Colorado defensive back Isaiah Oliver out vs. Arizona State

The Colorado Buffaloes will be without their best defender when they take on the Arizona State Sun Devils tonight. Isaiah Oliver was injured two weeks against Washington State and he will be out again with an undisclosed leg injury.

Oliver is an elite cornerback, likely the best in the Pac-12. In his first season as a full time starter, the junior has 9 pass breakups and 2 interceptions — what’s crazy is that those stats would be much higher but opposing quarterbacks rarely challenge him in coverage. Oliver is considered a first round prospect by many draft experts.

The Buffs (5-4, 2-4 Pac-12) are only one win away from securing bowl eligibility. If they’re going to stop Manny Wilkins at the ASU offense and pick up the tough win, the defensive backfield will have to step up for Oliver for the second consecutive week.

Dante Wigley (So.) and Trey Udoffia (Fr.) started last week against Cal and played exceptionally well in the Buffs’ 44-28 victory. If they fill in as well as they did, the Buffs will be in decent shape.

This story was first reported by Adam Munsterteiger of BuffStampede.