Colorado University Athletics
Photo by: Roger Carry
Lewis Joins Elite Company With Another 10-Tackle Game
September 24, 2017 | Football
Drew Lewis has become the first Buff since Greg Biekert in 1990 to record 10 tackles in the first four starts of a career
BOULDER – Colorado's inside linebackers Rick Gamboa and Drew Lewis once again led the Buffs defensive effort in Saturday night's loss to No. 7 Washington.
Both finished with 10 tackles – Gamboa's second 10-tackle game of the season and ninth of his career.
For Lewis, this was his fourth consecutive game posting double-digit stops and in doing so he joined one of the all-time Colorado greats on a special feat.
The last Buffalo to record 10 or more tackles in the first four starts of a career was Greg Biekert in 1990. Biekert ranks third in the CU record books for career tackles with 441. His first four starts were quite impressive in Colorado's national championship season – 13 tackles against No. 8 Tennessee, 14 against Stanford and then in back-to-back road games against ranked opponents, he went for 20 tackles (19 solo, which set a new school record) against Illinois and 13 at Texas.
Lewis finished Saturday's game with the 10 stops and he had one tackle for a loss on Washington's first play of the game (a four-yard disruption in the backfield). In his first three games he had 12 tackles against Colorado State, 13 versus Texas State and 10 against Northern Colorado.
If Lewis can hit double-figures once again next week, he'll become the first Buff since Hannibal Navies in 1997 to start a season with 10-plus tackles in the first five games (those were not the first five starts of Navies' career).
Colorado is rich in its history of producing star linebackers – CU is one of seven schools in the nation that sports multiple Butkus Award winners, five different players have been named first-team All-Americans and three times has a Buff linebacker been named the conference defensive player of the year.
Gamboa and Lewis are a part of the next in line productive backers.
Gamboa is the coach on the field. Defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot calls him the "quarterback of the defense," always getting his teammates in the right spot to make a play. Lewis early on has fed off of his knowledge.
Lewis, however, is a freak athlete. Fast and strong and he tests well – his 130-inch broad jump in the spring testing period was longer than any linebacker that tested at the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine.
Next week's game against UCLA will pose a different threat than what Gamboa and Lewis faced Saturday against Washington's offense. Bruin quarterback Josh Rosen in a 58-34 loss at Stanford Saturday attempted 60 pass attempts, completed 40 of them for 480 yards and three touchdowns. UCLA did have a 100-yard rusher in Soso Jamabo, but it only had 15 rushing attempts in the game.
What Lewis has shown early in the season is to also have good pass-rushing skills (his four quarterback pressures is tied for the team lead) and that ability along with help from his teams to get pressure on Rosen will be vital. CU in the Washington loss did not record a sack, and the Buffs were only credited with one quarterback pressure.
Both finished with 10 tackles – Gamboa's second 10-tackle game of the season and ninth of his career.
For Lewis, this was his fourth consecutive game posting double-digit stops and in doing so he joined one of the all-time Colorado greats on a special feat.
The last Buffalo to record 10 or more tackles in the first four starts of a career was Greg Biekert in 1990. Biekert ranks third in the CU record books for career tackles with 441. His first four starts were quite impressive in Colorado's national championship season – 13 tackles against No. 8 Tennessee, 14 against Stanford and then in back-to-back road games against ranked opponents, he went for 20 tackles (19 solo, which set a new school record) against Illinois and 13 at Texas.
Lewis finished Saturday's game with the 10 stops and he had one tackle for a loss on Washington's first play of the game (a four-yard disruption in the backfield). In his first three games he had 12 tackles against Colorado State, 13 versus Texas State and 10 against Northern Colorado.
If Lewis can hit double-figures once again next week, he'll become the first Buff since Hannibal Navies in 1997 to start a season with 10-plus tackles in the first five games (those were not the first five starts of Navies' career).
Colorado is rich in its history of producing star linebackers – CU is one of seven schools in the nation that sports multiple Butkus Award winners, five different players have been named first-team All-Americans and three times has a Buff linebacker been named the conference defensive player of the year.
Gamboa and Lewis are a part of the next in line productive backers.
Gamboa is the coach on the field. Defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot calls him the "quarterback of the defense," always getting his teammates in the right spot to make a play. Lewis early on has fed off of his knowledge.
Lewis, however, is a freak athlete. Fast and strong and he tests well – his 130-inch broad jump in the spring testing period was longer than any linebacker that tested at the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine.
Next week's game against UCLA will pose a different threat than what Gamboa and Lewis faced Saturday against Washington's offense. Bruin quarterback Josh Rosen in a 58-34 loss at Stanford Saturday attempted 60 pass attempts, completed 40 of them for 480 yards and three touchdowns. UCLA did have a 100-yard rusher in Soso Jamabo, but it only had 15 rushing attempts in the game.
What Lewis has shown early in the season is to also have good pass-rushing skills (his four quarterback pressures is tied for the team lead) and that ability along with help from his teams to get pressure on Rosen will be vital. CU in the Washington loss did not record a sack, and the Buffs were only credited with one quarterback pressure.
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