Postseason a reality for football team
By defeating Nebraska last Friday, the CU football team extended its season through December by becoming bowl game eligible.
It was CU’s eligibility on the line that helped the Buffs power to a victory over the Cornhuskers, coach Dan Hawkins said in a press conference Tuesday.
“You’re kind of hanging on the presuppose there of not playing again,” Hawkins said. “You had senior day, you had Nebraska, you had the chance to play for a bowl game, you had the chance for a winning season. There was a lot hanging in the balance there.”
To prepare for the bowl game, the team gets just under 20 extra practices, Hawkins said, and the Buffs will use this time to both prepare for the game and give red shirting players extra practice time.
“You kind of use this time to rebuild your starters mentally, physically and emotionally and that whole thing,” Hawkins said. “Then you also want to get a good amount of work for everyone else too.”
The Buffs do not yet know which bowl game they will play in. They will most likely go to either the Insight or PetroSun Independence bowls, representing the Big 12 No. 6 or No. 7.
While coach Hawkins said he has no preference of a location, quarterback Cody Hawkins said the players feel otherwise.
“The warmer the better,” Cody Hawkins said. “We’re all trying to figure out what the bowl gifts are, if you get a new iPod or an Xbox, whatever.”
While CU did finish the season 6-6, the team has only won two of its last six games.
Starting cornerback Terrence Wheatley missed the Nov. 10 loss to Iowa State and part of the Nebraska game. Starting safety Ryan Walters also missed the Iowa State game.
Coach Hawkins cited these defensive injuries as part of the reason the defense allowed their opponents more offensive success than the rest of the season in the past few games.
“It was just a combination of the quality of the teams we were playing and being nicked up a little,” Hawkins said.
While the team did only win two of the past six games, the Buffs only won two games in all of last year. Cody Hawkins said this season was still a building block for a program and preparing for the bowl game is another step for CU.
“Having another year under our belt we’re going to go out expecting to do good things next year,” Hawkins said. “It all starts with this bowl preparation.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Margot Schneider at margot.schneider@thecampuspress.com.
