Colorado's 35-7 win Friday night over UNC was a tale of the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Buffs' run defense was stout, allowing just 17 yards on the ground to the Bears while an ugly array of penalties dampened the overall postgame mood for CU, which now looks ahead to facing No. 6 Texas A&M next Saturday.

But through everything, there were a number of individual performances worth diving deeper into.

Former Cherry Creek standout and true freshman Chase Penry did not have to wait long to get his first taste of collegiate action.

On a series in the third quarter that eventually saw junior tailback Alex Fontenot find the endzone, putting the Buffs up, 21-0, Penry had an important catch that extended CU's drive.

Lining up in the slot, with Vontae Shenault flaking his immediate right and fellow freshman Montana Lemonious-Craig lined up outside on the left, Penry ran a wheel route on 3rd and 6 and was targeted by Brendon Lewis.

Penry left the ground, making a tough catch mid-air and held onto it as he was dragged down.

The catch gained the Buffaloes 16 yards and a first down.

Penry, one of two true freshmen wideouts on CU's roster along with Ty Robinson, took a brief opportunity on the field and made the most of it.

“He’s got football savvy to him — he really does," Darrin Chiaverini said back in August. "He understands the game, he understands how to run routes, he knows how to separate and he catches the football.”

Given the depth of CU's wide receivers room, Penry's catch should do well to convince Karl Dorrell and Chiaverini that he's worthy of more time on the field.

From Dorrell's vantage point, Penry had been showing similar prowess all throughout fall camp.

"He was one of those freshmen that came in and just has a great knack for understanding our system," Dorrell said. "I think he picked it up pretty fast. He was performing like that all camp. Whenever he would have a chance to make a play on a ball he would do it. I think the quarterbacks all feel pretty confident in what he is."

"The lights weren't too big for him and he made a tremendous third down catch in traffic. That’s the kind of kid he is but he had been performing like that (throughout) the whole (fall) camp.”

Last year, Dimitri Stanley led the Buffaloes in receiving yards with 249 as well as receptions of more than 10 yards, with 12.

He also was the Buffs' primary punt returner, fielding nine for a total of 75 return yards.

Stanley ultimately was overshadowed on punt return duty by Brenden Rice, whose 81-yard punt return touchdown against Utah proved to be one of the more exciting moments of CU's condensed 2020 season.

But even looking back to the 2019 campaign, Stanley led the Buffs in punt return yards (47) on eight tries.

In Friday's victory over UNC, Stanley made just one catch for seven yards as a wide receiver.

However, his impact in the game undoubtedly came via special teams, as he returned three punts for a total of 68 yards.

For comparison's sake, through just one game in 2021, Stanley has already achieved 91% of the total punt return production he had during CU's condensed 2020 season.

In the first quarter alone, Stanley had two solid punt returns, the first of which went for 22-yards and positioned Colorado at it's own 46-yard line to begin offensive drive No. 2 on the night.

A few minutes later, Stanley returned a punt for 19 yards, getting CU to Northern Colorado's 43-yard line. Following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty assessed on the Bears, the Buffs began their drive in enemy territory, at the 28-yard line.

Stanley's third and final punt return was his finest, as he took it back 27 yards to the UNC 46-yard line.

Unfortunately for Stanley, the Buffs punted on two of three of his punts, but looking ahead, his opening 2021 performance as punt returner did much to inspire confidence.

“He’s a really good player, a dynamic kid, and he enjoys returning punts," Dorrell said. "We enjoy having him back there. We had some good field position because of the efforts that he made in the punt return business and our special teams played solid.”