The Colorado Buffaloes' trip to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech is slowly getting closer as Week 3 of fall camp kicked off on Monday.
On Tuesday, though, the media heard from the defensive line room. Returning defensive ends coach George Helow, promoted defensive line coach Dante’ Carter, DL Santana Hopper and DE Toby Anene all took the podium.
Defensive line finding depth and rotation in the trenches
Like many other position groups, the defensive line is far from set. Helow reminded everyone that it is still only Week 3 of preseason training, and the coaches are forcing several guys to play in multiple positions across different packages. It is all about the details.
Yet, by preaching the essentials, he likes the base that’s being built.
“We're trying to see right now in the edge room, along with the defense, who the best people are to put out there, just in terms of effort and technique and fundamentals, and playing football the right way,” Helow said. “...So there's different guys at different times that have stepped up throughout camp, and [I’m] just really happy with the room and the direction that we're going in, and look forward to keep chasing greatness.”
Naturally, Carter is also content with how his unit is progressing.
And while the defensive line has yet to find its exact starters, it has several guys they can rely on.
“Man, we got great depth. We got enough depth that's going to get us through the season,” Carter said. “...We got good depth, got a good rotation, and each of the guys bring a different flavor to the game.”
Coming from the South, Helow likes having the depth for rotation. It is hot and humid down there. And when the game is unpredictable, it is hard not to rotate the D-Line without them getting tired.
Now being in altitude, the weather benefits the strategy in a similar but different way.
“There's so many talented guys in that room, and so many hardworking guys, it's great to see,” Anene said. “You could send anybody out with the ones, and they'll get the job done.”
The hardest part of putting together a rotational line, however, is making sure your talented players are fine not playing every snap; everyone wants to play.
Luckily for Helow, Carter and the Buffs, the defensive line has shown maturity. Those who aren’t finding as many reps are looking to contribute on special teams, or push their teammates with their work on scout team.
“They're just embracing their role and just buying in and trying to do anything they can to help this team win,” Anene said of his teammates.
The competitive nature has helped aid the communicative pre-snap culture that the staff is aiming for.
Stopping the run
After finishing as one of the worst run defenses in college football last season, defensive coordinator Chris Marve has gone out of his way to stop the run. While every defender contributes, the defensive line is the catalyst for halting opposing rushers.
To get the job done, Carter has focused on getting his guys off the ball and creating knockback, working to “recreate the line of scrimmage.” Opposing running backs have a harder time hitting holes with less space.
“You get sacks and they come in bunches, but it's by stopping the run and being really good on first and second down,” Helow said. “So if we're good on first and second down, and we can create negative plays, and then that forces them to play behind the sticks a little bit, and then they've got to panic and drop back past. Now we're able to switch up personnel and go hunt. But you you you've got to earn the right to rush the passer, and you've got to do that by being really good in the run game and good on first and second down.”
Go-Go offense challenging D-Line
Of course, every defense in America will brag about how hard it is to stop their offense. Helow complimented the “Four Gs,” the four men leading the offensive line staff, for their leadership of the O-Line. They push the defensive side.
But with the construction of offensive coordinator Brennan Marion’s Go-Go offense, which allows offensive linemen to play more physically in the trenches, there may be more sentiment behind the work that CU’s D-Line is getting.
“Just them double teams. Those things are insane. They don't come off. They sit on you,” Hopper said. “Most of the offenses I played against, as they touch you. They want to move up to the backer and stuff like that. And with this, they're trying to bury you.”
Since the Go-Go offense has options on each play, the guard or tackle that usually helps off the rushing defensive linemen has to stay. So, not only are CU’s defensive linemen having to fight through tenacious double teams on a play-to-play basis, but it simulates the tiresome games that force rotations.
“It kind of prepares you, [since] I'm always waiting for a double team,” Hopper said. “So when it's time to play the other team that doesn't really want to stick on you and just move up, I'm just in there. It's going to be a lot easier when it's time to get off a block or something like that, and just preparing for Georgia Tech as well. Like triple option, they run a lot of triple option stuff like that. So Coach Marion does a good job of preparing us.”
Working under an energized Coach Prime
Following head coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders’s first full offseason since his health scare in 2025, Colorado’s staff and players have mentioned his energy as the main source of motivation.
