A young defense made things tougher on the offense in the second scrimmage of Colorado spring football practices Saturday morning in chilly Folsom Field, but the hurry-up attack run entirely from the shotgun formation is proving difficult to stop.

A handful of linebackers who weren't available a week earlier in the first scrimmage made their presence felt, including Marcus Burton who led the team with 10 tackles, and sophomore-to-be B.J. Beatty, who is close to overtaking senior Brad Jones as the starting outside linebacker.

Beatty, who missed the first scrimmage to attend the funeral of his grandfather back home in Hawaii, played mostly with the first string defense while Jones played mostly with the second team.

Beatty figured to earn playing time in his third year in the program in 2008, but the fact he is pushing Jones for the starting job might be the biggest news to this point this spring.

Jones has played in 38 consecutive games for the Buffs and has started every game the past two seasons. He finished fourth in tackles last season and third in 2006. No current Buff defender has logged more playing time over the past two years than Jones. Yet, Beatty is likely to steal at least some of his snaps next fall.

Defensive coordinator Ron Collins was careful to point out coaches will find ways to get both players on the field if Beatty continues to perform at this level.

"B.J. is coming on strong," Collins said. " He is challenging for that position and I think the competition right now is pretty stiff. Those guys are battling it out. So we're giving them bothan opportunity."

The defense benefited from the fact tackling quarterbacks was not allowed and referees blew whistles whenever a defender got close enough to touch the quarterback. Defenders were credited with seven sacks, but two or three of them might not have occurred in an actual game.

The biggest disappointment for the defense was producing just two turnovers in 121 plays from scrimmage. Four fumbles were forced but only one led to a change of possession. The offense produced 698 total yards and seven touchdowns.

The defense limited big plays on the ground despite missing starting defensive tackle Brandon Nicolas, who will miss the remainder of spring with a shoulder injury. The Buffs were inconsistent against the pass after getting off to a good start when linebacker Jake Duren picked off the fourth pass of the day thrown by Cody Hawkins.

Duren also is a member of the first team defense to this point competing for playing time with players such as Michael Sipili and Burton. Duren's interception was the only one of the day, but wide receiver Cody Crawford blocked two punts off the foot of reserve punter Tom Suazo.

"It was just a little inconsistent," senior George Hypolite said. "We played good for four or five series, and then we'd give up some big plays.

"...I'd have to say as a defense we have to play more consistent. We can't come out and shut a team down and then give up an easy touchdown."

Hawkins led the team to only two touchdowns in the eight drives he conducted. He completed 17 of 30 passes for 170 yards and a score. Nick Nelson produced four scores in seven drives overall, including going 4-for-4 in the red zone, and Matt Ballenger directed the offense to two scores in six drives.

This continues to be the spring of unheralded players as walk-on receiver and punt return man Jason Espinoza made a name for himself with four catches for 62 yards and four punt returns for 61 yards. He reminds some of last season's punt diminutive returner Chase McBride.

"He's got really quick feet," coach Dan Hawkins said. "We knew he was kind of a jitterbug guy and would have a chance to do some things."

Tight end Patrick Devenny continued to make plays catching six passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. He has scored three times in the first two scrimmages.

Scrimmage statistics

(CH indicates Cody Hawkins at quarterback; NN Nick Nelson and MB Matt Ballenger)

Series 3 (CH) -- Devenny 26 pass from Hawkins (Jameson Davis kick) 7-72

Series 8 (NN) -- Nelson 3 run (Goodman kick) 5-35

Series 10 (MB) -- Davis 42 FG 3-(-6)

Series 11 (NN) -- Devenny 17 pass from Nelson (Goodman kick) 14-80

Series 14 (MB) -- Williams 25 pass from Ballenger (Goodman kick) 1-25

Series 16 (NN) -- Sumler 1 run (Davis kick) 6-22

Series 18 (CH) -- Moyd 6 run (Goodman kick) 12-77

Series 19 (NN) -- Melton 24 pass from Nelson (Davis kick)

Time -- 1:46; Attendance -- 350.

Rushing -- Kevin Moyd 8-59, Sumler 10-49, Nabors 10-36, Jaffee 8-35, J. Smith 3-31, Lockridge 4-22, Nelson 4-19, Hawkins 2-12, Melton 1-11, Ballenger 1-6, Crawford 1-6, Williams 1-minus 4. Totals 53-282.

Passing -- Hawkins 30-17-1 170, 17-12-0 140, Ballenger 16-8-0 106. Totals 63-37-1 416.

Receiving -- Devenny 6-121, Williams 5-57, Crawford 5-39, Espinoza 4-62, Walters 4-26, McKnight 3-27, Melton 2-28, Shanahan 2-15, Ham 2-11, J. Smith 1-10, Sumler 1-8, Jaffee 1-6, Lockridge 1-6. Totals 37-416.

Tackles-assist-sacks -- Burton 5-5-0, Jimmy Smith 6-2-0, Sipili 4-4-1, Smart 3-5-0, Perkins 7-0-0, Sandersfield 5-2-1, Jones 4-3-0, Duren 2-5-0, J. Brown 5-1-0, L. Smith 5-1-1, McKay 4-1-0, Ahles 2-3-0, Dykes 4-0-2, Beatty 3-1-0, C. Brown 2-2-0, Hypolite 3-0-2, Stengel 1-2-1.

Hurries (5) -- Hypolite, Kaynor, Lucas, Meyer, Shields.Fumble Recoveries (1) -- Ji.Smith,Forced Fumbles (4) -- J.Brown, Duren, Smart, Ji.Smith.Passes Broken Up (7) -- C.Brown, Duren, Hypolite, Lucas, Meyer,Obi, Perkins.Blocked Punts (2) -- Crawford 2.