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 6, we checked the pulse of the CU student body for the 2009 season.
There’s a change in the air. The leaves are turning brown, the days are getting shorter and the college football season is about to kick off, which in Boulder means: it’s Buffalo time.
However, after several seasons full of hype and no postseason, what are students’ expectations for this season?
In interviewing students there was a wide range of responses, everything from going winless, to winning a national championship. There was more than one person who gave a “who cares?”
Despite several seasons of CU football not living up to his expectations, 20-year-old junior psychology major Lawrence Grivich says he still has hope.
“I think we can win eight or nine games and go to a bowl,” Grivich said. “We have a talented offensive line, great runningbacks and good pass defense. We have more talent than people give us credit for, and the schedule is in our favor.”
While Grivich’s prediction of eight or nine wins may sound good to some, it does not live up to coach Dan Hawkins’ preseason “10 wins and no excuses” mantra.
“I don’t think he meant it as a ‘be all end all,’” said 19-year old sophomore biology major Kelsey Brunkow. “I think he meant it as a goal, something to motivate the players and let them know that he has faith in him.”
While Hawkins’ 10-win promise may have been simply motivation, it got picked up by the media and no matter what happens this season, he will likely be judged based on how close he gets.
The last time the Buffaloes had double digit wins was in 2001, when they won the Big 12 championship before getting blown out in the Fiesta Bowl by Oregon. But back then, they had Craig Ochs entrenched as the starting quarterback before he sustained a concussion midway through ’01. Having a starter under center is something that Hawkins has yet to do.
“I think he needs to pick a quarterback,” said 18-year-old sophomore music major Quincy Pham. “He keeps switching between [Cody Hawkins] and [Tyler Hansen], and I don’t think that that works, I think he needs to pick one and commit.”
This was a sentiment echoed by many, with support for Hawkins and Hansen fairly close.
But for many students, the season is just a distant thought, as there is only one thing on their minds: stomping the Colorado State Rams.
Freshman open-option major Hayden Sigal, 18, said he has a double goal.
“If we only get two wins all year, they had better be Colorado State and Nebraska,” Sigal said.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Chris King at chris.king@colorado.edu
