The University of Utah and the Colorado Buffaloes meet at Folsom Field on Saturday for

the Big Noon kick off, at 10 AM MST. The Buffaloes have everything to play for, while Utah is just looking to right the ship and play spoiler. UteNation caught up with CU Sports Report staff writer Troy Finnegan, ahead of the matchup to get an inside perspective on the Buffaloes.

Entering Year 2 under Deion Sanders, what is he doing better this year that’s changed the results?

The biggest difference on this Colorado team is the personnel and the cohesiveness that this team plays with compared to last season. This year’s squad is much more talented than the one that went 4-8 last season, but each position group is more productive because the players are sound in their assignments and they play together, specifically on both lines.

Last year, this was an objectively bad team with two transcendent players, and now Colorado actually has the meat and potatoes of a good football team. Jordan Seaton has come in and is already a star at left tackle as a true freshman. CU is rotating four players, three of whom were not on the active roster last season, at guard each week, and they have made it work. On defense, Sanders built a very good pass rush with plenty of depth in just one offseason, and the big guys in the middle have made running the football on the Buffs very difficult.

The two coordinators also deserve their flowers for the massive overachievement of this roster. Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur has a great feel for his unit and the personnel on it, and each week he is more and more comfortable using his players effectively where their skill sets can shine. Defensive coordinator Robert Livingston has become a master of adjustments over the course of games, and this Buffs defense is giving up just over seven points per game in the second half as a result.

Just how special of a player is Travis Hunter?

Hunter is remarkable, but it’s not just the splash plays and the ridiculous highlights that are the most impressive. Everyone sees the crazy catches, the ridiculous interceptions, or Hunter making a few guys miss after the catch.

However, this is a guy who’s listed at 6-foot-1, 185 pounds who is playing almost every single snap on both sides of the ball, and he NEVER gets tired. Never! He also almost never takes a play off, whether he’s blocking, has to make a tackle on defense, or anything else that he is asked to do. He plays with an extremely high motor and that is what makes him so effective each time he’s on the field.

My favorite thing about watching Hunter play is that he does the little things well on a consistent basis. Last week against Texas Tech, he threw an excellent block downfield to spring LaJohntay Wester free for Colorado’s first touchdown of the game. If he needs to duck under a block and blow up a screen with his physicality, he’s not afraid to do it. If he needs to step into the box and make a play between the tackles in the run game, like he did to clinch an overtime win against Baylor, he’ll do it. It’s something that is said over and over, but he is legitimately the best player on both sides of the ball for this Colorado team.

If you were Utah Defensive Coordinator Morgan Scalley, how would you draw up the plan to stop the Colorado offense?

I think Morgan Scalley should be watching a lot of Baylor tape getting ready for this week. The final numbers for the Bears weren’t great in that game, as the Buffs scored 38 points and gained over 430 yards of offense. However, that is a game that Colorado quite frankly should have lost, and a lot of that came down to how uncomfortable Shedeur Sanders was against that Baylor defense.

Dave Aranda constantly kept Sanders and the Colorado offensive line guessing. The Bears showed a bunch of simulated pressures, walking up a bunch of guys at the line of scrimmage with no way of knowing who was coming and who was dropping. Sometimes, they all blitzed and sometimes they all dropped out, but the Colorado offensive line struggled picking up the pass rush all night. Baylor finished that game with eight sacks.

Scalley has been blitzing a ton in recent weeks, so Utah has the basics down. If he can get creative with it, the Utes have a chance to make Sanders uncomfortable in a way that he has not been in recent weeks.

How do you attack the Colorado defense?

The best way to get at this Colorado defense is to isolate the linebackers and safeties in coverage and hit big plays in the passing game that way. The Buffs have really struggled against running backs and tight ends this season in the passing game, and that is where a lot of teams have had success against them.

It seems like every single week Colorado gives up 30+ yards on a wheel route to the opposing running back out of the backfield. The Buffs’ two linebackers, LaVonta Bentley and Nikhai Hill-Green, are phenomenal run defenders, but they can get beat by more athletic players in space. Colorado’s safeties are also better against the run than they are against the pass, so Utah would be wise to use that to its advantage in this one.

Aside from Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders, who are the Colorado guys to pay attention to?

LaJohntay Wester has consistently impressed me at wide receiver this season. He’s not a big guy at all – he’s listed at 5-foot-11, 167 pounds but that’s probably being generous – but he has become Shedeur Sanders’ safety valve underneath and is a consistent chain mover for this Colorado offense.

Defensively, CU has a lot of guys who will stand out. The linebackers are incredibly fun to watch in the run game; they are two of the most physical, downhill players I’ve seen in the Big 12 this year.

Safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig is the heart and soul of this defense, and he can do it all on the field. He is essentially the team’s third linebacker when Livingston rolls him down into the box, he is a great blitzer, and he has very good instincts in zone coverage. Wherever the ball is, you can usually find Silmon-Craig. He is one of the biggest unsung heroes of this much-improved defense.

What’s your game prediction and why?

I think Colorado will have some trouble with the junkball style that Morgan Scalley is likely going to throw at them, and the running game likely won’t have the most efficient day. However, the passing game should be good enough to find some explosive plays down the field and after the catch in order to get the Buffs into scoring range.

On the other side of the ball, Utah should have a very hard time moving the ball through the air. Without Money Parks and Brant Kuithe, the Utes are running out of weapons outside of Dorian Singer on the perimeter. The Buffs should feel comfortable stacking the box against Micah Bernard and forcing Luke Bottari to beat them in tight man-to-man coverage.

This game will be competitive, but CU makes a few too many plays in the second half and pulls away with a relatively comfortable win.

Colorado 27, Utah 10