Following another ugly loss outside the Centennial State, Scotty McKnight is ready to come back to Folsom Field.
“We love playing here – no question,” said McKnight after practice on Tuesday. “Not only because it’s our home stadium, but just the atmosphere around here. We can use it to get back on the right track.”
In the last three seasons, the Buffs are 0-13 away from home. Like a go-kart on the highway, this team looks over-matched on the road.
As a senior, McKnight has not won a game outside the state since his freshman year in 2007. That happened in Texas when they topped both Baylor and Texas Tech.
Oddly enough, the Buffs host those same two teams in consecutive weeks. There are two games which McKnight called “extremely important,” especially for his side of the ball.
“We know our defense will stand up to the challenge,” he said. “We just got to take that on our shoulders as an offense and put some points on the board.”
Points would be nice. In two losses, the Buffs were outscored 78-7. Both times the offense failed to eclipse 75 yards rushing while scoring a fifth of the time in the red zone.
Losing tailbacks Brian Lockridge to a season-ending injury and Justin Torres to homesickness open up the two spots behind Rodney Stewart. Coach Dan Hawkins said that sophomore receiver Will Jefferson will move in as the second-string back for now.
Jefferson, who played primarily running back in high school, admitted he’s more comfortable in that position.
“Receiver was something I learned,” he said. “Running back was something I’ve always done, so it’s going back to what is more natural.”
In the last two games at Folsom, Stewart and the backfield have run for a total of 487 yards.
If the team remains undefeated in the state but defeated out of state for the remainder of the season, they will still finish at 7-5 and qualify for a bowl game. Hawkins, who is now 2-22 on the road, would get to his second bowl game as CU’s headman.
But would it be enough to save his job?
That’s what makes this Saturday game against Baylor so important for their bowl chances. And it certainly will be no picnic when the 4-2 Bears come to Boulder.
Three years ago then-freshman Robert Griffin III did not delay his arrival into the college football scene by passing and running for a school-record 28 touchdowns.
Back then, he did it with his legs. Now he’s doing all the work with his arm. Griffin may be on pace to rush for nearly half the yards he accumulated that season, but at this rate he will nearly double his touchdowns and yards through the air.
“You think ‘oh this guy is a runner’ and then you put on the film and watch all the great throws he made,” Hawkins said. “And he is very talented and they’ve got a lot of good guys to give it to. I don’t see any limitations on him. When he wants to go, he can go.”
If Hawkins had Griffin at quarterback, there would probably be no need for him to shuffle his quarterbacks around. Son Cody replaced starter Tyler Hansen during the third quarter of the 26-0 loss to Missouri.
McKnight said he is “comfortable playing with both.”
“[Tyler’s] the starter – he’s taken all the snaps [this week in practice],” McKnight said. “There is no controversy here with the quarterbacks. Tyler’s the guy.”
Hansen was accurate, completing over 70 percent of his balls, but his offense did nothing in the red-zone. One drive that started at Missouri’s 13-yard line after a Buff turnover somehow ended up with zero points after negative yardage and a blocked field goal.
Just like in the loss to Cal, the inept offense put their defense on the spot. Though they gave up 24 points to Blaine Gabbert and Missouri (the other two came from a safety by the offense), they did well in forcing two turnovers and racking up four tackles for loss.
Rising junior Josh Hartigan tallied his third sack in two games, while also picking off Gabbert for his first career interception. Like McKnight, he said he cannot wait to play ball under the Flatirons.
When asked why his team does so poorly away from Boulder, Hartigan was frank in response.
“I don’t have an answer,” he said. “I think that we just need to figure out how to play every game like it’s at home. We need to come out with the same intensity. But there should be no excuse for playing any different on the road or at home.”
Hartigan will find it hard to get a fourth sack against the Bears’ front five. Baylor is first in the Big 12, giving up only one sack per game.
But then again, he and his fellow teammates are coming back home to Colorado, where they have won four of their last five games.
After a loss reporters usually ask Coach Hawkins the same question: “Is this next week’s game a must-win?”
Hawkins gave his usual response.
“We kind of look at every game like that,” Hawkins said. “Whether it’s the start of a season or on the road, or whatever it is, we try to scratch and claw every week to get one more point than the other team.”
The words came out slower than before as Hawkins talked with a tired look on his face. He answered a final question about the quarterback situation while looking straight ahead. Then he rose from his chair and walked away, doing it all without any visible energy left in him.
Kickoff for the Buffs-Bears showdown is scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday at Folsom Field.
Contact CU Independent Football Reporter Michael Krumholtz at Michael.krumholtz@colorado.edu.
