Losing teams are not supposed to dominate the line of scrimmage, yet Colorado’s defense keeps doing it on a weekly basis. The Colorado Buffaloes lead the Big 12 with 53 tackles for loss after a run of six games and rank No. 4 nationally averaging 8.8 tackles for loss per game.

Read that next to a 2-4 record, and the gap between the defense and everything else becomes hard to ignore. Colorado’s front is winning snaps at a rate few teams in the country can match, almost nine negative plays per game, and the wins on the scoreboard have not followed.

Santana Hopper set the tone

Colorado defensive lineman Santana Hopper has been the face of the recognition. Against Texas Tech, he became the first player in program history with at least five tackles for loss and five quarterback hurries in the same game, per Colorado Athletics, and he entered the Utah game with 9.5 tackles for loss on the year.

Hopper explained after the Texas Tech game why the production keeps spreading. 

“It’s like a chain reaction,” Hopper said. “You see one person doing something good, you want to do something good, so it makes me feel good to go out there and make a play.”

Gideon Lampron has company in the backfield

Hopper’s chain reaction shows up all over the box score. Against Utah, nine different Colorado defenders, from linebacker Gideon Lampron to safety Naeten Mitchell to rotational linemen, were all credited with at least a share of a tackle for loss.

A defense that relies on one star can be schemed around. But a defense where a safety, a backup lineman and a linebacker can all blow up the same drive is a nightmare to plan for, and Colorado has turned into the second kind.

Colorado also hit at least seven tackles for loss in each of its first five games and peaked with 12 against Texas Tech. Consistency like that doesn’t come out of the blue; it comes from a system working week after week.

Deion Sanders still wants more

Colorado coach Deion Sanders has not let the numbers fool him. After the Texas Tech loss, he praised the effort and named the problem in the same breath.

“I liked many aspects of [the defense],” Sanders said. “We still broke at the end. And a good defense, a great defense, doesn’t break.”

His standard explains the next step. Tackles for loss make highlight reels, but they only change records when they turn into stops on the drives that decide games, and Colorado has back-to-back-to-back-to-back losses while leading the league in the stat.

Chris Marve’s defense is writing its own story

Still, Colorado defensive coordinator Chris Marve has a defense that leads the Big 12 in tackles for loss and is building something the offense has not matched.

Per the team’s season stats, opponents are converting only 39 percent of their third downs against Colorado. Put that next to the tackles for loss, and the picture is of a defense that keeps handing its offense a chance and keeps waiting for the offense to take it.