Josh Chandler-Semedo sat by the endzone facing the Colorado U last Saturday to take some time to process a forgotten feeling of a hard earned win, as he had not won a game since Nov. 27, 2021.

“The monkey was off the back,” Chandler-Semedo said after the game. “Being a leader, being a fifth year guy, it’s a lot of pressure. You don’t want to go out the way we were going out and you could feel the pressure rising throughout the building. ...

"We had no excuses -- it was all on us. To be able to get that victory the way we did in a defensive fashion like we played today, it was amazing so I just had to take a moment of relief.”

The Buffs defense could not find its rhythm until recently with the implementation of interim defensive coordinator Gerald Chatman’s new system. Chandler-Semedo, a veteran linebacker, played through the adversity providing a reliable cog in the middle. He is one of Colorado's defensive leaders with 44 total tackles, 2 sacks for a loss of 16 and 7 tackles for a loss, along with two third down stops and one QB pressure

Chandler-Semedo had a career-high 110 tackles last season at West Virginia, and in the last two games he's been closer to that pace again with 10 vs. Arizona and 9 vs. Cal.

“I’m never a person to doubt myself, but at the same time, it did get a little gray sometimes,” he said. “Like, kind of question the direction of some things, but overall you really just keep trying and you always want to make sure to do your part.”

Chandler-Semedo did his part last Saturday, finishing with a sack and 3.5 tackles for loss and other Buffs such as Trevor Woods and Nikko Reed also executed big plays in Chatman’s, “fast and free" defense.

“Coach Chatman, he’s standing up on the bench screaming to us, just hyping us up all the time,” Woods said. “They’re just letting us play free and I mean we’re just having fun out there. Like that was the most fun I’ve had I think since I’ve been here. That game right there, that was awesome man.”

Woods saved the game in overtime by punching the ball out from wide receiver Mason Starling in the end zone during overtime. Reed also had a game-saving play at the end of the fourth, sacking Jack Plummer for a loss of 9 yards.

“[The defensive staff] had just plug-and-play on the sideline,” Reed said. “Really, the play is designed for me to blitz so when they called the play I got excited. Especially when they tightened their formation, I was really excited because I knew that I was going and then just as I went, there was nobody blocking me, looking to block me, and I saw the quarterback just free so I knew I was going to make a play.”

The Buffs allowed Cal just 35 rushing yards, including loss of 16 on the 3 sacks of Plummer, and limited Jaydn Ott -- “one of the best [running backs] in the country. One of the best freshmen I’ve seen in my five years," Chandler-Semedo said -- to 47 rushing yards on 16 carries.

Saturday presented a revitalized defense, a defense that took a step back during the bye week in order to produce a significant step forward.

Meanwhile, someone else who helped boost Chandler-Semedo’s drive during the bye week was his daughter. He flew home to see his daughter and his wife and she is growing quickly.

“Every time I get the chance to see her, of course it’s been a decent amount of time between times I am able to see her, so now I’m seeing her, she’s got control of her neck now. She eats solid food, she got teeth. Last time I saw her, she was just sitting there, couldn’t move her neck, you gotta hold her, position her in a different way.

"She definitely started developing a personality. It’s cool to be able to see that and now like I’m able to see her a lot [more] often. ... She started remembering me, see me, smile and stuff like that, so it’s cool.”

A difficult schedule awaits, but with Chandler-Semedo’s consistency and a defense seemingly thriving from a fresh outlook, he'll try to keep giving not only his family but his Buffs teammates more reason to smile.