If he can wake up every day and give everything he’s got, then so can Sanders’s staff.
“He sets the tone for this place, and everything starts with him,” Helow said. “He holds everybody accountable on the offensive side of the ball and defensive side of the ball, and that's what keeps everybody together. He's the glue of this place. Leave no doubt about that. It all starts with Coach Prime, Coach Deion Sanders, and he does a really good job in his leadership role.”
While the fruits of having a healthy Coach Prime back are just beginning to arise now that it's fall camp, Helow and the newly promoted Carter shared that the offseason process was a grind. Sanders wanted to improve his staff’s unity and approach after a poor 2025, and along with introducing Marion, he was bringing in Chris Marve as defensive coordinator. Regardless of the program, there was a lot of work to be done.
So, there were plenty of long days, with very few of them off. The staff had to better understand each other, as humans and as coaches, so that they could preach the same message. Then, they had to attack implementing more of Marion’s and Marve’s schemes with their personnel.
“It's always a grind when you're installing something new because not only is it new for the players, it's new for the coaches,” Helow said. “We've got to always be on the same page and speak in the same terminology.”
Along with improving the staff’s functioning as a group, Prime and his bunch recruited players who fit his program’s ideology; “The way Coach Prime pours into his players, things he wants from his players, and just the way he wants us to carry ourselves, it speaks volumes coming from a person like that,” Anene said when asked about why he came to CU.
Now, with Sanders preaching a “get what you earn” mentality for his fall camp position battles, especially as one of the greatest “earners” of all time, there has been a healthy bit of competition and unity building among his players.
“When you have competition in a room and everybody's always uncomfortable, and they're being pushed to be the best. They can't take a day off. They can't relax,” Helow said. “[One] guy was on threes yesterday. He was on the ones today, so that's ongoing and it'll continue to change.”
Hopper looking to seize opportunity at CU
When looking at Colorado’s defensive line, Hopper stands out. Coming from his starting position at Tulane, where he posted 31 total tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, he is one of the most experienced in the position group, and it has shown in the praise from the coaching staff.
“Hop is a pro. He's going to be a pro. He has a pro approach,” Carter said. “And man, Hop is going to make a lot of plays for us this year. He's going to be a guy for us.”
With the 6-foot-2, 265-pound defensive lineman bringing more snaps and success than some others, he has been someone noted as a leader. Yet when asked about it, he simply says he's living up to Coach Prime’s expectations.
“Everybody lives by the standard. [If] you come in here, and you live by the standard, you're a leader. So everybody's a leader,” Hopper said. “So I don't feel like I'm a better leader, or more of a leader than another person. We're all leaders at the end of the day, and as long as you come in to work, you're a leader to me. I want to take advice from you. You can take advice from me.”
Beyond bringing more game time and production to the program, Hopper also brings the hunger that the coaches have described from the roster each week of fall camp. Like many others, he is hoping to reach the NFL.
But with a son about to start second grade, being one of the few fathers on the team, Hopper has another mouth to feed.
“When I wake up, and it's time to do things and just work, I think of him, and it's a lot easier to just put the hat on and get to work because I know what me and him done came from,” Hopper said. “I know what we done had to do to get to this point, so it's just a great driving force.”
Having seen how he and his son have grown over the last six years, Hopper feels ready to make plays under the Folsom Field lights.
“This is really what I've been dreaming for. All I've been waiting for right here is my moment right here,” Hopper said. “I played at a high level everywhere I've been. So coming to play on a stage like this will only make me and help me and help the team go up.”
Anene one of many mature names on D-Line
Also one of the more experienced on the defensive line, Anene brings 22 starts in 40 games at North Dakota State to Boulder. The 6-foot-4, 260-pound end posted 27 total tackles (14 for a loss), 10.5 sacks, 10 pass deflections and five forced fumbles in an all-conference second-team effort in 2025.
Still growing, though, and set to enter his fifth year in college, he is making improvements.
“I'd say play recognition and just understanding backfield sets, splits, tight end splits, offensive line splits, and just understanding what offenses are trying to do to us, and what our strengths are on the defense, and like what our weaknesses, stuff like that,” Anene said when asked about his progress since arriving at CU. “Just understanding the game on a deeper level.”
While Anene was surrounded by talent at NDSU, an FCS powerhouse, the differing levels of experience in Colorado’s defensive end room have also helped him add to his repertoire.
