Colorado Buffaloes 2024 Two-Game Defensive AnalysisUnity Consciousness #3152

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Colorado Buffaloes vs North Dakota State (click here for video)

1. Safeties play too deep and too far inside.
2. Outside Linebackers should play outside the tackle.
3. No recognition by ends, linebackers or safeties to pick up the receiver coming back across the formation.
4. Ends, backers and safeties do not play help defense when a back comes out of the backfield or across the formation behind the line. The end should take the back, the backer should step up and the safety should come down into the middle. (8:54 1st Qtr, 8:30 1st Qtr, 13:28 2nd Qtr, 11:26 3rd Qtr)

5. 7:55 1st Qtr outside linebacker not using instincts, not watching QB eyes or body position and also not able to see two receivers crossing, thus not able to anticipate moving up and over to cut off and intercept slant.
6. 6:42 1st Qtr, after seeing it was not a run, the two linebackers were in no man's land and did not rush or fill the lane where the QB was turned towards and looking.
7. 6:13 1st Qtr, if that was a designed delayed blitz by #43, the safety should have came up, and already been closer. The team is soft on the corners, ends and middle, not soft deep, so the safeties are underutilized and should never be the top tacklers. CU is soft in zone coverage because corners are relying on help rather than staying close. Do not run zone except with backers. Safety help over the top should only be available if formation and motion allows it.

8. 2:35 1st Qtr, middle wide open, safety should come up, did not, QB run, linemen are not keeping track of the ball while rushing (2:28 4th Qtr touchdown)
9. On most pass plays backers and safeties are useless until after the catch and many yards later. One of them should blitz or at least be the QB spy, especially when the QB is a known runner and fast.
10. The theme for corners, backers and safeties is too much cushion.

11. Linebackers do not monitor backs coming out of the backfield.
12. 12:54 1st Qtr, NDSU QB made wrong read. Back out of the backfield wide open.
13. 12:20 2nd Qtr poor play recognition by backers and safeties, they all took themselves out of the play except Travis.

14. 6:26 2nd Qtr, when teams spread the defense out, with no backers in the middle, they are going to run or slant, the safeties must come up. Trevor Woods #43 is not fast enough to cover receivers. He got beat several times on slants. The weak side safety must come up and into the middle to undercut the route or another backer must be dropped to the middle and side where Trevor is to undercut the route or Trevor and the safety must switch roles or find a faster backer who can also stop the run.
15. 5:00 2nd Qtr QB makes wrong read, #28 out of the backfield wide open in the middle
16. 5:44 3rd Qtr, crossing route, corner, safety and backer did not react well, backer should have intercepted but didn't know where the ball was

17. 3:52 3rd Qtr, what was the right backer looking at, defense totally fooled on a shabby ball fake.
18. 3:15 3rd Qtr, back out of the backfield stopped due to better defensive scheme involving safety close to line of scrimmage
19. 2:22 3rd Qtr, backer #42 had no clue where ball was and did not read the QB body motion to know he was running, and should have been closer anyway.

20. 6:55 4th Qtr, back out of the backfield. Either the End must take the back and stop rushing or a backer or safety must be keying on the back each time. Someone must always be assigned to the back in the backfield on a pass play.
21. 4:52 4th Qtr, saved by a timeout, otherwise poor identification, reaction by backers and safeties
22. 4:44 4th Qtr, NDSU was nervous so likely to run, especially with #9, a reliable runner, was in the game in this do or die situation, CU should have squeezed in, shot the gaps and brought the safeties down and had corners play man

23. CU is susceptible to play action pass because linemen, backers and safeties are fooled a lot and slow to react.
24. CU is susceptible to RB's flaring to the sidelines and WR coming across formation in the backfield because no one picks them up
25. Linebackers and linemen do not maintain their gaps, thus allowing quarterbacks to run free. Backers appear to be keying off linemen movement rather than seeing the ball. Is this due to emphasis on stopping the run, if so, then safeties must come up to stop the middle passes and QB runs.

