Rating the Three Colorado Football Stars After the USC Loss

Mr. Butkus, paging Mr. Butkus.

Another sophomore with a huge stake in the performance of Colorado Football is linebacker Nate Landman.

After a down performance against Arizona State and the man nicknamed “The Hammer” by fellow ‘backer Rick Gamboa rebounded nicely against the Trojans.

Colorado’s rush defense, anchored by the hard-hitting Landman held USC to just 51 yards on the ground in Saturday’s contest.

The Buffs defense is allowing only 138 yards per game rushing and they’ve given up a miserly five rushing touchdowns on the season.

One has to wonder if CU coach Mike McIntyre wishes he could clone Landman, who is second on the Buffs defense with 2 interceptions (Evan Worthington, 3).  It would certainly help with questions surrounding Colorado’s pass defense.

With the Washington Huskies bringing their top-flite offense to Boulder, Landman will be, as he is every week, in the spotlight for the Colorado defense.  Similar to Shenault’s presence on the offensive side of the ball, it’s hard to imagine where the Colorado defense would be without the stellar play of Landman.

Colorado has been fortunate with the health of their three standout players, if that trend continues, they have the ability to compete with anyone in the PAC-12.  Unfortunately that also means the Buffs fortunes are too closely tied to just three players.

It’s imperative that other players step up and solidify the Buffaloes as a top-25 team.  Otherwise it’s that same-old story for the Buffaloes;  Close but no cigar.