Hopper Leads Improved Defense Against No. 12 Texas Tech
October 08, 2026 | Football
BOULDER - Led by defensive lineman Sanata Hopper, the Colorado Buffaloes' defense delivered a strong performance through the first three quarters against a high-powered Texas Tech offense last Saturday.Â
The final 29-7 score was a little misleading as the Buffs held a lead late into the third quarter and with 7:10 left, it was still a one-score game.Â
In those first three quarters, the Buffs held the Red Raiders to 12 points, keeping an offense that had averaged 36.2 points per game heading into the Big 12 contest in check.
Hopper put together a rare stat line that included 5.5 tackles for loss and five quarterback hurries to go along with 10 tackles, all career highs. Â He is the first player in CU history to have at least five tackles for loss and quarterback hurries in the same game and in the last seven seasons of FBS football dating back to 2020, which includes almost 10,000 games, he is the first defensive lineman with those numbers, according to PFF.Â
"It's like a chain reaction," Hopper said about the defense's mentality. "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."
The passing defense was a major highlight of the matchup. Texas Tech finished with 134 passing yards, its lowest total of the season. Through the first four games of the year, opponents had averaged 236 passing yards against the Buffs. In all, the defense had 12 total tackles for loss with Hopper in on half of them.Â
Colorado's defensive unit showed improvements from its last two matchups against Northwestern and Baylor. The defense kept the Red Raider offense out of the end zone for the first 30 minutes and kept the Buffs in the game until the end of the third quarter, with a score of 12-7. Texas Tech pulled away in the final period seven minutes with two late touchdowns.
"I liked many aspects of [the defense]," Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders said. "We still broke at the end. And a good defense, a great defense, doesn't break."
With Colorado now in its bye week, Hopper's focus is on what comes next for the Buffs.
"My mentality is to flush this loss," he said. "I did have a decent game today, but I just want to flush it, you know. It doesn't matter when you lose. So, I want to flush this. I want to get this out of the way. We've got people banged up. We want people to get back and be a little more healthy, and just get ready for Utah."
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The final 29-7 score was a little misleading as the Buffs held a lead late into the third quarter and with 7:10 left, it was still a one-score game.Â
In those first three quarters, the Buffs held the Red Raiders to 12 points, keeping an offense that had averaged 36.2 points per game heading into the Big 12 contest in check.
Hopper put together a rare stat line that included 5.5 tackles for loss and five quarterback hurries to go along with 10 tackles, all career highs. Â He is the first player in CU history to have at least five tackles for loss and quarterback hurries in the same game and in the last seven seasons of FBS football dating back to 2020, which includes almost 10,000 games, he is the first defensive lineman with those numbers, according to PFF.Â
"It's like a chain reaction," Hopper said about the defense's mentality. "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."
The passing defense was a major highlight of the matchup. Texas Tech finished with 134 passing yards, its lowest total of the season. Through the first four games of the year, opponents had averaged 236 passing yards against the Buffs. In all, the defense had 12 total tackles for loss with Hopper in on half of them.Â
Colorado's defensive unit showed improvements from its last two matchups against Northwestern and Baylor. The defense kept the Red Raider offense out of the end zone for the first 30 minutes and kept the Buffs in the game until the end of the third quarter, with a score of 12-7. Texas Tech pulled away in the final period seven minutes with two late touchdowns.
"I liked many aspects of [the defense]," Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders said. "We still broke at the end. And a good defense, a great defense, doesn't break."
With Colorado now in its bye week, Hopper's focus is on what comes next for the Buffs.
"My mentality is to flush this loss," he said. "I did have a decent game today, but I just want to flush it, you know. It doesn't matter when you lose. So, I want to flush this. I want to get this out of the way. We've got people banged up. We want people to get back and be a little more healthy, and just get ready for Utah."
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