Naeten Mitchell doesn’t have to guess why he’s in Boulder.
Making plays on the ball and forcing turnovers, the Colorado safety said Wednesday, is “what they brought us here ” to do.
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The Buffaloes have one interception in three games — Randon Fontenette’s lonely pick against Weber State. Safeties coach Vonn Bell came away from the film of Saturday’s 41-7 loss at Northwestern with the same complaint.
“There’s a lot of plays to be made on the ball, and a lot of opportunities, especially in the back end,” Bell said. “When the ball is in the air, we’ve got to complete it. We’ve got to make it happen.”
Saturday brings a quarterback at Baylor who has given defenses those chances. DJ Lagway led the SEC with 14 interceptions at Florida last season, then threw 54 passes in his only game for Baylor so far, a 17-16 loss to Auburn on Sept. 5. An ankle injury kept him out of two games, but he is listed as probable this week.
Mitchell said he thinks the back end “is going to really show what we got this week.”
Colorado (2-1) plays at Baylor (2-1) on Saturday at 10 a.m. MT in Waco, Texas (ESPN2), the Big 12 opener for both teams.
For Bell, beating Baylor starts with a head count. The Bears play with tempo and feed their best receivers, he said, so the priority is “knowing where the playmakers are at,” along with landmarks, spacing and the down and distance. The other emphasis is what happens after a turnover. Northwestern turned Colorado’s mistakes into points last Saturday, and Bell’s rule for the defense taking the field after one is “nothing cheap, nothing deep.” The opponent will take a shot. The job is to keep everything in front and make them settle for “three or nothing.”
The Baylor homework is only half of Bell’s week. The rest goes to the people in his room, and they don’t all need the same thing. Fontenette, who led Colorado with 13 tackles last week, sometimes needs the opposite of a push. The Vanderbilt transfer wants every snap to be perfect, Bell said.
“He’s a joy to coach. He challenges me at times, but I love it,” Bell said. “Iron sharpens iron. He wants to be the best. I want to be the best.”
Fontenette is also, Bell said, “his own worst critic at times,” and part of the job is telling him “next play, next play.” Bell said he was the same way as a player.
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Asked about growing pains on a defense full of new players, Bell took the same view.
“This game is made of imperfect people, but we expect a great outcome,” he said.
Mitchell, who made 11 tackles and recovered a fumble at Northwestern, came from New Mexico State along with linebacker Tyler Martinez. He was there last season when an injury ended Martinez’s year, and this season he watched Martinez earn one of head coach Deion Sanders’ “Dawg” patches, a “D” on the jersey, before the Northwestern game. “Hopefully I can get one of them patches,” Mitchell said.
At cornerback, Jason Stokes Jr. is getting his chance. The Utah transfer broke up three passes against Weber State after Boo Carter moved inside to the nickel, then played a career-high 53 snaps at Northwestern. Asked Wednesday about moving into the lineup, he thanked Sanders for “putting me in this position to be able to shine.” He played against Colorado for Utah last season, and he said that had nothing to do with his transfer. What sold him, he said, was the pitch: a new team that wanted to build a championship program “with players who want to play.”
Next up is Baylor’s pass-heavy offense, and Stokes sees it as a measuring stick.
“It’s going to be an excellent challenge for us to see where we are and to see how much we’ve improved since we first got here,” Stokes said. “And how much confidence and trust we have in each other and ourselves.”
Asked about Braylon Edwards, a true freshman from Duncanville, Texas, Bell said the youngster sits next to him every day and soaks it up “like a sponge.”
Bell’s forecast? “The world could be his.”
Bell was also asked Wednesday about Sanders’ announcement that a few players are no longer with the team. “I’m fully behind Coach Prime,” he said. “It’s his decision.” Mitchell said the players who remain are “coming together as a family.”
Bell, who played in the NFL as recently as 2024, was asked what leadership should look like in a secondary. It means having uncomfortable conversations and holding teammates accountable, he said, with one condition.
“You’ve got to check yourself first,” Bell said. “Make sure your yard is cut before you cut somebody else’s.”
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