It's fair to say that Colorado inside backer Nate Landman has some not-so-fond memories of playing the Arizona Wildcats. In 2018, he started and recorded seven tackles in a 42-34 loss to UA on the road in which Khalil Tate passed for 350 yards and five TDs while J.J. Taylor rushed 40 times, slicing up CU's defense for 206 yards.
The year prior, Landman watched from the sidelines at Folsom Field as the Tate's legend took off after coming into the game, replacing Arizona's injured starter Brandon Dawkins and accounting for 481 of total offense vs. the Buffs.
Now in 2019, Landman is hoping for a far different outcome against the Arizona Wildcats.
Of course, the aforementioned banes to CU's existence in years past, Taylor and Tate, are both questionable to play Saturday in Boulder. Effective Wednesday afternoon, there has yet to be an update on the status of either player heading into the game.
"Seeing what (Tate) did to us (in 2017), being on the sidelines, I still remember that game and I remember what he did last year," Landman said. "Having him come into our house again, I'm excited to (potentially) play him. We want to prove ourselves as a defense that we're capable of stopping him."
Of course, with the significant possibility of Tate not playing Saturday, the Buffs have looked to prepare just as hard for true freshman Grant Gunnel, who started against UCLA last week in Tate's place and looked good, throwing for 344 yards on 29-of-44 passing.
Without Tate, UA's offense has looked more traditional while with him, the playcalling is more suited to compliment his dual threat abilities, although the days of Tate putting up performances like he did in 2017 may be a thing of the past.
His legs are to be respected, no doubt, but across the Pac-12 it does appear like defenses are more capable of limiting the damage he can do. That said, Colorado's has yet to join those ranks.
Mel Tucker, in playing the Wildcats, noted similarities between U of A and Air Force.
“In terms of option responsibility, (Arizona’s offense) is very similar to (Air Force)," he said. "We have to play assignment football, make sure that guys do their jobs, be disciplined, but they give you a lot of different looks. They do a great job from a scheme standpoint, put pressure on a lot of guys. Everyone (has to be) at the point of attack against this offense. They can be very explosive.”
In the absence of Tayloer, the Wildcats vs. UCLA used a three-man rotation in the backfield: Darrius Smith, Gary Brightwell and Nathan Tilford. Brightwell led Arizona last year with 5.8 yards per carry, backing up Taylor and has emerged as the main guy in the latter's absence.
This season, he's averaging 7.8 YPC while Tilford, a redshirt sophomore saw his only carry last year was against CU. He has 10 carries thus far in 2019.
While Arizona switches up the RBs, keeping their guys fresh, the mxing up of Akil Jones and Jon Van Diest should help counter that.
"Those are both great guys and I think they compliment me, each other and this whole defense well," Landman said. "Akil comes in and makes TFLs on pretty much all his first drives. He's a solid guy who's really starting to learn the defense and what being a starter on a college defense is...Jon's been doing great, too. I love playing next to both of them."
In CU's last two games, Van Diest has played in 61 snaps, recording six total tackles, while Jones has appeared in 50, making 10.
For Colorado, limiting big plays has been a continual point of emphasis, regardless of who plays for Arizona's offense Saturday.
"Offenses do a good job with shifts, motions (having) really good schemes and designs with plays, but everything we do is sound and solid," Tucker said. "If we execute, which we should be able to do, we should be in position to make plays. When we’re not...it’s usually some type of error on our part.”
