Buffs need young defenders to shine
Orlando Sentinel college insider Matt Murschel ranked all 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in the country entering the 2017 season. The Sentinel staff takes a closer look at a new team daily, counting backward from No. 130 to our projected No. 1 team.
9 Colorado
Buffaloes
Mike MacIntyre (20-31, entering fifth season; 40-52 overall)
10-4, 8-1 in the Pac-12 conference, first in South Division
Few programs have improved as much from one season to the next as the Colorado Buffaloes did in 2016. The team went from four wins in 2015 to 10 wins in 2016. It was the first time the program won double-digit games since 2001. In the process, Colorado captured its first division crown as a member of the Pac-12 and the first division title since claiming one in the Big 12 in 2005. The Buffaloes also earned the program’s first bowl berth almost a decade.
Colorado returns the most starters on offense in the Pac-12 next season, with nine players coming back including Phillip Lindsay. Lindsay is one of five tailbacks in the Pac-12 to rush for at least 1,000 yards after rumbling for 1,189 yards and 16 touchdowns last season.
QB Steven Montez spent last season as the understudy to four-year starter Sefo Liufau at quarterback. He finished with 1,248 total yards of offense and 10 total touchdowns while starting three games midseason after Liufau went down with an ankle injury. The offense averaged more than 30 points and 400 yards per game in 2016.
The offensive line saw nine different players earn starts last season and the majority of that experience returns.
Colorado’s defense was much improved, in part, to defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt, but his decision to take the same job at Oregon leaves the program turning to former Kentucky defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot to run the defense in 2017. The challenge for Eliot will be replacing a wealth of talent, including the team’s top tackler (Kenneth Olugbode) and the top secondary player (Tedric Thompson).
LB Rick Gamboa is the team’s top returning tackler (77) along with safety Afolabi Laguda (69 tackles).
The offense is now in Montez’s hands and with nine starters back from the 2016 season, the Buffaloes should improve on that side of the ball. While the defense was the backbone of last season’s division title run, that more than likely won’t be the case in 2017. The defense is inexperienced in some areas and quickly improvement will be the key to building on last year’s success.