Three takeaways from Colorado's 20-14 win over Washington

BOULDER — The Colorado Buffaloes beat the Washington Huskies 20-14 Saturday night to improve thier record to 5-6.

Here’s what we learned:

The pass rush is for real

Colorado put together its best defensive performance of the season on Saturday and its pass rush was the catalyst.

Washington quarterback Jacob Eason was harrassed all night by a slew of different defenders. Jalen Sami, Davion Taylor, Jash Allen and KJ Trujillo all recorded quarterback hits. Taylor, Terrnace Lang, Mark Perry and Carson Wells each recorded at least one sack.

“We feed off of it,” outside linebacker Carson Wells said. “You see us celebrate with each other. Everybody’s jumping all over each other. Even if it’s not us making the play, we love seeing our teammates making a play.”

The pass rush has been missing for most of the season and it’s return over the last few weeks we’ve final seen it return. Now, opposing offenses can’t get into a rhythm.

Colorado is dictating the pace of their opponent’s’ passing game. Rushers are getting into the backfield so quickly that Eason and other quarterbacks can’t call downfield passing plays without risking a significant loss. The cornerbacks and safeties are protected by the time crunch, allowing them to play closer to the line of scrimmage and enabling them to undercut routes.

“We jsut have fun with it,” senior linebacker Davion Taylor said. “Go out there and just grind and have fun and hit somebody. That’s what we’ve been doing. It’s all just coming together every week more and more.”

Now, the question is whether the pass rush’s apparent improvement is a fluke or something to bank on going forward.

Nate Landman was a stud

The Buffs’ star inside linebacker doesn’t shy away from criticism.

After Saturday night’s win, Nate Landman told a group of reporters that his cover skills were lacking coming into the season. He didn’t play on third downs as a junior and was asked to learn a new role and a new system this year.

The early returns were shaky at best.

Opposing offenses took advantage of the middle of the field, which is typically Landman’s zone. But as the season has progressed, Landman has taken strides.

“Being a veteran guy, I still have to have that coaching and the guys around me are making me better,” he said.

On Saturday, Landman played the best coverage game of his career. It began when he picked off a Jacob Eason pass. Eason thought Landman was blitzing but, at the last second, the linebacker dropped back and undercut a drag route.

For Landman, a hyper-instinctive player, the challenge hasn’t been learning his responsibilities. He says it’s just taking time for his cover senses to develop.

“I’ve gotten a feel for it,” Landman said. “I’m getting comfortable back there dropping, reading the quarterback and reading routes.”

For example, early in the season Landman likely didn’t know just how long it would take to bait a quarterback on a bluff before stepping back to play the ball. Now, after nearly a full season of reps, he feels more comfortable.

The interception wasn’t the only big-time play he made.

He also tipped a pass that could have been intercepted by Onu and earned a pass breakup for the massive hit he laid on a receiver downfield.

Landman is garnering draft hype, so Saturday may have been his final game at Folsom.

But if he returns for another season, Colorado may have a monster in the middle of its defense.

Colorado is set at running back

Alex Fontenot was a beast on Saturday.

The sophomore running back carried the ball 24 times for 105 yards and a touchdown. He kept the offense on-pace throughout the game.

Freshman Jaren Mangham played well also. He ran the ball five times and picked up 27 yards.

Here’s the thing: Alex Fontenot deserves to be the bellcow next year.

But so does Jaren Mangham.

Who knows, maybe Colorado’s top recruit Ashaad Clayton will too.

There’s a logjam forming at running back in Boulder, but that’s not a problem; good football programs have logjams across their roster. That’s why they win year-in and year-out, regardless of injuries and turnover.

Look back at Alabama’s running backs when Mel Tucker was the defensive coordinator in 2015: Derrick Henry, Kenyan Drake, Damien Harris, Bo Scarbrough. That’s four NFL backs on one roster.

The next year, at Georgia, Tucker worked with Sony Michel, Nick Chubb and Elijah Holyfield. All three are currently in the NFL.

Colorado has been backed up with talent at wide receiver for a couple of seasons, but that’s pretty much the only position. Next year, there’s a chance there could be too many pass rushers, cornerbacks and, of course, running backs, as well.

That’s a great sign.