Deion Sanders’ Colorado defense is one of Big 12’s best comeback stories

BOULDER, Colo. — Travis Hunter, Colorado’s walking cheat code, could make geniuses of us all. But a month into his debut season, Buffs defensive coordinator Robert Livingston is quietly making a case to be Deion Sanders’ best assistant coach hire in Boulder to date.

“Coach Livingston is great,” said CU defensive lineman Shane Cokes, whose 3-1 Buffs visit 3-0 UCF on Saturday. “I think what I love most about him is just, first of all, his love for us … the thing he always says (is), ‘I’d rather not be anywhere else’ … no matter what the situation is, (than) with (this) team, with (this) group, with (this) defense.”

Not all 3-1 starts are created equal. What kind of difference does a year make? After four games last fall, the Buffs had just gotten run over — physically, emotionally and literally — at Oregon. CU was allowing foes to average 39 carries per game for 206.5 yards, two touchdowns and 5.33 yards per run.

After four games this fall, the average opponent attempts are still roughly the same (38). But the rush yards given up are down to 150.8 per game, with 4.02 yards per carry and 1.5 rushing scores per week.

“I feel good about our scheme,” Coach Prime noted this past Tuesday when breaking down the first four weeks of his second season. “I feel good about what I saw at practice. I feel good about what we’ve been accomplishing versus the run defensively.”

How good a hire is Livingston? Ask us after Saturday night, after Sanders and the Buffs are on the other side of their sternest defensive test yet.

The Knights host CU coming off a bye and, before that, three weeks of basically scoring at will. UCF coach Gus Malzahn is one of college football’s biggest up-tempo, zone-read disciples. The Buffs’ first Big 12 road dance partner is averaging 45.7 points per game, thanks largely to a best-in-the-nation 375.7 rushing yards per tilt.

“We know they’re No. 1 in the nation, so we need to match up,” Cokes said. “We need to play at that level, be physical up front, be gap sound, be disciplined, and play (to) the competition.”

UCF won’t just be looking to prove it can run with the Buffs — the Knights will be jonesing to run through them. Tailback RJ Harvey is arguably the best home-run hitter in the Big 12. The 5-foot-9 senior is averaging 7.6 yards per rush. On 59 carries, he’s already scored eight times.

Of those 59 totes, 16 have accounted for 10 yards or more. Since the start of the 2023 season, one out of every 11 Harvey carries has gone for 10 yards or greater.

But the bigger concern for Livingston’s unit could be the man behind center for UCF, KJ Jefferson, who’s also a tuck-and-run threat.

For all of CU’s strides defensively in Coach Prime’s second campaign, mobile QBs can still give the Buffs fits.

North Dakota State’s Cam Miller ran for 81 yards on 16 carries and two scores in the season-opener at Folsom Field. Baylor signal-caller Sawyer Robertson last weekend carved the Buffs up for 82 yards on nine carries, including a 45-yard touchdown scamper.

Jefferson, a sixth-year senior, comes into the weekend averaging 4.7 yards per carry and scored 21 touchdowns over five seasons at Arkansas before transferring to UCF.

“KJ is great with his legs,” safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig said. “So (we) just (have to) make sure everybody’s doing their jobs — doing their jobs and getting to the QB. (And) when we get to him, make sure to tackle him. He’s a big old guy.”

On the plus side, at least Livingston’s D is giving up fewer big old runs than a season ago. The ’23 Buffs surrendered an average of 6.1 runs per game of 10 yards or more. This fall, that number of chunk runs is down to 4.3 per contest. That’s one of the major reasons why CU — at least before Saturday — is on a pace to allow four yards or fewer per carry for the first time since 2018.

“And just having him put that trust in us — (and the) D-line specifically,” Cokes said of Livingston, a first-time coordinator hired from the Cincinnati Bengals. “(He’s been) leaving it up to us, putting it forward, no matter what our job is this week — carrying the defense, carrying the team, honestly. And just having him put that pressure on us, but also the defense as a whole, and just making it really a family.

“I think just building together, I think that’s what’s different for us this year — just the energy, the love we play with, I think that’s what’s really helped us be successful.”