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From CU at the Game

2010 Colorado Preview - Defense

Defensive Line

Personnel: Senior Marquez Herrod; junior Curtis Cunningham; junior Josh Hartigan; junior Tony Poremba; junior Conrad Obi; junior Eugene Goree; sophomore Will Pericak; sophomore Nick Kasa; sophomore Forrest West; and sophomore Nate Bonsu.

New in 2010: Freshmen Kirk Poston; Chidera Uzo-Diribe; and Dakota Poole.

Losses from 2009: Two seniors from the defensive line were lost, Taj Kaynor and Tyler Sale. Of the two, only Kaynor saw playing time on the defensive line, playing in 38 plays over five games, registering three tackles on the season.

Strengths: Looking for depth and experience? Look no further than the Colorado defensive line. While the Colorado depth chart shows four positions, the reality is that, with the offenses run by the opponents' defenses, the Buffs started every game last season with three defensive linemen and a nickel back. Those three starters, however - senior defensive end Marquez Herrod; junior defensive tackle Curtis Cunningham; and sophomore nose tackle Will Pericak - each started all 12 games in 2009. Still, out of 804 plays run by the opposition, none of the three starters were in for over 600 of those plays, so other players were in the rotation, and there will be more playing time for the backups this fall. "This is where you want to be - having a lot of competition," said Colorado defensive line coach Romeo Bandison. "You like to have depth with very little drop-off when you rotate. That's what we're starting to get to."
Will reduced playing time be a problem for the starters? "I'm happy this year because it's the first time I think we actually have a rotation - and I'm totally okay with that," said Marquez Herrod. "Guys can come in, swap out and rotate every few plays; it keeps everyone fresh and playing hard at their best." There are plenty of names familiar to Buff fans waiting in the wings to break out and post some great stats, including the sophomore trio of Nate Bonsu, Forrest West, and Nick Kasa.

Many eyes thsi fall will be on Kasa, a highly ranked recruit who spurned Florida to stay and play at Colorado. Kasa suffered a knee injury during camp last fall, his freshman year, and then developed mononucleosis during the season, ending up with only 47 snaps over four games. "During the season there's not as much individual work; it's more assignment stuff," said Bandison. "(Kasa) missed a whole lot of 'reps' ". But now Kasa is ready to go. "I think he's going to make his biggest improvements in the games," said Bandison. "You've got to get in the games and fail once in awhile to figure it out."

Weaknesses: As with many units on the Colorado football team, the quality of the personnel is not matching up with the quality of the results. In 2009, despite having the same starting lineup in place all season, the Buffs were 80th in rushing defense, giving up 161.2 yards/game, and 88th in scoring defense, surrendering 28.8 points/game. Colorado did get to the opposing quarterback 27 times, good enough 41st in the nation in sacks, but Bandison and his players know the total could have been - should have been - much higher. "We can't pass up opportunities, which I think we did sometimes last year - especially in the pass," said Bandison. "We had opportunities to get to the quarterback. We need to be in a position to make plays ... we've just got to play like vets and not make rookie mistakes."

Marquez Herrod, who led the team with six sacks last season, knows last year's total should have been higher - "We actually counted eight or nine," said Herrod. "One was a facemask call ... Two others got taken off for guys getting off-sides ... I literally had the sacks and lost them." Now Herrod is ready to become only the second Buff to record double digits in sacks in the past 18 seasons (11 1/2 by Abraham Wright in 2006). "I think I have a very good shot at being that guy," said Herrod. "I really take pride in pass rushing. I'm just going to go out there and do my thing, but I definitely think I have the skills and now the experience to go out there and put up the good numbers."

Colorado can go 8-4 if ... Colorado is in the top half in the nation and in the Big 12 in rushing defense and scoring defense. This shouldn't be asking too much. The Buffs already have a good pass defense, and have plenty of talent in the defensive backfield to continue that trend. Another season ranked 9th in the conference in rushing defense and 11th in scoring defense is simply unacceptable. (It also wouldn't hurt if Marquez Herrod and Nick Kasa spent the season vying to see which player will become the first to register ten sacks this fall).

Colorado will go 4-8 if ... It's the "same 'ol; same 'ol" for the defensive line. Three starters return, but from a unit which struggled for much of last season. The Buffs are deep in each position along the defensive line, yet are still not dominating games. The added depth - sophomore Nick Kasa, as mentioned, is finally able to participate as a healthy member of the team; junior Conrad Obi, who was in on only 35 plays as an underclassman, has been getting rave reviews this fall, as has true freshman Chidera Uzo-Diribe - this all bolsters hope for the unit.

Now they just need to produce.

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