Nate Landman2

2021 Media Guide Bio:

AT COLORADO: He is bidding to become the first player in CU history to lead the team in tackles four times (overall and consecutively) … Has earned various levels of All-America and All-Pac-12 accolades the last three seasons, and elected to use his extra season of eligibility granted by the NCAA for all student-athletes due to the pandemic … He has earned either the Zack Jordan Awards (MVP) or the Dave Jones Award (outstanding defensive player) each of the past three seasons … He’s earned the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week Award three times, matching the most in CU history alongside Steve Rosga and Greg Biekert … He has played in 40 career games with 29 career starts, the most on the team … He has 338 career tackles, 35 tackles for loss including 11 sacks, another 27 tackles for no gain, 13 pass break-ups, 11 quarterback hurries, three interceptions, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and 46 third down stops, which include a CU record eight fourth-down stops … He ranks 10th in CU history in total tackles, seventh in unassisted tackles (233), 12th in tackles for loss, 32nd overall and 11th by inside linebackers in sacks and third in third down stops … His 46 career third down stops rank third all-time and is just two behind the CU record of 48 by Jordon Dizon … Was just the sixth player to record 250-plus tackles over two seasons in 2018-19 (123 in 2018, 137 in 2019), and he became just the third player in CU history to average 10.0-plus tackles per game for three straight seasons, joining Barry Remington (1984-86) and Greg Biekert (1990-92) … His 18 career double-figure tackle game ranks tied for seventh and is eight behind the CU record of 26.

This Season (Sr.-2)—Named second-team Preseason All-American by Phil Steele’s College Football (which ranked him the No. 8 inside linebacker in college football and the Buffs inside backer group the seventh-best nationally … Athlon named him third-team Preseason All-American … Earned Preseason First-Team All-Pac-12 honors from Athlon, Phil Steele’s College Football and Lindy’s College Football, the latter of which named him the No. 9 inside linebacker nationally … One of 90 players on the preseason watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award (top defensive player) … One of 42 players on the official watch list for the Lott IMPACT Trophy (Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity) … CU’s official nomination for the Danny Wuerffel Award (community service) … Collegefootballnews.com ranked him the No. 30 player in the Pac-12 with the caveat that he would be ranked higher if not returning from an Achilles injury.

2020 (Sr.)—Named second-team All-American by both the Football Writers Association of America and Phil Steele’s College Football … Was first-team All-Pac-12 by the Associated Press, Pac-12 Coaches, Bay Area News Group and Phil Steele’s College Football … Named the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame Male College Athlete of the Year (all sports) and given a similar honor of Colorado College Athlete of the Year by Mile High Sports Magazine … Given the Colorado Defensive Player of the Year by the Colorado Chapter of the National Football Foundation … Named to the East-West Shrine Virtual Team as the All-Star game didn’t take place … Given the team’s Zack Jordan Award as the most valuable player … Given the Buffalo Heard Award, given by the fans behind the bench … Named one of 16 semifinalists for the Dick Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker … One of 24 semifinalists for the Lott IMPACT Trophy (integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community and tenacity) … On the watch lists for the Bronko Nagurski Award and Chuck Bednarik Awards, both given to the nation’s top defensive player … Started the first five games of the season before being injured late in the first half of the regular season finale against Utah and missed the Alamo Bowl … Had 61 tackles (12.3 per game), 10 total tackles for loss including five sacks and seven more tackles for no gain, 13 third down stops including two on fourth down, three quarterback pressures, one fumble recovery and one pass breakup … Press box numbers of 10.6 tackles per game ranked third in the Pac12 and 15th nationally and his official numbers of 12.3 tackles per game tied for the highest in the nation alongside Grant Morgan (Arkansas) and Bubba Arslinian (Akron) … Five sacks was tied for third most by an inside linebacker in a season and just one off the record of six in just four-and-a-half games of action … He led all inside linebackers nationally in sacks as the only one to average 1.0 per game or better … Saw action on four special teams units, primarily on punt coverage and field goal block … Earned four national defensive player of the week nods, from the Walter Camp Foundation and Bronko Nagurski Award for the San Diego State game and from the Bednarik Award and collegesportsmadness.com for the Arizona game … The Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week award was the Buffs fist since Terrence Wheatley had three interceptions against Texas Tech in 2007 … Just the third player in CU history to win the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Plyer of the Week and first since Wheatley in 2007 … Joined Kordell Stewart as the only two players to win National Player of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks … Named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week three times, by the media for the Stanford and San Diego State games and from collegesportsmadness.com for those two games plus the Arizona game … Became the second player to win Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks, joining Bill Roe in 1971, and is just the seventh overall and the first since Tedric Thompson to pick up two awards in a season … Named a captain for two games, UCLA and Arizona … The coaching staff named him the defensive player of the game against UCLA, Stanford and San Diego State … Opened the season against UCLA with nine tackles, three third down stops and two tackles for zero … At Stanford he had 17 tackles with one for a loss, a third down stop and fumble recovery, which came on the game’s final play to secure the win … Against San Diego State, he had 11 tackles, four for a loss with three sacks, four third down stops and one pass breakup … At Arizona he again had 17 tackles with three for a loss with one sack, and four third down stops … The four third down stops against both San Diego State and Arizona match the CU record … In the first half against Utah prior to his injury, he had seven tackles, one sack and a third down stop … In the preseason, he was named third-team Preseason All-American by Phil Steele’s College Football (which also ranked him as the No. 11 inside linebacker in the nation) … Near unanimous first team Preseason All-Pac-12 by Athlon, Lindy’s College Football, Phil Steele’s College Football, Street & Smith’s, collegefootballnews.com and second team by Pix Six Previews … Rated as the No. 12 inside ‘backer by Lindy’s College Football … Collegefootballnews.com named him the No. 8 player overall in the Pac-12.

