely in Gonzalez, who as a true freshman earned a starting corner gig and sophomore safety Mark Perry.

"We still have a lot of youth and we’re still pretty young in a lot of places, but we do have experience," Summers said. "A lot of the guys, with the way we finished the season at the end of (last) year, I think I’ve got a good relationship with those older guys on the defense. It’s been really exciting to have that kind of relationship and that kind of communication as we go into year two.”

This year, beginning on Saturday with UCLA, Summers wants his defense to be more consistent on first, second and third downs.

For the majority of the 2019 season, the Buffs were routinely in trouble by the time of third down.

For example, opponents last year averaged a 6.1-yard gain on 369 first down plays. Out of those 369 plays, 46% of them went for at least five yards.

Second down defense was worse, with the Buffs letting up an average of 7.1 yards per play.

Finally, on third down, the Buffaloes were the best (if you want to describe it that way) and allowed an average of 5.5 yards per play.

An improvement across the board, no matter the down or situation, would be most preferable for Summers.

“I think you're always trying to be successful on all three downs," he said. "At the end of the season last year, we had a lot of success on third down and I think it was really able to change how we played. I think it gave us a lot of confidence and we played better on first and second down through the last three or four games of the season. That was able to show."

"We were able to win on first down, second down and we’re trying to get off the field (and) get takeaways."

As we continue to approach Saturday's showdown with UCLA, Summers is eager to see what improvements his defense will show.

If Summers is going to walk off of Folsom Field Saturday evening a happy camper, the Buffs will of course need to have turned in a good performance against the Bruins' junior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, both in terms of pass coverage and scramble prevention.

"I think what you're going to see is a guy that’s very, very talented," Summers said of Thompson-Robinson. "I think he’s a dynamic pocket passer — I really do. I think he makes smart decisions on when to run and when not to. He’s got a high level of escapability at the same time and I think he makes good decisions with the ball.”