Front seven transforms Buffs’ defense

In preparing to face Colorado last week, Southern California head football coach Clay Helton certainly singled out the offensive stars of the Buffaloes.

Helton made particular note of the Buffaloes’ defensive linemen, however, including one in particular.

“You look at those front three, the big men, and they’re doing a wonderful job of being able to diagnose and getting through run lanes,” Helton said. “And Mustafa Johnson is a tackle for loss nightmare right now.”

Although the Buffs (51, 21 Pac12), who rank No. 25 in the Amway Coaches’ poll, lost to USC, Johnson and his line mates once again were impressive in the trenches.

Led by the line, CU’s front seven on defense has made a tremendous jump from 2017.

“As a whole, everybody is gaining a lot of confidence, especially the Dline,” senior linebacker Rick Gamboa said.

CU visits No. 15 Washington (52, 31) on Saturday and brings the Pac12’s No. 4 rushing de fense to Seattle. The Buffs are allowing just 136.8 yards per game on the ground and 3.8 yards per carry. Most importantly, only five rushing touchdowns have been scored against the Buffs.

So far, it’s been a complete turnaround from 2017, when CU allowed 208 rushing yards per game, 5.23 per carry and 23 rushing touchdowns.

“We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us, but those guys have done some good things this year, ” defensive coordinator DJ Eliot said.

A big reason for the turnaround up front has been significant changes in personnel.

A year ago at this time, Johnson was wearing a wearing a Modesto (Calif.) Junior College jersey, while Israel Antwine was starring at Millwood (Okla.) High School, and Davion Taylor was still learning the game at Coahoma (Miss.) Community College.

The Buffs are also getting a significant contribution from end Terrance Lang, who redshirted in 2017, and linebacker Nate Landman has gone from seldomused true freshman to a bona fide star.