Editor’s note: Welcome to the CU Independent’s week-long season preview of the Colorado Buffaloes football team. Each day we will delve into the different aspects of CU football leading up to the CSU vs. CU game. On Day 4, we will take a look at the offense.
The $64,000 question that has stumped fans this offseason has been who Colorado Buffaloes head coach Dan Hawkins will choose to start at quarterback in 2009. The answer? Well, fans are still waiting for it.
Despite an inquisitive fan base and an even more persistent media, Hawkins said he likely won’t name a starter — at least publicy — until Sunday when Colorado State comes into town for the Rocky Mountain Showdown in the season opener.
“I don’t know that there really is a necessity to [name a starter ahead of time],” Hawkins said.
Hawkins’ unwillingness to budge on the subject at least carries a little humor with it. When asked yet again whether he had decided on a starter yet after Saturday’s scrimmage, he responded in vintage “Hawk” fashion.
“No,” Hawkins said. “Plus, it provides good drama, right?”
Junior Cody Hawkins and sophomore Tyler Hansen have been splitting reps during practice and if past history is any indicator, it’s likely both will see playing time when the season gets underway.
“Regardless of what happens, I’m going to outwork everyone and give it everything I got,” said Cody Hawkins, who has started 23 games the past two years.
Hansen has a similar sentiment and said, “I’m going to do whatever I’ve got to do to help the team win.”
Last season Hansen started two games, but it was Hawkins who came in off the bench for the second half of the Iowa State game and rallied the team from deficits of 10 and 11 points, respectively, in a 28-24 win. Hansen had his share of moments off the bench, including his collegiate debut against Kansas State in which he threw for 71 yards and a touchdown while adding 86 yards rushing.
Both have shown they don’t need to start to ignite the offense. The next question is whether either player can put together an entire season of consistent play to boost an attack that was last in the Big 12 Conference in total offense and lost both of its starting wide receivers from 2008 in Josh Smith (transferred to UCLA) and Patrick Williams (graduated).
The good news is that the backfield is loaded with playmakers.
• Sophomore Rodney “Speedy” Stewart led the Buffs in rushing last year.
• Junior Demetrius Sumler is the top pass-catching threat out of the backfield.
• Sophomore Darrell Scott is the workhorse of the group.
• Little-known sophomore Brian Lockridge, who is coming off a medical redshirt in 2008, might have the most big-play potential of the group.
Offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau has talked about running more out of the I-formation this season, which should help Scott rebound from a disappointing freshman campaign in which he took a lot of handoffs out of the shotgun.
As a result, it didn’t allow his 6-foot-1-inch, 215-pound frame to get a head of steam. Add in Lockridge’s potential to break a play wide open, a healthy offensive line that is so deep that 6-foot-8-inches, 320-pound Ryan Miller was moved from tackle to right guard to accommodate 6-foot-9, 305-pound Nate Solder and 6-foot-6-inches, 275-pound Bryce Givens, as well as the expectation for Stewart to improve off of his solid freshman season, and it is easy to see why the optimism is contagious for CU fans and players alike.
But the praise isn’t limited to the backfield. The wide receiving corps includes:
• Junior Scotty McKnight, who has led the team in receptions the past two years.
• Sophomore Markques Simas, who will sit out the first two games of the season due to suspension but is expected to have a breakout year.
• Newcomer Andre Simmons, a junior college transfer who is expected to contribute to the offense right away.
“[Simmons] gives us that instant deep threat that we needed,” Kiesau said. “We got some guys [who can make plays]; we’re going to mix it up a little bit.”
With things looking up in all of the other offensive positions, it will be the quarterback play that may be the biggest factor in whether CU’s offense can finally take that next step and become one of the elite units in the Big 12. While some may look at the quarterback situation negatively, the two men fighting for the job have a different take.
“Ultimately, somebody gets screwed if you’re part of a good team,” Cody Hawkins said.
However, he said he feels the offense Kiesau implemented over the summer is a great fit for his style.
“The offense really caters to me,” Cody Hawkins said. “I’m real comfortable out there, just having fun.”
Hansen said he likes Kiesau’s adjustments as well, adding, “The play-calling, the terminology—it has all been simplified. I got a real good feel for what we’re doing now.”
When asked what the main goal of the team is this year, their responses were again eerily similar:
“Winning that Big 12 championship, and doing everything we can to get there,” Cody Hawkins said.
Hansen added, “As a team, we want to achieve that Big 12 championship.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer David Starcer at david.starcer@colorado.edu.
