CU report: RB Scott's time has arrived

By B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 5, 2008 at 10:14 p.m.
Updated November 5, 2008 at 10:14 p.m.

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He Said It

"You guys noticed all that little fat's gone from around his face? He's a thoroughbred now."

Darian Hagan, on Darrell Scott slimming down to 202 from a reporting weight of 228 pounds.

Numbers Game

98-yard drive against Texas A&M was CU's longest since 2003, when the Buffaloes drove the same distance in a 16-14 win against UCLA.

BOULDER - Ready or not, with three games remaining in his freshman season, Darrell Scott and his position coach believe Scott's time has arrived.

In truth, neither of them has much choice.

With leading rusher Rodney "Speedy" Stewart out because of a broken leg, Scott could find himself as "the guy" in the Buffaloes backfield.

But running backs coach Darian Hagan says that tag isn't as important to Scott as "getting some carries, some confidence and contributing.

"Now, he doesn't have the luxury of limping around, saying, 'I can't go' on certain plays because 'Speedy' is not here. Now, I don't care if (Scott) can't go. Get your butt in there and roll.

"That's going to teach him as a running back, you're never, ever going to be healthy. And once he realizes that, he'll be fine. He'll realize it this weekend."

Scott doesn't have time to dwell on a recurring ankle injury or knee and groin problems that slowed him earlier in the season.

"I've got to roll. . . . I can't think about it because I'm 'the guy,' " he said. "We've just got to crank out two more wins (for bowl eligibility). That's our mission."

Through nine games, Scott has carried 66 times for 257 yards and one touchdown. His 42-yard run Saturday at Texas A&M was CU's longest play from scrimmage this season.

Buck stops there

CU's secondary had prided itself in weekly improvement, even climbing to the top of the Big 12 Conference's pass defense statistics.

The Buffaloes remain there, allowing 213.7 passing yards a game. But after yielding three third-quarter touchdown passes in the 24-17 loss at Texas A&M, CU's defensive backs aren't celebrating.

"That's tough to erase . . . it's in the backs of our minds," junior cornerback Cha'pelle Brown said. "We take it upon ourselves as DBs that we lost that game.

"There's a lot of other things that happened, but we gave up too many big plays in the third quarter."

Brown said most of the errors were in technique: "All that happened was they made plays and we didn't."

Hawkins on Prince

Coach Dan Hawkins said Kansas State's firing of third-year coach Ron Prince "doesn't make sense, but the more this thing goes, the wackier a profession it gets. The day you expect it to make common sense, it's not going to. . . . It's unfortunately the nature of the business."

Prince, 16-18 in two-plus seasons at Kansas State, entered the Big 12 Conference at the same time as Hawkins, whose record during the same span is 12-22.

Prince's teams were 2-1 against CU, defeating the Buffs 34-21 in 2006 and 47-20 in 2007. The Buffs beat the Wildcats 14-13 on Oct. 18.

Doubly bummed

Redshirt freshman receiver/punt returner Jason Espinoza is out - again.

And again it's because of a broken collarbone - the same break that sidelined him for the season's first month.

Espinoza, of Alamosa, suffered the second break during practice Tuesday.

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