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LINCICOME: Buffs appear to be on solid footing

By Bernie Lincicome, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 24, 2007 at 12:45 a.m.

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If the Colorado Buffaloes had fashioned a season with only wins over their main rivals at the front and the back, with an upset of Oklahoma in between, it would have been enough.

Anything better than two wins, especially over the right teams, would have goosed the Good Ship Hawkins forward, meaning both the coach and the son, and if the season was better than acceptable, as well as less than it might have been, CU football is upright and in motion.

"From the outhouse to the penthouse," said CU coach Dan Hawkins.

Well, more like the mezzanine, really, but with running water. That's what a drubbing of Nebraska will do, exaggerate it all, make 65-51 a justification for everything from hope to arrogance, and the Buffs have been lacking both.

"We took it too 'em," chortled CU running back Hugh Charles. "We knew we had 'em in the bag."

Well, it certainly was a very big bag, considering that 51 is a whole lot of points to stuff into one piece of luggage.

It was more survival than dominance for CU, more a slap in the Big Red face than a punch in the nose, and a lot of that did come late when the Buffs were impatient to get on with the celebration, to consider who might ask a 6-6 team to their bowl.

"I certainly hope someone thinks we're deserving," said Hawkins.

And if it costs Nebraska coach Bill Calla- han his job, even that is not all to the good for in simple course direction, Callahan has taken the Huskers exactly the opposite from where Hawkins seems to be taking the Buffs.

The quirk of timing is that, if CU can now consider itself to have a better upside than Nebraska, about to retrench with Tom Osborne in charge, while these two were wallowing, Kansas and Missouri have passed them both in the Big 12 North.

"This may be the favorite team of all of them I've had," said Hawkins, "all they've gone through and how they've stepped forth. We're young, we were banged up, we had guys in and out, an unbelievably tough schedule, but we've come through."

This was a day to verify those feelings. In a first half that looked like nothing more than the usual Nebraska wipeout of CU, the Buffs defense played like it had too much tryptophan in its Thanksgiving turkey.

But two interceptions and a blocked punt in the third quarter led to a run of 34 straight points, giving the Buffs a distance Nebraska could not close. It was almost as if the teams had changed uniforms at the half, the solid black-clad Buffs switching with the Huskers, dressed in bridal white.

Though, it was obviously not true since Nebraska continued to wear its ridiculous red-toed shoes, something between clown feet and bowling rentals.

The second-half evaporation by Nebraska was not unlike Colorado's own collapse against Iowa State, one of maybe three more victories the Buffs could have had.

They led Kansas and Florida State was ripe, and a 9-3 record certainly would signify better only what can be guessed at, that the foundation seems solid, the coach is an asset and the future is encouraging.

"You win two games and then you win six games and next year you're gonna win 10," said Hawkins, taking the natural progression by fours.

It was a day when no number really made sense. Over 1,100 yards of offense, and the team with 610 of those was the loser. Nebraska scored 21 of its 35 halftime points in 2:19, which averages out to a touchdown every 45 seconds or so.

"I thought we were going to score 70," said Nebraska linebacker Bo Ruud, and they would have needed almost all of them.

The 116 points were the most points scored in a game in a rivalry that goes back to the Spanish-American War, and if CU has just now managed to avoid losing only 20 out of 66 times, that only makes these occasions more special.

"It's just awesome to get a win against Nebraska," said CU quarterback Cody Hawkins, as if this were not the first, or the last.

Clearly, the unusual arrangement of the son playing quarterback for the head coach has worked out well enough, and if young Hawkins never gets any better than he is, he will be good enough for another three years.

He should get better because the talent around him will get better. And they will all get older together. Only five seniors started the final game and this year a dozen or so freshmen have started games, not the least of which is Hawkins himself.

Personifying the action were the repeated collisions between Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky and CU linebacker Jeff Smart.

On this day, it was better to be Smart than Lucky.

Days to come, too.

Comments

  • November 25, 2007

    11:10 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    OCBUFFCA writes:

    I believe in coach Hawk.

    Buffs are up and coming, believe that.

  • November 26, 2007

    4:13 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Norm writes:

    Up & coming yes, with a foundation, (quarterback) but the next 2 recruiting years will determine how good they can become. Go for it Buffs!