CU's defense earns rave reviews vs. CSU

By B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published September 4, 2008 at 6:37 p.m.

Text size  

• 0 Comments
• Email
• Print

Photo by Darin McGregor

CSU Wide receiver Rashuan Greer pulls in a pass as he is smothered by CU's Gardner McKay and Ryan Walters in the fourth quarter Sunday.

A "complete" defensive effort might have resulted in a shutout, but at game's end Sunday night, the scoreboard at Invesco Field at Mile High showed Colorado State with 17 points.

Yet given the game his secondary played in the University of Colorado's 38-17 win, position coach Greg Brown was almost willing to attach "complete" to the effort. His veteran players couldn't remember too many times in the recent past when Brown reviewed a game tape and was all smiles afterward.

From the play of new cornerbacks Gardner McKay and Cha'pelle Brown, to that of veteran safeties Ryan Walters and D.J. Dykes, to Jalil Brown's role at nickel back, the secondary was a primary reason for CU's opening- night success.

And, Brown noted, please don't forget the linebackers: "Everybody in the back end functioned well - they were mostly in the right place all the time. That guy (CSU quarterback Billy Farris) could throw the ball. . . . It could have been a much closer game if our entire defense hadn't responded."

Out of 63 defensive plays, Brown's grade sheets for the secondary "showed about four minuses" for mental errors or being out of position, according to Dykes.

"We're really trying to limit the mental errors. . . . With me and Ryan communicating with the corners, we have a good feel of what's going on," Dykes said. "We're able to control it - our technique and our mental errors. We're making sure we get that right."

Most eyes were trained on Mc- Kay and Cha'pelle Brown, the newbies who replaced 2007 starters Terrence Wheatley (graduated) and Ben Burney (injured). McKay, a senior, and Brown, a junior, each finished with six tackles, including one each for a loss.

Plus, they were good in coverage and, according to Greg Brown, "really ran to the ball - but the whole defense did."

McKay, who arrived at CU rail thin and now is by no means a hulk (he's 5-foot-11, 165 pounds), needed to answer ever-lingering questions about his run-support role. And Sunday night's performance was a start.

He said he proved to himself that, "I could play, I could make tackles, that I could go out there and be myself, do what I was taught to do. I had so much fun - the big crowd (69,619) was there, my parents were there."

Cha'pelle Brown, a muscular 5-7, 180-pounder, said he and McKay "have become like brothers. I saw him grow (Sunday night). He's been waiting longer than me to play, to get a chance to start. He grew up a lot and is ready to take on that challenge of being a starter."

But Greg Brown says growth also was evident in Cha'pelle's play.

"He's a gym rat," the coach said. "Any free time he has, he's watching tape, working out or shooting basketball. Don't let his size fool you - he's fearless."

CU's secondary, which McKay says has dubbed itself the "Dawg Pound," faces a different kind of test Saturday against Eastern Washington, which threw 63 passes for 335 yards in last week's 49-24 loss at No. 12 Texas Tech.

The Buffaloes will spend most of the game in nickel (five defensive backs) and dime (six) packages.

Greg Brown's view of the Eagles: "It's ironic they opened with (Texas Tech) because that's who they look like. They favor a wide- open throwing game. It's going to be quite the workload for us."

The Buffaloes generated a much-needed pass rush against CSU, sacking Farris five times. CU defensive tackle George Hypolite needs no reminder of how important that type of pressure will be in games to come.

"With our kind of scheme and system, sometimes we put our corners and safeties on an island," Hypolite said. "And when you leave a guy on an island, you don't want to leave him there for 10, nine, eight seven, seconds. . . . You don't want the quarterback to be able to sit back there.

"Putting pressure on the quarterback is very important for our defense because of the things we like to do (schematically)."

For the "Dawg Pound," a good game, a good start, has been filed away.

Referencing it too much isn't wise, Cha'pelle Brown said: "We can't accept what we did last week - we've got to try to do that and improve on it every week. We were excited about how the film turned out, too. But we know it could change week to week. We've got to do what we need to do to make sure coach enjoys watching the film next week."

Next: Eagle in flight

Eastern Washington junior quarterback Matt Nichols set five school passing records in 2007. And he started 2008 appearing set to break even more of the Eagles' marks. His seven career 300-plus passing games:

Featured

• Denver turns 150

  

  Read about the city's history, look at old photos and see a list of influential Denverites.

• Mount Crushmore

  

  Which four Broncos greats should be immortalized on Mount Crushmore? Vote here.

• Winter Escapes

  

  Your insider’s guide to the copious joys of the coolest season.

• Rocky Multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on what's happening today.

• Weekend plans?

  

  Figure out things to do this weekend with the help of our entertainment calendar.

• Bronco Dean's rant

  

  Listen to Bronco Dean's pregame rant on the Raiders.

• Season To Share

  

  The Post-News Season To Share campaign provides grants to area nonprofits.

• The Rocky @ 150 Years

  

  The Rocky was there when Colorado became a state in 1876. Read our coverage.

• A Dozen on Denver

  

  And the winner is... Robert Ziegler! See the whole fiction series by clicking here.