BOULDER — As they prepared for tonight’s game against Oklahoma State, CU players said they can’t be concerned about a cloud of uncertainty hanging over coach Dan Hawkins’ future.
“The rain doesn’t fall on us,” senior safety Benjamin Burney said after a practice this week. “I know there are outside influences putting pressure, and stuff like that. But we really don’t feel that stuff.”
Burney expects the Buffs to play looser even though they are 18-point underdogs to the No. 12 Cowboys.
“What do we have to lose now?” Burney said. “You don’t have to worry about winning the Big 12 North or going to a bowl. What’ve you got to worry about?”
Senior tight end Riar Geer, one of three team captains, said he has not heard anybody on the team talking about Hawkins’ job security.
“If there is a coaching change, so be it,” Geer said. “If not, that would even be better for us.”
They’re fast too.
Much of the credit for OSU’s renaissance under coach Mike Gundy points to game-breaking offensive players, led by quarterback Zac Robinson. But the OSU defense will be as athletic as any that Colorado faces, Buffs wide receiver Markques Simas said.
“They say, ‘Speed kills,’ and their defense has a lot of speed,” Simas said. “We’re going to really have to focus and execute.”
Speed bump.
If a football pops and deflates tonight, it probably would be because tailback Rodney “Speedy” Stewart gripped it too tightly. Stewart took last weekend’s 17-10 loss at Iowa State hard. He lost two fumbles.
“He was really down after that game; he was crying,” sophomore QB Tyler Hansen said. “But he’s working hard. He told me, ‘I’m never going to fumble again.’ “
He’s a load.
OSU left tackle Russell Okung, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound senior, is the only offensive player among the 12 semifinalists for the 2009 Lombardi Award.
