BOULDER — With a quarter of the season already in the books, the Colorado defense has taken a step back.

After last year’s unit was much improved under first-year coordinator Robert Livingston, the defense is at or near the bottom of every major defensive category among Big 12 teams.

The Buffaloes are bottom four in points per game allowed. They are last in yards allowed per game and second-to-last in rushing and passing yards allowed. 

Whether it was Georgia Tech on the ground in Week 1, Delaware through the air in Week 2 or a little bit of both last week at Houston, opposing offenses have been able to do just about whatever they want against a Buffs defense that continues to rotate heavily at all three levels and is regularly out of position to make necessary plays.

Colorado hosts Wyoming at Folsom Field on Saturday (8:15 p.m., ESPN).

“We all just gotta play together,” junior cornerback DJ McKinney said. “We all practice flying to the ball as a unit, as a defense, as one heartbeat. We all just gotta execute each play to the best of our ability and get the man on the ground.

“We play with a whole rotation of guys in practice, also. That’s what the outside world sees. They see different guys going into the game, but it’s still the same unit of guys that have been practicing with each other since spring, honestly. I don’t see it as a problem.”

What is a problem is what happened last week.

After getting three first-quarter turnovers in Week 1 and holding Delaware scoreless in the first quarter in Week 2, CU completely unraveled from the start against Houston, allowing points on the Cougars’ first three drives.

“Start fast. That’s our main issue,” McKinney said. “We come alive later on in the game but we just wanna start fast because we’re the heartbeat of this team. The team goes as our defense goes.”

When the defense allows points on eight of 11 drives, that becomes even harder on a struggling offense.

“You never want to be playing behind where you’re trying to chase and have to rely on the offense to go make plays,” sophomore safety Tawfiq Byard said. “That’s been a big emphasis this week is to start fast. Today in practice, we started with a competition just to get them juices flowing and get going. You (saw) in Houston, we’re down 13-0 in the first quarter and now we’re playing catch-up the whole game. You never want to live in that spot, especially on the defense.”

Maybe Livingston and the Buffs are starting to discover their playmakers’ defense, however.

Despite not starting a game, Byard leads the team with 19 tackles, 14 of which came against Houston. He also got in on a sack and had a pass breakup in coverage, flying to the ball in a way we haven’t seen from the majority of players who have seen the field.

After working his way back from a preseason injury, Byard is fully healthy and has asserted himself as one of the top defenders.

“Just the mental part. It’s hard not being out there, especially when you wanna be out there for your guys,” Byard said. “Just being mentally ready, you gotta prepare like you’re a starter, even if you’re not starting. Going through that whole process (of) taking mental reps, if you’re not with the first team, you’re not gonna get a lot of those in-practice live reps.”

The same goes for true freshman Alexander McPherson, who took advantage of a bigger role amid a bevy of injuries on the defensive line to make an impact last week. He finished with two tackles and half a sack, looking the part as one of CU’s most physical players on the edge.

Regardless of who’s out there, the Buffs are desperate to find an identity, and quickly. Last year, it was excellent coverage downfield and pressure on the quarterback. This year, through three games, it’s still a mystery. 

“I think, for the most part, it’s just little stuff we’re messing (up) on. Missing tackles, guys not being in the right gap and stuff like that,” Byard said. “As far as identity (goes), you could say we haven’t found our identity yet, but within the team, we just gotta clean up the little stuff. It’s nothing major. It’s everything that we’re doing, self-inflicted (mistakes).”