“I seen Manny hit a ghost a couple days ago and I'm thinking to myself, ‘Maybe I should try that.’ I see like Lamont do a different type of swipe. I'm trying to add that to my bag,” Anene said. “So just like seeing those guys who have done good things at a lot of different places is just, it's a blessing. [I’m] just trying to add it to my bag and trying to be the best version of myself I can be.”
Now with just a few weeks before he’s set to take on Folsom Field for the second time in his career, but this time for the home squad, Anene is excited to show off what he’s added to an already polished game.
Other names that popped up…
- Carter on Marve: “I think we've done a great job taking what Coach Marve wants and applying it into our groups. And man, y'all gonna see the reap of what we put in September 3. Man, great man, great leader. He’s gonna push you no matter what you are, coach or player. He just gonna he just want the best. He going to get it out of you. And at the end of the day, it's all love. He a great man, great person to want to want to work for and be under.”
- DE Emmanuel Ezeogu, DL Lamont Lester Jr. and DE Domato Peko Jr. All three guys received praise from Anene.
- “I just think it's getting acclimated, understanding the defense on a better level, and just starting to buy in and really get close to your teammates,” Anene said. “Once you're close to the guy next to you, like you want to die on the field for him, you do anything on the field for that guy.”
- DE turned DL Quency Wiggins: Carter says Wiggins is doing a “hell of a job” making the move from outside to inside, and that “he's going to be the X factor for the group.” Hopper named him as a guy to help him stunt or clear an opposing player; “Back alley fight? I’m calling Quency.”
- “He's been taking the coaching, taking the technique, and applying it to team periods,” Carter said. “He's taking a hell of a jump from where he was at a defensive end spot to now at D-tackle.”
- DL Tyler Moore: Earning a reputation as the “Get-off King,” Moore received high praise from Carter and his teammate, Hopper.
- “He got two superpowers,” Carter said. “I always tell him about getting off the rock and his leverage. He only this tall, so ain't no way he should be taller than somebody 6’3”, 6’4”. Use your leverage to your advantage. And T-Mo probably is one of the ones with the most quickest get-off in the room. So every day, we got something called the ‘Get-off King.’ So if you're the first one moving off that ball, getting off that rock, you get a point. So it adds up, and whoever had the most points is the ‘Get-off King’ for the day. And T-Mo, he's been in the running for winning that thing a lot in fall camp. Man, I'm super excited for him and proud of him.”
- “We call him ‘Get-off King,’ ‘Tech King,’ whatever you want to call him,” Hopper said. “He's impressed me a lot this summer. It was a rough start for him during the spring, and towards the end of the spring, he started getting it together. But when he came back from the summer, it's like he was a whole other person.”
- DL Samu Taumanupepe: “Big Mu” Taumanupepe has taken a big jump from the spring following an exit meeting with a lot of constructive criticism. Carter says he has applied the coaching without frustration. Hopper mentioned that he’s a vocal leader.
- “I love Samu, just how hard he works, man,” Hopper said. “He's a bigger guy than all of us. So it's like when Samu doing something, and I see Samu doing something, I feel like I got to do it too. So I love seeing Samu work. I love being around Samu. He's a great guy, real competitive guy, and I love how Coach Prime pours into him and tries to get as much as he can out of Samu.”
- DL Dylan Manuel: Carter says Manuel took a “big step.” The coaching staff challenged him to step up as a leader and playmaker and has done both; “He's been doing an awesome job pulling the room with him…He's been consistent.” Hopper says Manuel “[isn’t] just taking steps, he’s jumping over the whole staircase.”
- DL Josiah Manu: Making the switch from offense to defense as a freshman, Manu has taken it well. While raw, he is “scrappy” and is doing whatever the staff needs him to do, bringing “fight” to practice.
- Hopper on the linebackers: “Coach Marion likes to send them guards and tackles sit on blocks. Them boys ain't nothing to play with. And Coach Marve do a great job of coaching them guys and getting them guys ready for everything that we're expecting to do out there at Georgia Tech.”
- DB Ben Finneseth: When Hopper was asked about who is the vocal lead of the defense, Finneseth was named; “He's overly vocal sometimes. I love Ben.”
Players Mentioned
Coaches Mentioned
