BOULDER — You want to know why the Buffs are running into Hades wearing gas suits. Quote the words of the late Pete Rosefor robert livingston? Because he will do the same for them. No matter how much his lungs burn.

“I always thought he was a very confident young man. “Whenever something went wrong, every time he made a mistake, he wouldn’t let it bother him.” Jimmye Laycock, who coached CU’s great defensive coordinator at William & Mary, he told me on the phone recently. “He wasn’t cocky about it. He was very confident in this matter. (‘We’ll get it next time,’ he’d say). ”

True story: As punishment for punishment Celebrating the interception of Travis Hunter at CSU last monthCU defenders were required to run five gassers next week for every flag thrown against the prevailing Buffs. Rather than playing bad cop, Livingston led these gasmen alongside his men.

“CU has someone who brings solid stability to this defense,” Laycock said. “He’s not going to be a fly-by-night guy who reacts instantly and tries to change things overnight. He will build it the right way.

He created a monster. The Buffs entered a big home contest late Saturday night with Cincinnati giving up 21.9 points per game; This is a statistic that may not blow your mind at first glance. But it should be when you frame it with the following information: a) CU posted that number while taking on pass-happy, spread offenses in the Big 12; b) The Buffs gave up 34.8 points per game a year ago; and c) CU’s defense has largely failed, relatively speaking, over the last decade.

Stat to clip and record: Since 2014, the Buffs have finished a season giving up fewer than 22 points per game just once; In 2016, CU went 10-2 and shocked experts by winning the Pac-12 South. Defense wins what you know.

Livingston, in his first season as a play-caller anywhere, at any level, has the Buffs putting up numbers for Jim Leavitt. That means Deion Sanders’ secret weapon is becoming less of a secret with each passing week.

CU has given up 12.3 points per game on the road in its last three games away from BoCo. In their four away games on the season, they gave up just 3.3 points per game after halftime. Nebraska, CSU, UCF, and Arizona all followed the same script; If you don’t get Buffs early, you won’t get them at all. Period.

“Being around him brings excitement, brings joy.” CU defense ends coach Vincent Dancy He recently talked about Livingston. “You can see the smile because it makes you do it; Even though it was a bad game, he’s still smiling. Still optimistic. Still running around. He still has a lot of joy on the sidelines, man. These guys play the way they play. As you can see.”

Not just coaches. Or players. This is optics. One of the dominant images at Folsom Field last fall was the face of then-defensive coordinator Charles Kelly, whose face wavered between two expressions during the game; increased anxiety and outright panic. Livingston, by contrast, emerged as a transition point between the two. Arthur Fonzarelli and Bill Belichick, the epitome of composure and confidence.

It will take a village to turn around one of the worst defenses in the FBS in 2023. Does Travis Hunter help? Oh, there is no doubt. Better players? Certainly. Better coaching? No questions. Do a lot of transfers win? Definitely. Simpler plans that allow men to fly more and think less? Apparently.

But there is also something abstract going on here. A trust. It’s a confidence that comes not just from the gold-jacketed head coach, but from the coordinator who was a standout safety at William & Mary under Laycock years ago.

“I love your energy” Reinforced defensive tackle Chidoze Nwankwo He mentioned his coordinator.

“It’s very exciting to have him around. It makes me want to play for him. It makes me want to go to work every day and attack.”