BOULDER — Reginald Hughes’ SEC experience wasn’t enough to help him in his first game at Folsom Field.

While the Colorado defense always appreciates the noise the home crowd makes ahead of and during key plays facing the opposing offense, it did make things difficult at times for the new-look Buffaloes defense as they had to break in a handful of new starters in the season-opening loss to Georgia Tech.

There were multiple times where Hughes (who previously played at Ole Miss) said he had to put his hands over the ear holes in his helmet so he could better hear the play call coming in from defensive coordinator Robert Livingston and it took multiple tries to communicate the call to the entire defense, causing them to get caught out of position at times in a game where the Yellow Jackets racked up over 450 yards of offense (320 on the ground).

“It could definitely be better. (Even) with the new technology, having the communicator in the helmet, I don’t think you can get away from signals,” linebackers coach Andre’ Hart said. “It’s really (about) training the guys to make sure (that) even though we’re getting somebody with a communicator, that we still look to the sideline and get the signals. Don’t rely on one person, it’s a team sport. We’ll be better this week.”

Deion Sanders challenged the defense as a whole to be better in Week 2 against Delaware after allowing nearly seven yards per play and points on half of their possessions in Week 1.

“The defense goes as we go,” Hughes said. “Coach Prime just staying hard on us and holding us to that standard is gonna uplift the whole (defense) once we excel.”

Even though none of the linebackers played with each other prior to Friday night, it didn’t take them long to make an impact. UTSA transfer Martavius French recovered two fumbles in the first quarter and had 1.5 tackles for loss, while Hughes (a Jacksonville State transfer) led the team with 11 tackles (9 solo).

“It felt great. I ran out into the end zone with my teammates and celebrated (after the first fumble recovery),” French said. “It just felt good to, off the rip, make an impact play for the team and get the ball back for our offense.

“We’ve been building great chemistry. Just spending time with each other on and off the field so we can know how to hold each other accountable even when times do get hard out here on the field. We’re trying to learn from each other more, get to know each other better as people.”

French and Hughes got the start in the season opener and are the top candidates to do so again this week but expect to see a couple of other faces get chances to make an impact at that position, too. North Alabama transfer Shaun Myers is one of them.

“Shaun has come and stepped up with his experience,” Hart said. “He understands this defense. He’s played something similar to it. We’re gonna depend on him and he’s gonna get some snaps (this week), as well.”

It’s often taken a few weeks for Hart to find his ‘go-to’ pairing in his room and is a coach that trusts his instincts to put the hot hand on the field. Whether it’s French, Hughes, Myers, returning senior Jeremiah Brown or even TCU transfer Kylan Salter (younger brother of Buffs QB Kaidon), there are plenty of combinations that could be seen this week.

“You never know when someone’s gonna go down, so Coach Prime always wants to make sure we’re ready for the next guy to be up,” Hart said. “You like to see those combinations and that chemistry and how they get going. I think these guys play good together.”