Following his first career start for the Buffaloes last Friday against UNC, junior inside linebacker Quinn Perry feels ready to assume a larger role defensively for CU.

For Perry, earning his first-ever start at linebacker next to senior Nate Landman has been a long time coming.

The 6-foot-2, 245-pound Perry originally joined CU ahead of the 2019 season from the junior college ranks.

Coming out of Palisades High School in Los Angeles, Perry enrolled at El Camino College, where in 22 career games he racked up 100 tackles, 24.5 TFLs and eight sacks.

He didn't see much action under Mel Tucker in his first year in Boulder, dressing for 11 of Colorado's 12 games and playing against UCLA in a special teams capacity.

Last fall, his role increased somewhat, as he was able to take the field with the defense on occasion, logging a total of 40 snaps in four games.

Having seen Perry work his way up from depth piece to starter, Landman is confident in what he brings to the table.

“Quinn brings great energy and he’s a guy I can trust playing next to me," Landman said. "He’s a sure tackler, he’s a great communicator and he brings a lot of juice on the field. That’s one of my favorite things about Quinn — he’s a competitor, he’s out there to compete and play and he’s worked hard to get into the position he’s in now. He’s not going to let that go."

When the clocks read all zeroes following CU's 35-7 win over Northern Colorado, Landman had recorded four tackles and a pass breakup while Perry was in on three tackles and shared a tackle for loss with freshman cornerback Christian Gonzalez.

Per Perry, learning from Landman these past two seasons and off-seasons, and now playing beside him has done much to increase his knowledge of the game.

“My first semester I got here, I was honestly super ignorant," Perry said. "I was a JUCO kid and I got humbled real quick. Nate’s like a big brother to me now. He can trust me, I trust him and it’s been a long process earning that trust for him to believe that I can do my job."

"It’s an honor knowing he can trust me with the whole defense. Playing next to him elevates me to a huge level.”

Dropping a few pounds was a primary goal of Perry's during the offseason. From last year to now, he shed roughly 10 pounds, giving credit in large part to the oversight of first-year strength and conditioning coach Shannon Turley.

“Last year I was a little heavier, in the 250 (pounds) area," Perry said. "In the offseason, I devoted myself to training every day and conditioning every day. My dad has a bodybuilding background so he taught me stuff on the side to help me develop myself."

"And then, the offseason program with coach Turley’s rigorous conditioning, that helped me slim down and get faster."

Earlier this week, Karl Dorrell revealed that fellow inside linebacker Robert Barnes would be available Saturday vs. No. 5 Texas A&M.

How that will impact Perry's playing time remains to be seen. It's also worth noting that the Buffaloes have a defensive package that features three inside linebackers, which could translate to Perry seeing the field even if Barnes starts eating up more snaps.

With all of that to become apparent in the weeks to come, Perry seems to have earned the trust of his teammates around him.

I love playing next to Quinn," Landman said. "I think he’s doing a great job, he’s going to continue to do a great job and he’s slowly developing into the leader that will be huge for this program in years to come.”