2019 (Jr.)—Named an honorable mention All-American by Phil Steele … Was first-team All-Pac-12 by the AP, Pac-12 Coaches and Phil Steele … Given the team’s Dave Jones Award as the Outstanding Defensive Player for the second straight season … Named a team captain at the end of the season … Was the co-Defensive Player of the Year and earned first-team honors on the Colorado Chapter of the National Football Foundation AllColorado team … Finished the season with 137 tackles, 112 solo, with eight tackles for loss including two sacks, 15 third down stops, five pass breakups, five tackles for zero, four quarterback hurries and one interception … He also led the team on defense with 785 plays … His 137 tackles are the most since Jordon Dizon had 160 in 2007 and tied for 14th most in a season in CU history, 12th by a linebacker … His 112 solo tackles are the second most in a season in CU history behind Dizon’s 120 in 2007 and he’s just the fourth player to hit the 100 mark for solo tackles in a season … He had more tackles than the second- and third-leading tacklers on the team, the first time that’s happened at CU dating back to 1964 when tackles first became a stat … He was the team’s nominee for Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week four times against Nebraska, Oregon, UCLA and Washington … He was the nominee for the Colorado Chapter of the National Football Foundation Player of the Week against Oregon, UCLA and Washington … Against the Huskies, he earned the College Sports Madness Pac-12 Player of the Week honor … He was named a captain four times throughout the season, for the Colorado State, Arizona, Washington State and Stanford game weeks … He earned the team’s Defensive Player of the Game three times against Nebraska, Oregon and UCLA … He had double-figure tackles in eight games and nine tackles in three of the other four games (his season low was eight) … He had a season and career high 16 tackles against Oregon, all solo stops, tied for the fifth most in CU history and most since Dizon had 17 against Colorado State in 2007 … He had 15 tackles twice, against Air Force and UCLA, and 14 tackles on one occasion, against Nebraska … He had two tackles for loss and four third down stop s against UCLA … Against Washington he had 10 tackles, one for a loss with two pass break-ups and an interception … He was on three postseason award watch lists in the preseason, the Chuck Bednarik, Dick Butkus and Bronko Nagurski awards … Also earned preseason second-team All-America honors by College Football America … Was named first-team preseason All-Pac-12 by Phil Steele and second team by the Pac-12, Athlon and Lindy’s … Phil Steele named him the No. 22 inside linebacker nationally … He led the defense throughout the spring with 21 tackles combined in the two scrimmages and spring game … He led the Buffs in the spring game with 13 tackles … He added two sacks, three total tackles for loss, two third down stops and a quarterback hurry.

2018 (Soph.)—Midseason First-Team All-American by Pro Football Focus … Second-Team All-Pac-12 by the Associated Press and Phil Steele’s College Football and honorable mention by the league coaches … One of 20 quarterfinalists for the Lott IMPACT Trophy … Named to the Colorado Chapter/NFF All-Colorado First-Team and with Mustafa Johnson, won the team’s Dave Jones Award given to the Outstanding Defensive Player(s) … His two interceptions ranked 13th in the Pac-12 and also led the team, the first time a linebacker did outright at CU since 1979 (Bill Roe) … Started all 12 games and played 619 snaps on defense … Led the team with 123 tackles and had 13 tackles for loss and four sacks, and 12 more tackles for no gain … Had 10 third down stops, including two on fourth down, five pass breakups, three quarterback pressures, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery … Had seven games with double-digit tackle totals and four games with 13-plus tackles … His 13 tackles for a loss were the most TFL’s for the team’s leading tackler since Thaddeus Washington also had 13 in 2005 … Opened the season with 14 tackles, an interception, pass breakup with one tackle for loss and another for no gain against Colorado State in the season opener … He was named Pac12 Defensive Player of the Week by both the league and College Sports Madness … The 14 tackles is the most for a linebacker in their first career start … Against Nebraska, he again had 14 tackles and one interception and added two tackles for a loss, three third down stops including one on fourth down and a forced fumble … Named the National Defensive Player of the Week by the FWAA/Bronco Nagurski Award and was the National Football Foundation Colorado Chapter Defensive Player of the Week … Had a career high 19 tackles against Utah with one for a loss and two others for no gain … Had four tackles for loss with two sacks and 13 tackles against Oregon State … Selected as the winner of the Dick Anderson Award for outstanding toughness by the coaching staff following spring practices … In the team’s strength and conditioning testing at the end of the spring semester he power cleaned 355 pounds, tying for team lead (and 10 pounds off the program record), and squatted 475 pounds (tying for the fourth-best on the team).

