Boulder – Teams ran the football in the WAC. Dan Hawkins ran the football when he was the coach at Boise State.
So why does nobody think he did?
Among the queries most consistently asked of Hawkins, now the coach at Colorado, is: Will he run the football?
A “gotcha!” question was asked of him one sunny day after a preseason practice: “If you could do just one thing, run or pass, what would you do?”
He said run, and good thing. Get that one wrong in Big 12 country and he might not have liked the result in the next day’s print.
“One guy came up to me and said, ‘Well, I just want to know if we’re going to have a high-powered running attack, like we had when Coach Mac was here,”‘ Hawkins said, referring to Bill McCartney’s tenure from 1982-94. “And I said, ‘What is that?’ And he goes, ‘A power running attack.’ And I said, ‘Well, you describe it to me.’
“He said, ‘You’re the coach.’ And I said: ‘You’re telling me what you want. You tell me what you want and I’ll tell you if we got it.”‘
Running the football is the door-opener to the main issue everyone wants to talk about around CU football. Will all of that wide-open stuff Hawkins got away with in the Western Athletic Conference work in the Big 12? You know, where the big boys come to play football.
Hawk has an answer.
“If you look at what really goes on offensively in the Big 12, and for people to go ‘Will the stuff that works in the WAC work in the Big 12?’ Well, guess what. A lot of that stuff that the Big 12 is running is the same stuff that the WAC is running,” he said. “So that’s why I think it’s always interesting when you have those kinds of correlations.
“Because it’s not like they’re doing things different schematically in the Big 12 than they do in other conferences.”
In fact, the Big 12 is becoming more spread out, pass-happy and less predictable each season. But this is the offensive legacy that Hawkins has to live up to, and, he hopes, transfers over:
His teams never have been shut out in his career as head coach.
Boise State scored 40 or more points in 37 of his 64 games as head coach.
Boise State scored 50 or more points 19 times and 20 or more 59 times.
The Broncos averaged a nation-high 41.6 points per game from 2001-05.
Boise State won 28 games by 25 or more points, and 43 games by double figures.
And it was done in a variety of sneaky, unconventional and imaginative ways. Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter faced a similar transition when he moved from Boise State to Tempe, Ariz., in 2001. His was a bumpy road. His team went 4-7 in his first season while he finagled with what would work and what wouldn’t in the Pac-10.
“You can make a case for ‘football is football,”‘ Koetter said. “But I think when you step up in conference, everybody is faster, or everybody has got better and faster players. And I would say that chances are, as you step up, in any major BCS league, you’re going to see defenses that are a little bit more sophisticated and probably throw a little more at you.”
But, he said, that doesn’t mean all out-of- the-box thinking has to be lost. “I think there’s plenty of room for imagination,” Koetter said.
Just as long as it isn’t too far-fetched. First-year Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy came out of the box in Big 12 play last year with guns blazing – shotguns, that is. Cowboys wide receivers were lined up three-deep directly behind each other. Motion was all over the place.
It resulted in a 34-0 loss and a measly 208 total yards against Colorado. When Gundy scaled back some of the craziness, the Cowboys became more competitive, losing close games to Missouri and Texas Tech.
Meanwhile, it took just four plays into CU’s first preseason scrimmage for Hawkins to run a halfback pass – that ended in an interception. He clearly will not be afraid to push the limit.
“I think football is football, a scheme is a scheme. If you tell a guy to run a ‘Go,’ they run a ‘Go,”‘ CU defensive end Abraham Wright said. “This offense that he’s bringing over, he says he’s proven it in high school, Division II, Division I-AA, then Division I-A. He’s proven it every step. This is just another step, a small step that he’s taking.”
The players are on board. No one said they had any concerns about how well Hawkins’ schemes and philosophy would translate from the WAC to the Big 12.
“I’ve never really doubted it,” center Mark Fenton said. “We’ve played some of those teams before, and they’ve put up points against us. We’re a Big 12 team.”
CU offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich was with Koetter at Arizona State from 2001-05. Now, he’s helping Hawkins bring Boise State success to Boulder. It’s his belief that Hawkins – and CU – will be just fine.
“Nobody here invented the offense,” Helfrich said. “Nobody’s saying it’s the greatest thing ever. But it’s certainly flexible enough to give us a fighting chance.”
Eye on the Buffaloes
Coach: Dan Hawkins, first year
2005 record: 7-6 (5-3 Big 12); Champs Sports Bowl loss, 19-10, to Clemson.
What’s new: What isn’t? Buffs have a new head coach, coaching staff and quarterback, and a renewed attitude.
What to look for: Imagination. Buffs may not win most games while they get on their feet in a new system, but with a staff not afraid to think out of the box, CU figures to be fun to watch nonetheless.
Dempsey predicts: 6-6. There will be booms and busts. Talent should get Buffs to a low-level bowl.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
QB James Cox: Second-chance starter. Intangibles won him the starting job.
WR Blake Mackey: Senior playmaker back after ACL surgery in 2005. May be CU’s best deep threat.
LB Thaddaeus Washington: One of the Big 12’s best linebackers; leader of CU’s defense.
S Ryan Walters: Hard-hitting sophomore with big upside.
K Mason Crosby: Shunned NFL riches for senior season. Arguably nation’s best place-kicker.
2006 SCHEDULE
Sept. 2 Montana State 1:30 p.m.
Sept. 9 *Colorado State 3 p.m.
Sept. 16 Arizona State 5 p.m.
Sept. 23 at Georgia TBA
Sept. 30 at Missouri TBA
Oct. 7 Baylor TBA
Oct. 14 Texas Tech TBA
Oct. 21 at Oklahoma TBA
Oct. 28 at Kansas TBA
Nov. 4 Kansas State TBA
Nov. 11 Iowa State TBA
Nov. 24 at Nebraska 1:30 p.m.
*- at Invesco Field at Mile High
KEY GAME | SEPT. 16 VS. ARIZONA STATE
First chance to really see what Buffs can be made of; Arizona State is a legitimate top-25 team.
Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
