Boulder – When Colorado coach Dan Hawkins puts an offense on the field, he expects points to be scored in bunches.
That wasn’t the case Saturday in CU’s spring football game.
There was an offense on the field, but it was stifled time and again by poor blocking and a defense ahead on the ladder of progress. The defense forced nine three-and-outs in the offense’s first 12 drives and finished with 10.
“It’s always a double-edged sword when you scrimmage yourself because one group usually does well and the other group doesn’t do well,” Hawkins said.
The offense scored two touchdowns in 21 drives, with those scores coming after the ball was placed on the defense’s 25-yard line. Receiver Stephone Robinson scored on a 6-yard end- around, and quarterback Bernard Jackson completed a 5-yard pass to fullback Samson Jagoras.
“Offensively, we didn’t turn the ball over, and that’s a big deal,” Hawkins said. “But I’m used to scoring a lot of points, so when (I) don’t see the ball in the end zone I start ticking a little bit.
“We’ve got something to build on going into the summer. We’ll continue to get a lot better.”
QB competition open
Hawkins said the scrimmage yielded no clear leader in the quarterback competition between Jackson and Brian White. Jackson finished 4-of-8 for 28 yards with a touchdown, and White completed 10-of-24 passes for 102 yards. Jackson ran 10 times for a game-high 60 yards.
Jackson said he should have thrown the ball more.
“I scramble too much. That’s my problem, I think,” Jackson said. “I need to be patient within the offense and kind of let things open up and not just resort to running.”
White wasn’t available for comment.
Footnotes
Players will report to preseason camp on the evening of Aug. 6, Hawkins said. Practice will start the next day. … About 100 recruits were on hand, most of them juniors in high school for CU’s “Junior Day.”
