When he heard he recorded five tackles on the first seven defensive snaps on Saturday, Colorado safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig smiled.

“That’s crazy,” he said.

And yet, maybe it’s not.

Silmon-Craig has been playing at a high level all season, finishing with a career-high 14 tackles in the Buffs’ 38-31 overtime win against Baylor. He is leading the Buffs with 31 tackles on the season and has been a tone setter on defense in most games.

“I feel like that’s the team motto,” he said of fast starts. “I mean, it could be anybody with five (tackles) on the first seven. I was just a guy that game. I’m a lead by example guy naturally, and it was just the plays were there for me to make, so I just made sure I made them. And it picked my team up a lot, and the guys rallied behind me.”

Silmon-Craig has been an exceptional player since his freshman year at Jackson State in 2021. He now has 188 career tackles, and he’s on pace for a career-best 93. He had 44 in 10 games last year.

A first-team All-SWAC performer at JSU in 2022, Silmon-Craig brushed off the notion that he’s playing his best ball this season.

“Nah, nah,” he said. “I mean, this is something I’ve been doing for a minute. I was All-American at one point. I was All-American coming here. So this is nothing new to me. This is me, like Coach Prime (head coach Deion Sanders) said the other day, I’m consistently being who I am. So that’s what I’ve been doing.”

Receiver depth

The Buffs have leaned on a dynamic, veteran foursome at receiver, with Jimmy Horn Jr., Travis Hunter, Will Sheppard and LaJohntay Wester. That group has accounted for 86 of the Buffs’ 110 receptions this season.

Behind them, though, is a talented group that every now and then flashes. Sophomore Omarion Miller flashed on Saturday, with his 58-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter changing the game.

Miller could get more opportunities going forward, but so will Drelon Miller, Terrell Timmons Jr. and others.

“The guys will rotate. I think they rotate quite a bit,” Coach Prime said. “(Miller) got in there and made a tremendous play, but we got a plethora of receivers, man. You can close your eyes and pick, so I don’t think it’s any controversy. I think we know Will (Sheppard), he’s a dog. Omarion will come in and do his thing. And this stuff is established at practice, not in the game. It’s the consistency of practice. That’s how we choose who starts and who does not start.”

2025 class

CU has eight high school players verbally committed for the 2025 class, including Antonio Branch Jr., a safety who flipped from Penn State to CU after a visit last weekend.

Coach Prime said the Buffs got three commits over the weekend, although Branch is the only one to announce. Still, Coach Prime likes the class coming together.

“Pretty good, but you got to understand, man, it’s you have to look at your roster,” he said. “You got to balance that between high school guys, portal guys, what you have coming back. It’s a balancing act. It’s no one way to do it.

“I think we’re doing a good job with the guys from high school but also the guys from the portal. It’s just like the NFL to me, man; it’s free agency. Free agency and draft choices. You don’t take a lot of draft choices, but you get what you need in free agency.”