Colorado Buffaloes 2006 Football Preview:

Art of the Hawk

After searching through what little data I could find about this year’s Colorado, I have to ask a simple question. Is Colorado too often taken for granted? Since 2000, they’ve owned the North, with only Nebraska battling to a .500 record against them. In that time they’ve seen four bowls, with one trip to the Fiesta, captured the North division crown four times, and the conference title outright in 2001. Granted, the success of those years can be attributed to a tremendous slide in the North. After all, the 10-3 record they posted to win the conference in 2001 is the best they’ve been able to put together since 1996 and three of those division titles came in years they lost five games or more.

Because of the way Gary Barnett drove the program into the ground to end the 2005 season, former Boise State head coach Dan Hawkins was brought in to recreate the program. So how can this team improve on a North division title from last year? Placement wise, they can’t—this year. Hawkins has the tools to get by for a couple of years and hopefully rebuild a recruiting pipeline that’s gone frighteningly dry.

His offense is always edgy and fashionable, combining old works of ground and pound with elements of contemporary features. The counter tre is run alongside the five wide quarterback draw. Speaking of quarterbacks, it’s a total mess in Boulder. With senior James Cox now the most likely candidate to take the helm, Buffs fans are more than a little bit worried they’ll just get more mediocre numbers from that position. The two backups, Bernard Jackson and Brian White, are poised to take over the offense in the circumstance that Cox isn’t getting it done, and both are quite capable. The offensive line is circumspect and kept everyone on their toes during preseason workouts. The obvious leader of the group is senior Mark Fenton, a likely All Big 12 selection. Many of the returning starters are built for the ground game, and will require an about-face in doctrine before they can really make the offense work. Running backs Hugh Charles and Mell Holiday appear to be leading the charge in the rushing attack, with receivers Patrick Williams, Alvin Barnett and Blake Mackey appearing to be the most likely as the downfield options. Look for Stephone Robinson and Dusty Sprague to exert a little influence in the passing game as well, with both possessing game breaking speed to open up the field.

The defense is built around shining star and tackle factory Thaddeus Washington. He’s flanked by one of the most versatile linebackers in the country in Jordan Dizon, who is small for a run stopper, but gets the job done just the same. To the strong side is sophomore Brad Jones, a rangy and speedy play maker. While smaller in stature, this unit of linebackers is active and versatile, able to stop the pass with the same tenacity they utilize on run defense.

The defensive line is facing all kinds of problems. They don’t have the size to stop the power running game, but they’re very limited in pass rushing options with only Abraham Wright coming into the season with five sacks on his stat sheet. The secondary is experienced and dangerous with a wide variety of coverage skills and sure fire speed. Lorenzo Sims, Terrence Wheatley, Gardner McKay and Terry Washington will all split time at corner with JJ Billingsley and Ryan Walters occupying the safety positions.

Kickers aren’t something I bring up often, but in the case of Mason Crosby, I’ll make an exception. He passed on a lucrative kicker deal in the NFL to come back for another year and Boulder, and no doubt he’s expecting that shot at 70 yards before he leaves. Talk all you want about Rocky Mountain air, Crosby has a hip like a cannon—and he’s in the running for punting responsibilities.

Looking through the schedule, one might wonder why Colorado AD Mike Bohn insists on playing a national title contender in every preseason schedule. Last year it was Miami at Miami. This year it’s Georgia at Georgia. Colorado State is a game that always has the potential to turn ugly both on the field AND in the stands. A home entanglement with Arizona State is always dangerous and then you get to conference. They take a trip to Missouri and then face Baylor and Texas Tech at home, with no pushovers in the bunch. They’re on the road in Norman and then on to Lawrence, only to return home for another two game homestand against Kansas State and Iowa State. They get to follow that up with a trip to Nebraska. Is there a more suicidal schedule in the country than the one laid out before the Buffalo (or is it buffaloes)? If they came out of this schedule with a decent bowl, they’d be lucky. Factor in a new coach, a new quarterback, a new system altogether and they’ll be lucky to win four games. I’ll take the middle ground and say Colorado wins six or seven and gets into a mid level bowl. It could just as easily go either way north or south of that, though. If Hawkins comes in and really motivates these players to go above what they expect of themselves, as he’s done so many times with his teams in Boise, they could do as well as 10-2. If the gameplans don’t come together and Hawkins can’t adjust quickly to big time college football, they could go 1-11. Either way, watching what happens in Boulder should be entertaining this season, reagardless of what you’re hoping to see happen.