Boulder – About a minute into his explanation about why being detailed and organized and working smarter was important, Colorado coach Dan Hawkins is fist-pounding a table in the Dal Ward Center cafeteria. Really giving it a beating.
OK. Point made.
To the media.
But the media don’t execute Hawkins’ offense. If the Buffaloes are going to get untracked Saturday against Colorado State, they’ll have to absorb Hawkins’ message much better than they did last Saturday. A shocking 19-10 loss to Division I-AA Montana State in Hawkins’ first game as CU coach has the heat on his offense.
Colorado’s challenge starts up front. Improved play by the offensive line would allow the Buffs to become more efficient overall. Hawkins stresses that any improvement starts with doing the little things that make each play successful. Doing the little things requires a better understanding of what’s being taught by a first-year staff.
“When you’ve got those five guys, they’ve just got to be on the same page,” said Hawkins of his offensive line. “If one guy doesn’t get it right, it makes the rest of them not look very good.
“It’s a state of being a little bit more exact, communicate a little bit more and working on a few more things. I think we’re close, but close is not very good when it comes to the O-line.”
It’s also not very comforting when factoring in that CSU held its first opponent, Weber State, to minus-38 yards rushing.
“Their front seven played pretty good, from what we saw on the film,” CU center Mark Fenton said. “A lot of interior linemen were making plays. If you can’t block the front four, you’re not going to have a good running game. We have to eliminate that.”
Conversely, Colorado’s running game was as sluggish as its passing attack. It’s not all doom-and-gloom, as the two principal ballcarriers, Hugh Charles and Mell Holliday, combined to average 5.0 yards per carry against Montana State. But the explosiveness wasn’t there.
“We had chances to break a couple of long ones, but it just didn’t happen,” Fenton said. “We can’t have 10 people doing one thing and one person running loose. Every week there’s an emphasis on the run, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Just details.”
Said Holliday, who had 50 yards on 12 carries: “I know the coaches, as well as every individual running back, wanted more from their performance. We just have to be more relentless. … We have to have more variation in plays, too.
“When we start seeing a few plays that worked (against Montana State) we kept going back to them until they ended up stopping those. We didn’t have too much variety in run plays. We have the variety; we just didn’t show it. Then, we just have to blow people off the ball. That’s the main thing.
“We can’t have them penetrating against us when we know we’re supposed to be moving forward.”
Whether CU can hold off CSU’s front four, and open the holes, and free up the offense, depends on how well the players have learned their lessons this week.
“It’s just a re-emphasizing of some techniques,” Hawkins said. “Going, ‘Guys, there’s a reason why we practice this. There’s a reason why we do it, and we need to do it on Saturday.’ Those are those moments that you have to work through.”
Staff writer Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
Colorado vs. Colorado St.
Kickoff: 3 p.m. Saturday at Invesco Field at Mile High
TV: CSTV, OLN
Radio: KOA 850 AM, ESPN 560 AM
Matchup
Quarterbacks
With his seventh career start, CSU’s Caleb Hanie is a poised veteran who also can pick up yards on the run. Colorado senior James Cox has caught the coaches’ eye in practice, but hasn’t translated that into a game. He has struggled in his past two starts for CU. Edge: CSU
Running backs
If Kyle Bell hadn’t torn his ACL, this would go in CSU’s favor. Both teams are operating by committee, and neither has an imposing ground game. Hugh Charles, who’s nursing an elbow injury, had a big second half against CSU last year. He averaged 7.0 yards per carry last week against Montana State. Edge: Even
Receivers/tight ends
CSU’s David Anderson has graduated, and senior Dustin Osborn is out with an ankle sprain, but the Rams have four quality wideouts led by big-play threat Damon Morton. H-back Kory Sperry is an additional weapon. Colorado has an up-and-coming star in sophomore Patrick Williams, a steady hand in Dusty Sprague and big-play potential in Alvin Barnett. Edge: CSU
Offensive line
Buffs have two postseason award candidates in guard Brian Daniels and center Mark Fenton. The tackles are solid with Edwin Harrison and Tyler Polumbus, but injuries have right guard a bit unsettled. Rams have standout in left tackle Clint Oldenburg, but the line will be reshuffled from last week with right guard Adrian Martinez’s first career start. Edge: CU
Defensive line
Both sides have standouts at the ends with CU seniors Abraham Wright and Walter Boye-Doe and CSU’s Jesse Nading. But the Buffs lack experience inside, where the Rams have a three-man active rotation of Blake Smith, Matt Rupp and Erik Sandie. Edge: CSU
Linebackers
Arguably, the strength of CU’s defense is here with honors candidates Thaddaeus Washington and Jordon Dizon. CSU’s contingent, led by Jeff Horinek, is much improved. Edge: CU
Secondary
Colorado has a ton of experience and depth, led by safety J.J. Billingsley. Terrence Wheatley is the team’s speediest, most instinctive corner, and Ryan Walters is a head-knocker. Darryl Williams and Klint Kubiak lead a solid, if not spectacular, CSU secondary. Edge: CU
Special teams
Two words: Mason Crosby. He has owned CSU the past two years. Rams’ only special-teams advantage is with punter Jimmie Kaylor. Edge: CU
Coaches
CSU’s Sonny Lubick joked this week how his tenure has outlasted the past three CU coaches. The Rams were outcoached in crunch time the past three years, but this is now the Hawk era. Lubick can’t touch Dan Hawkins in the skydiving department, but the CSU staff does know how to put away a Division I-AA team. Edge: CSU
Intangibles
CSU’s week was marred Wednesday when three players, including ace cornerback Robert Herbert, were charged with bank fraud. To minimize the effect on the team, the remaining players initially were barred from talking to the media until after the game. But it has been a huge distraction. How that plays out Saturday remains to be seen. All CU has had to do is fend off questions about how the team plans to fix its season-opening loss. Edge: CU
– Chris Dempsey and Natalie Meisler
