Three Bright Spots From Colorado Buffaloes' Rough Showing At Utah

Little went right for the Colorado Buffaloes in Saturday's 53-7 loss to the Utah Utes, but a few individual performances should be commended

Before getting into the few silver linings, Colorado looked dysfunctional in all three phases with massive mistakes and careless play costing the Buffs on several occasions. The Buffs totaled only 140 yards of offense, allowed 587 and had two punts end in disaster.

All said, coach Deion Sanders' Buffs fell to 3-5 (1-4 Big 12) and are again tasked with correcting countless shortcomings ahead of next week's game against the Arizona Wildcats. Six wins is still technically on the table, and beating Arizona at home is a must.

Below are three silver linings from an otherwise terrible performance in Salt Lake City:

Preston Hodge's Pass Coverage

Bright Spots Colorado Buffaloes Rough Showing Utah Utes Deion Sanders Jeremiah Brown Preston Hodge Tawfiq Byard Big 12 Prime — Aug 29, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes cornerback Preston Hodge (4) reacts to a turnover in the first quarter against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Although Utah quarterback Byrd Ficklin wasn't too big a threat with his arm, defensive back Preston Hodge enjoyed his best game of the season with five pass breakups and three total tackles. After an up-and-down start to his final college season, it was encouraging to watch Hodge step up in an otherwise tough performance for Colorado's defense.

"(Hodge) has been doing a great job of being that leader that we need in that back end," cornerbacks coach Kevin Mathis said before the season. "He has come miles and miles in how he's practicing and approaching this year. That feeds on the rest of the guys in that (defensive back) room."

Also in the secondary, cornerback DJ McKinney and safety Tawfiq Byard combined for three pass breakups.

Jeremiah Brown Stays On Positive Path

Although very few of his teammates managed to build on the pre-bye week momentum boost of beating Iowa State, linebacker Jeremiah Brown continued his strong graduate season with nine total tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss. The former Jackson State transfer still leads the Buffs with 6.5 tackles for loss and is second behind Byard with 49 total tackles.

“The football gods should bless people like that, right?” Defensive coordinator Robert Livingston said of Brown during the bye week. “A guy that comes to work every day with a smile on his face, goes about his job. There’s been some times here where he’s shuffled. He’s playing outside backer or he’s playing inside backer or he’s a backup. But he always comes to work with a smile on his face and does his job again.”

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Low Number Of Penalties

During his postgame presser, "Coach Prime" pointed toward Colorado's low number of penalties (two for 15 yards) as something the Buffs should feel good about.

"The consistency, the only thing we were consistent in was, I guess, penalties," Sanders said. "That was great. Two for 15 yards. I'm proud of that. That's about the only thing."

Colorado will now prepare for a Week 10 home game against the Arizona Wildcats.