DENVER—Steve Fairchild realizes that starting a quarterback just a few months removed from his high school prom means the Colorado State Rams will have to go through some growing pains.
He just hopes Pete Thomas can also provide plenty of highs against archrival Colorado, which brings more experience into the annual Rocky Mountain Showdown at Invesco Field on Saturday.
“He will need a little help from the guys around him,” Fairchild said. “They need to be playing well. We’ll be all right. There will be some ups and downs. I think a new quarterback is always going to encounter some highs and lows as he gains experience. That’s just part of the deal.”
Thomas, one of the top-rated pro style quarterbacks in the nation last year, is 6-foot-5 and weighs 218 pounds. He threw for 5,553 yards, 52 TDs and 11 interceptions in his final two years at Valhalla High School in El Cajon, Calif.
The Buffaloes, who are still seeking their first winning season since Gary Barnett was replaced by Dan Hawkins as coach in 2006, aren’t exactly looking at Thomas as an easy target.
The lack of college game film means they’ll be seeing what he can do firsthand.
“We prepare just like we prepare for any other quarterback,” senior Buffs pass-rusher Marquez Herrod said. “We’re not going to say ‘Oh, he’s young and inexperienced,’ or anything like that, because we don’t know. If anything, he brings more of a wild-card fact. The only thing we have to scout on him is high school.
“So, for all we know he could have been killing it in camp, we have no idea. Coming into it we definitely don’t think, ‘Oh, freshman quarterback, we’re going to get after this guy.'”
Both teams are coming off 3-9 seasons.
The only salve for the Rams last year was their 23-17 win in the opener over the Buffaloes in Boulder.
Watching the Rams and their fans party at Folsom Field is an image that’s burned into the Buffs’ minds.
“I have a picture above my bed of that,” Herrod said. “I think of it every single day. It’s disrespectful and it bothers me very much and gives me that much more fuel to come out here and make sure that doesn’t happen again. It doesn’t really matter to me where it is. We could be in the back yard, but I just want to go out there and play these guys.”
This will mark the first time in four years that Cody Hawkins, the coach’s son, won’t start at quarterback against Colorado State. He was supplanted by junior Tyler Hansen at midseason last year.
Still, Cody Hawkins was named a co-captain and plans to provide plenty of support from the sideline, just like his dad.
“I think there’s a lot I can offer for this team, whether it’s being a captain or just controlling things from the sidelines or just getting a lot of input and feedback to Tyler,” Cody Hawkins said.
Cody Hawkins, who redshirted his first year before taking over the Buffs’ offense, also will keep a keen eye on the Rams’ starting quarterback Saturday because he’s eager to see how Thomas does in his debut.
“I couldn’t imagine playing as a true freshman. Luckily for me I had a redshirt year,” Cody Hawkins said. “I think Pete, from what I’ve heard, is a great kid and he works hard. Fairchild knows what he’s doing, so if he’s going to put in a true freshman, then he’s got to be a dang good player.”
Hansen played his first year at Boulder but not until midseason, so he has an inkling of what Thomas will be going through.
“It’s exciting for him, it’s something new. For me it was a little nervous. The week was a little hectic,” Hansen said. “It will be fun for him. I look forward to talking to him after the game, kind of picking his brain a little bit and see what he thought about it.”
Thomas said he was calm during the week as his debut approached.
“I’ll just try to stay level-headed and try not to get too excited,” he said.
Actually, Hansen may be the quarterback under more pressure this season.
While athletic director Mike Bohn has praised Dan Hawkins for cleaning up a program tarnished by scandal, he said progress has to show on the scoreboard this year. And as the starting quarterback, that puts Hansen squarely in the spotlight Saturday as he tries to get the Buffs’ season off to a good start.
“If we could get a win and then go to Cal and get a win, a road win finally, I feel like we can really get this thing going and we can get some momentum,” Hansen said.
