Chris Marve’s search for answers after Northwestern started in the mirror. What he saw there built the version of the Buffaloes’ defense that Oklahoma State will face Saturday.
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“It’s hard to win giving up 41 points,” Colorado’s defensive coordinator said Tuesday of the Sept. 19 loss. “So, you know, I had to take a long, hard look in the mirror.”
He asked himself which calls fit his personnel best. The answer, he said, had more to do with approach than play calls. Football is 11-on-11, he said, and a defense that settles for one-on-one matchups loses the ties. Safety Randon Fontenette called it “population,” with every helmet flying to the ball.
“How we play is more important than what I call,” said Marve, a former Virginia Tech defensive coordinator and a four-time All-SEC linebacker at Vanderbilt.
In three games since Northwestern, Colorado has allowed 23, 29, and 27 points. Seven of Texas Tech’s 29 came on an interception return. The Buffaloes have 53 tackles for loss through six games — 8.8 per game — and Santana Hopper has 10 by himself. Opponents are averaging 3.5 yards per carry on the run.
Oklahoma State has noticed. Cowboys coach Eric Morris said Colorado “might be the best two-win team in the nation,” noting that the four teams that have beaten the Buffaloes are a combined 21-3. He called the front four “probably as good as we’ve played.”
Asked Tuesday about all those tackles for loss, Marve said the defense wants to keep attacking and getting offenses off schedule. His focus was already on the task ahead.
“I’m happy that we’ve been productive so far, but it has nothing to do with this weekend,” he said.
The weekend brings the Big 12’s leader in total offense. Oklahoma State (4-2, 2-1) averages 517.7 yards per game on 71.5 plays, and it scores 37.2 points per game — fifth in the league. Quarterback Drew Mestemaker leads the league with 1,940 passing yards and averages 9.6 yards per attempt. Marve said he “doesn’t make a ton of bad choices,” going back to his days at North Texas.
The volume runs straight into the one thing Colorado’s defense says it still has to fix.
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“We preach once we get to play (number) 50, 51, we tend to kind of gas out,” said Fontenette, who leads Colorado with 52 tackles. “So I would say just sustaining, finishing through all four quarters.”
Colorado’s opponents are averaging 70.8 plays a game. Utah ran 80 on Saturday and held the ball for 37 minutes. The Buffaloes forced a three-and-out after the Utes got the ball back with 1:21 left. Defensive lineman Dylan Manuel credited the strength staff and the “sudden change” periods the defense runs in practice, when it’s thrown back on the field without warning.
“So I feel like when we get to the game, we’re already built for the moment,” Manuel said.
The approach has held up through injuries. Linebacker Tyler Martinez is out, and Marve said it would be “poor coaching” not to have a plan for losing a player. Gage Goldberg has stepped into the linebacker room, and cornerback RJ Johnson has taken on more snaps. With Johnson, Marve said, “the light’s coming on.”
“If you’re on the field, you’re a starter,” Marve said. “I don’t care where your name is on the depth chart.”
Marve saved his strongest words for his two interior linemen. Hopper and Manuel have played a heavy load of snaps all season. Neither is the biggest man on the field.
“When you cut on the tape, they play with their hair on fire, and that’s what we need,” Marve said. “I’d take 20 of them.”
Manuel said Hopper’s 5.5 tackles for loss against Texas Tech pushed him. He felt he’d played well in that game without making the plays to show it. Against Utah, he made one, intercepting Devon Dampier at the Colorado 6 to keep the Utes off the board late in the first half.
It wasn’t his first big-game pick. Manuel intercepted a pass at Appalachian State last season against James Madison, which made the College Football Playoff.
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“I show up in big games,” Manuel said.
He doesn’t think Saturday’s near-miss changed much in the locker room.
“We have an opportunity to prove to everyone else, ‘why not us?’” Manuel said.
Colorado plays at Oklahoma State at 5:00 MT Saturday on FS1.