26. Linemen only raised their hands once on a pass, which means they are too preoccupied with the blocker rather than finding the ball. It ain't about beating and out-maneuvering and overpower your man, it's about finding and stopping the ball.
27. Ends do not use outside leverage and contain on running plays
28. 0:33 4th Qtr, #24 was in position but should have ran backwards at an angle, and could have deflected the pass, #9 was too busy trying not to get beat deep and perhaps fearful of not being fast enough, Put Travis and Shilo on their best two receivers.

Colorado vs Nebraska Cornhuskers (click here for video)

Postgame Interview: Deion Sanders on Colorado's Week 2 loss to Nebraska | FOX College Football

I will bold what is similar to last week.

1. 12:58 1st Qtr, QB run gains 13 yards.
2. 12:!2 1st Qtr, a little inside pitch to WR in motion nets 8 yards
3. 11:48 1st Qtr, DE must RB or WR in motion and then stay with them while LB fills in the DE gap and safety fills in the LB gap. DE takes a bad angle to the WR in motion. DE useless on that play. Defense should be like basketball defense where everyone rotates over one man.

4. 11:15, 1st Qtr, LB takes himself out of the play by moving up and into the direction the O-Line was blocking instead of going against their grain and their direction. No O-Line is going to block you in the direction the RB is going to run. LB's are clueless on how to read QB, RB, WR, O-Line and mostly follow the O-Line but not the RB, WR or QB. Their first move is to step up and into Line traffic that takes them out of the play. A RB can't run through a traffic jam, so why are the LB's not flowing to the gaps? Safeties still playing too far back.
5. 10:42 1st Qtr, LB's don't react to pulling O-Lineman and pulling RB, safety reacts sooner but too late overall. Nebraska scores TD.
6. 4:20 1st Qtr, DE did not step up and take on the block and allowed the RB to create space for the other RB. LB on that side whiffed on the tackle and would have done better by just jumping in the way, getting ran over and slowing the RB down. When there is an OE and RB on the same side the end and LB must be on alert and key on them with the LB taking whichever one does not block the DE.

7. 3:13 3rd Qtr, CB#8 allows #17 to run across the defensive middle, even though that was his man and he had safety help on the other receiver in the area. So if you want to beat CU's, DE's, LB's, and CB's, just bunch people, put one or two in motion and then separate them.
8. Defensive center, guards and tackles played better in second half.
9. 3:00 3rd Qtr, on the backside, there are 5 CU guarding 3 Nebraska. Most of the time, the safeties are out of the play unless they come up initially or immediately, or they are in the play after a big gain.

10. 2:40 3rd Qtr, Left LB doesn't know what to do, and it must be zone coverage, but 6 CU players can't guard 4 Nebraska players.
11. 1:55 3rd Qtr, long before now you know #17 is a threat, yet he is not picked up. No you can't follow him across in their backfield because you will get blocked, just like the CU CB did. Safeties must come up and provide assistance unless CU can't run with receivers in one on one and are afraid of getting beat deep, meanwhile getting beat short a lot and in the middle.
12. 12:13 4th Qtr, defense did pretty good because there was no misdirection.

13. Defense had the QB several times but he juked them because they came at him full speed and he just sidestepped them
14. 7:12 4th Qtr, CB #8 gets picked and safety #3 doe not not switch to #17. Perhaps the rule should be, stick with the pick and switch. The LB had no chance of reaching the QB and should have dropped back into the throwing lane. #8 did make a good tackle on the previous play.
15. 6:37 4th Qtr, 3 CU players in no man's land behind the line.

16. 5;36 4th Qtr, LB's have not learned to bend but not break. They try to make big plays and give up big plays by not moving laterally first, thus they get blocked and stuck in traffic.

Truth is, unless an O-Line and D-Line are able to at least stalemate the other side, the rest of the players must be superheroes.

Truth is, NDSU made CU look like no-quit-in-me survivors, instead of flounderers; while CU made Nebraska look better than they are. Nebraska's D-Line were stronger and quicker and better schemed.

A slow start in the first half is due to poor preparation by the coaches.
CU was less disciplined in their assignments and in penalties. Clearly they need to tighten their tackling technique.

Additional Viewpoints

Coach Prime & Colorado Has to Be Committed to The Running Game. This is on The Coaches

Colorado MAJOR Loss To Nebraska What Happened To DT2? Will OC And DC Be Held Accountable?