Opinion: Free falling

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Hey, you, on the roof!

I am here only to talk. We are all friends here and this is a safe place…unless you fall, of course.

Anyway, let’s be honest. Friday night was deemed to be the night when Colorado Buffaloes fans and players alike needed a miracle, a sign of good graces from the heavens, a football mulligan if it exists.

And there, in his sweaty bandana, stood the almost 6-foot man to do it.

Cody Hawkins had 15 minutes to climb out of a hole that would ruin the Buffs 2009 season.

It was our last hope. It was head coach Dan Hawkins’ last prayer and athletic director Mike Bohn’s last hair.

It was now or never.

So they went with the Hail Mary out of the no-huddle offense, but in the end, it was only a Hail No. As time expired, the Buffs found themselves as 16-point losers against the microscopic college of the Toledo Rockets.

But we have excuses. Bohn, Hawkins, we all do. So just don’t do anything crazy yet.

First, Toledo was very physical. And they were more athletic too. Wide receiver Eric Page soiled the Buffs secondary with three catches for 138 yards. That’s just unfair. The Buffs needed to meet him with wet cement and a walk in a humidor if they ever planned on stopping him. I mean come on, it’s not like we let this one slip away. The faster, stronger, more athletic team won — Toledo.

Hold on, I lost my train of thought…

So all in all, Toledo, out of the Mid-American Conference, has better players than a Big 12 Conference team. The very idea of this makes you re-taste your lunch, doesn’t it?

The Buffs’ players looked like those of a high school team compared to Toledo. Friday, we were a team with a healthy mix of petrified coaches and clueless players. Twice in the first half, Hawkins had a fourth-and-three on Toledo’s side of the field and like McDonald’s eggs, he seemed like he had already been beaten days upon days earlier.

He even settled for a 25-yard pooch punt instead of trusting his team against a MAC school, and this was not the first game we saw a coach with such little confidence. Down by 13 with less than six minutes to play against Colorado State last week, Hawkins decides to punt the game away — a game in which CU ran out of time.

But as a Buffs fan, are you just gonna give up just because times are tough?

No.

Sure, we all remember four years ago. The Buffaloes and Bohn, the new athletic director at the time, hired Hawkins to replace Gary Barnett.

This is the same Barnett that led this program to four out of five Big 12 North division titles from 2001-2005, a Fiesta Bowl appearance and a Big 12 championship — feats Hawkins can’t even see with a telescope.

Hawkins’ CU resume began with consecutive losses against Division I-AA Montana State and to the remaining shambles of a terrible 2006 Colorado State team.

But a lot has changed in less than four years. We not only rid the program of scandals, but victories, too.

Oh, this isn’t helping you is it? Boy, this isn’t even helping me.

In times of gut-wrenching defeat, even the slightest gleam of light can bring hope to a class of fans that have fallen so hard.

Darrell Scott averaged over seven yards a carry on a defensive line that seemed dominant most of the game. Hopefully, his 12 carries on that terrible Friday night can only increase and save this team from the gutters of, thus far, a nightmarish season.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Brent Wilson New at Brent.New@colorado.edu.