Safety Ryan Walters sets the tone
Senior safety and team captain Ryan Walters had 11 tackles, intercepted one pass and broke up two more in the Buffs 38-17 win over the Colorado State Rams on Sunday at Invesco Field in Denver.
Flying around the field, Walters’ several big hits set the tone for a young Buffs defense that gave up only 10 points to the in-state rival Rams’ offense.
“That’s kind of my trademark- to catch people when they’re not looking,” Walters said. “I had a couple opportunities for some big hits and some stops. I just played within the defense and just took what came to me.”
Buffs head coach Dan Hawkins said his safety did a great job against the Rams and that the young team needs players like him to step up and lead by example.
“He’s jacked in,” Hawkins said. “He’s a very smart player, he works hard, and he knows the defense. He’s a play-maker, and you need that out of your leaders.”
Hawkins said his defense had a good game plan going into the game and adjusted well to changes the coaches needed to implement in order to keep up with the Rams’ offensive plan.
“I thought our defense did a pretty nice job of adjusting,” Hawkins said. “They were pretty much what we had expected.”
Rams head coach Steve Fairchild said the Buffs defense did a good job of putting pressure on his quarterback and getting into the backfield to disrupt plays.
“Those guys are pretty good edge rushers,” Fairchild said. “What did we end up with? Five sacks I think. You’re not going to win very many games doing that.”
Hawkins said getting pressure on the quarterback was a weak point of the Buffs’ defense last year, and it has been a point of emphasis for this year’s team.
“We have to get better pressure this year,” Hawkins said. “We didn’t do a very good job of that last year and that’s a key component to playing good defense.”
As a team the Buffs did sack senior quarterback Billy Farris five times for a total loss of 27 yards. The Buffs’ defensive line accounted for four of those sacks.
The young CU defense also recorded 10 tackles in the backfield for a total loss of 55 yards.
Junior Linebacker Jeff Smart tied Walters with a team high 11 tackles, including one for a loss.
The defense only allowed one touchdown, which came on a 21-yard pass from Farris to junior receiver Dion Morton when they were forced to defend a short field following an interception of Cody Hawkins in the Buffs’ own territory.
The Buffs’ other defensive captain, senior defensive tackle George Hypolite, who had four tackles and two quarterback hurries Sunday, said the Buffs started the season off right and have a chance to be a great team.
“We’re a different team than we were last year,” Hypolite said. “I think as a whole, we came out and we really attacked. That was impressive to see.”
Hypolite joked after the game that, with a 1-0 record, the Buffs are still undefeated and very much in the national championship picture.
Taking a more serious tone, the senior leader on the defensive line said the Buffs are taking the season one game at a time, and will now get ready for practice this week, hopefully improving on what he believed to be a good performance against the Rams.
“We are going to prepare, go back to the drawing board, figure out what we did wrong, figure out what we did right, improve this week, and hopefully we can come out with another good effort against Eastern Washington,” Hypolite said.
Contact CU Independent Assistant Sports Editor Brad Cochi at Bradley.Cochi@colorado.edu.
