BOULDER — Through eight games, you would’ve thought the Colorado defense had seen it all.

But the much-improved Buffaloes unit faces a new test this week. Deion Sanders’ team, which came in at No. 20 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, heads to Lubbock to face a solid Texas Tech team coming off an upset win at Iowa State.

“I think the thing that’s gonna be different from what we’ve seen is tempo,” Buffs linebackers coach Andre Hart said. “They get up quick, especially depending on how many yards they gain. They’ll go back with another (quick) play. You can’t hide a lot in tempo. You have to be very good at looking at film and understanding the formations and location of the ball and what you’re gonna get next based off the previous play. We haven’t seen a lot of tempo this year. This is gonna be a really good challenge for us.”

It’s true; the Red Raiders move the ball down the field quickly. The Texas Tech offense, led by coordinator Zach Kittley, is tops in the Big 12 in scoring and second in yards per game, but they do it by getting on the ball quickly.

While Texas Tech averages nearly 40 yards more per game than CU, it comes on slightly fewer yards per play. In fact, the Red Raiders have run over 60 more plays than any other team in the conference.

It puts an extra emphasis on film study for the Buffs, who have had an extra week to prepare after last week’s bye.

“Everything has to be predetermined off of that film study,” Hart said. “What is the rhythm of the offense? What is the cadence and what do they run next after they gain so many yards? The less talk, the better you’ll play defense. If you’re over-talking, the ball’s snapped (and) that’s where they get you. That’s what tempo’s about, they want you to make a mistake and then they’ll capitalize on it.”

The Red Raiders rely heavily on run-pass-option (RPO) plays thanks to the threat posed by talented running back Tahj Brooks, who currently ranks second in the Big 12 in rushing and is one of three players in the conference to reach the 1,000-yard mark already this season.

“Tahj is a really good back, man,” Hart said. “You watch the film on him, and you see how patient he is. We compare him a lot to (former NFL running back) Le’Veon Bell, how he presses the hole, and then he has some very similar footwork to (DJ Giddens) from Kansas State. We think how (Brooks) goes is how their offense goes. It runs through him. It’s a great challenge. The guys are looking forward to it.”

Because of Brooks’ ability to break tackles and break off big runs, similar to what Giddens did against the Buffs last month when he had 182 rushing yards in what is CU’s most recent defeat, opposing defense often try to load up the box near the line of scrimmage to stop the run, but the Red Raiders will turn that into mismatches in the secondary and big gains downfield.

“However, many you have in the box triggers whether they’re gonna throw it or run it, “Hart said. “There are some formations they get into where they really want (Brooks) to carry the ball and so they’ll load it up in the box and give him the ball to let him do what he does naturally, which is find the holes.”

But the one thing the Buffs have going for them is their recent history on the road, featuring wins of 27 points in each of their last two games away from Boulder, and both were fueled by strong defensive performances.

If there’s reason to be confident in a similar performance this Saturday, it’s the “tribe mentality” that Hart says has been instilled by defensive coordinator Robert Livingston, who’s proven to be one of CU’s best assistant coaching hires in recent memory.

“That’s his big philosophy and I love it because no job is too big, no job is too small. It takes us all together to win,” Hart said. “When you spread that around and you give people skin in the game, you get confident in what you do, and you know there’s a big part of it that depends on your success.”