A look at Colorado vs. Eastern Washington
The Buffs play host to the Eastern Washington Eagles out of the Big Sky Conference this Saturday in an effort to avenge their embarrassing 2006 loss to another Big Sky team, Montana State, that left Buff fans calling for Dan Hawkins’ head on his first day as head coach.
Hawkins said the 2006 loss to Montana State has been a topic of discussion in the Buffs’ locker room leading up to the Eastern Washington game.
“We’ve talked about that game to the team, but we don’t need to as much,” Hawkins said. “These guys know to be ready week-in and week-out.”
On defense
Despite only giving up 10 points to the CSU offense on Sunday, CU will be looking past the Eagles’ Division I-AA jerseys and cleats for an offense that can put on one heck of a lightshow- at least on the scoreboard.
Led by quarterback Matt Nichols, the Eagles pumped out 24 points against No. 13 Texas Tech last Saturday. Senior defensive tackle George Hypolite said he was impressed by the fact that the Eagles got off to such a poor start in that game and were still able to put up those numbers.
“They can be scary,” Hypolite said. “We need to play tough, execute and not make some of the mistakes we did Sunday.”
The Buffs’ defense managed to bury Colorado State quarterback Billy Farris in the backfield for five sacks on Sunday and further interrupted the flow of the Rams’ offense with a pair of interceptions.
“We need to make more plays like that,” Hypolite said. “Just do whatever to help our offense and win the game.”
On offense
Statistically, it appears as though the Buffs could have a hay-day against the Eagles offensively. The Eagles gave up 49 points to Texas Tech’s talented offense, allowing 536 yards through the air and another 103 on the ground.
This year’s Buff offense looks to be much more potent than their offense from a year ago.
Quarterback Cody Hawkins, now a sophomore, has matured as the leader of the offense, and threw for 214 yards against the Rams.
At tailback, senior Demetrius Sumler ran the ball for 41 yards on 10 carries, and promising freshman Darrell Scott carried the ball for 51 yards on 11 carries, scoring six points for the Buffs in the final minutes of his debut.
“My confidence went through the roof to be honest,” Scott said. “It was fun to be out there and get into the end zone.”
Coach Hawkins said after Wednesday’s practice that Sumler will start against Eastern Washington, and Scott will be in the mix again as well.
Hawkins said he has been impressed with Scott’s performance on the field thus far, but even more so by the young tailback’s potential.
“He continues to get better, and he needs to just keep hanging onto the rock- we’re ready for him to explode,” Hawkins said. “He’s going to do great things and excite our fans.”
On whether or not he can torch the Eagles for 200 plus yards, Scott said hopefully, but said that a win would do just fine.
Intangibles
Wide receiver and return specialist Josh Smith lost his grip on the ball during his first punt return of the season Sunday, backing the Buffs up behind their own ten yard line.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, Smith’s shaky start against the Rams turned into his career-best game as a Buff.
Smith took a CSU kickoff back 93 yards to score in the second quarter, and was only a shoe-string away from returning a second for a score, barely tripped up from behind after he crossed midfield.
“If that one guy hadn’t laid out, it would have been another six,” Smith said after the game Sunday.
Notes
-Buffs’ starting lineman Devin Head was suspended Monday and will not play in Saturday’s game against Eastern Washington.
-A win over Eastern Washington would give Hawkins his first 2-0 start as a Buffs head coach.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Brent New at Brent.New@colorado.edu.