2017 (Fr.)—He saw action in seven games on defense, but in 11 games overall adding in his special teams play … His contributions increased as the season went along, as 59 of his 79 snaps played on defense came in the final two games … Recorded 17 total tackles on the season, including four for losses that were just two off the team lead despite playing at least 715 fewer snaps than any of the other three players on the team who had more tackles for a loss … Was credited with three more tackles for no gain, had eight third down stops, one quarterback pressure, one forced fumble and two pass breakups … Added another two tackles, both unassisted, on special teams play where he earned 13 total points, the fifth most on the team … In his first career action on defense, playing three snaps against Texas State, he recorded two tackles and had one tackle for a loss … He also had a tackle and a third down stop against No. 7 Washington when he saw five snaps on the defensive side … In seven snaps on defense at No. 15 Washington State, he had one tackle, two third down stops and a quarterback hurry … At Arizona State he had two tackles in two snaps on defense; one of them going for no gain on a fourth-and-one for the Sun Devils at their own 49-yard line in the second quarter … The very next week against No. 15 USC, he blocked a punt in the third quarter that was the first full block at Colorado since ILB Doug Rippy had two at Toledo in 2009; his play gave the Buffs the ball at the one-yard line and led to a TD to cut the USC lead down to 27-14 … He also saw 19 snaps from scrimmage on defense against USC and finished with three tackles, including one for a loss of one yard on a third-and-five with under six minutes to play in the fourth quarter, and he had two third down stops versus the Trojans … Closed out the season by playing 40 snaps at Utah when he posted eight tackles, two that went for losses and he had another two for no gain, and he also broke up two passes and had one third down stop.

HIGH SCHOOL—Scout.com rated him as the No. 5 outside linebacker prospect in California and No. 7 in the west … Played for Mustang head coach Craig Bergman where he earned East Bay Athletic League MVP honors as a two-way starter at linebacker and receiver … The San Jose Mercury News and East Bay Times selected him as its East Bay Defensive Player of the Year, as did MaxPreps on its All-NorCal High School Football Teams … Sports Stars Magazine selected him as the NorCal Defensive Player of the Year … He was selected by the San Francisco Chronicle to its AllMetro first-team defense … Helped the Mustangs to a 12-1 record, capture its first EBAL title since 2005 and win the CIF-North Coast Section Division I championship game … In that title game he helped Monte Vista beat Antioch, a team that featured the nation’s No. | overall prospect in running back Najee Harris (Alabama signee), 42-18 by catching three passes for 31 yards while recording three tackles for a loss and one forced fumble on defense … In his three playoff games, he posted a combined 8.0 tackles for losses and 1.5 sacks while on offense he had 12 catches for 144 yards and four touchdowns … Overall for his senior season he caught 38 passes for 577 yards and seven touchdowns in addition to throwing for a pair of scores .. Was a terror on defense and recorded 32 tackles for a loss, including having multiple stops behind the line of scrimmage in 10-of-13 games … He caught three touchdown passes in a first-round win over Irvington in the North Coast Section Division I playoffs to give Monte Vista its first playoff victory since 2012 … One of his touchdown passes was in a playoff victory over Heritage that put Monte Vista into the championship game … As a junior he received honorable mention All-Metro accolades as a linebacker from the San Francisco Chronicle and was a first-team All-EBAL selection when he led the Mustangs to a 7-4 record … That year he had nine tackles for a loss, six sacks, five pass breakups and he forced four fumbles … As a sophomore he was an honorable mention selection to the All-EBAL team … Outside of football he was on the baseball and rugby teams.

ACADEMICS—He is majoring in both Management and Marketing from CU’s Leeds School of Business … Earned honorable mention Academic All-Colorado honors from the state’s NFF chapter as a freshman.

PERSONAL—He was born November 19, 1998 in Zimbabwe, Africa where his father, Shaun, played international rugby … His brother, Brendan, played tight end as a true freshman at Arizona State in 2014 before transferring while his sister, Ocean Trail, swam for Oregon State’s team from 2009-13.