LAWRENCE, Kan. — Moments after Colorado’s 30-14 loss to 16th-ranked Kansas, Buffaloes coach Dan Hawkins put to rest any notion that a quarterback controversy might be looming.
“Cody will start,” Hawkins said of CU’s home game Saturday against Kansas State.
Cody Hawkins had another tough day, completing 8-for-22 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown, with two interceptions. His numbers would have been a tad better had senior wide receiver Cody Crawford not allowed an on-target pass to be stolen from his grasp at the Kansas 4-yard line in the first quarter — a turnover recorded as an interception.
Redshirt freshman Matt Ballen- ger played CU’s last three series. He completed 5-for-8 passes for 57 yards but was sacked twice and failed to move the team into scoring position before time ran out.
“Matt is a great player,” Cody Hawkins said. “Right there, we had lost a little bit of momentum. Matt deserves a shot. We just want to see what he can do. He works hard every week. He deserves to get on the field.”
Said Ballenger: “It was fun to get in. But we didn’t play as well as I would have liked.”
Rough go for the blue-chipper.
At the midway point of the season, freshman tailback Darrell Scott has just 156 yards rushing through six games. Some CU fans might have expected Scott, rated by Internet recruiting sites as the nation’s top high school running back last fall, to be among the Big 12’s best rushers by now.
Bothered by an ankle injury suffered a week earlier against Texas, Scott drew just one carry Saturday — an up-the-middle run to open CU’s second possession. He gained 4 yards and then remained on the sideline.
Scott hyperextended a knee against Eastern Washington and was slowed by a groin strain during August drills.
“Darrell Scott is not healthy,” running backs coach Darian Hagan said, when asked about the bum ankle. “Until he gets healthy, he can’t help us. Somehow, some way, we have to get that guy going. . . . When the freshman wakes up, he’ll wake up.”
Said Scott: “I should be able to bounce back next week.”
Footnotes.
A bright spot for CU: just two penalties. . . . With 77 yards against Kansas, freshman Rodney Stewart upped his season total to 453, already fifth-most for a freshman season in CU history. . . . The 11-yard TD reception by Crawford in the first quarter was his first career score. . . . No serious injuries were reported by CU.
Tom Kensler, The Denver Post
