BOULDER, Colo.—Colorado coach Dan Hawkins yanked his starting quarterback last weekend in the hopes of providing a spark. He insisted he hasn’t pulled his support.
Tyler Hansen will remain the starting quarterback against Baylor on Saturday, but history suggests that decision could be tenuous.
For two years, Hansen has been flip-flopping with Hawkins’ son, Cody, and sharing snaps under center. This season was going to be different after Hansen won the job out of camp and Dan Hawkins vowed not to give him a quick hook.
With the Buffs trailing 19-0 at Missouri, Dan Hawkins pulled Hansen near the end of the third quarter in favor of Cody Hawkins. But Hansen wasn’t the culprit for the Buffaloes’ poor play and Cody Hawkins couldn’t ignite the team as they fell 26-0.
Hansen’s teammates don’t believe there’s yet another quarterback job share under way in Boulder.
“This is Tyler’s team and he’s the leader,” receiver Scotty McKnight said. “He’s the starter. He’s taking all the snaps and there is no controversy here with the quarterbacks. Tyler is the guy.”
Hansen’s benching was a shocker. He had just led the Buffaloes (3-2, 0-1 Big 12) to back-to-back come-from-behind wins over Hawaii, when he engineered a 31-point second half, and Georgia.
The multitude of problems at Missouri had very little to do with Hansen and yet he took the brunt with the benching.
“Nothing was Tyler’s fault. It wasn’t like Tyler got pulled because he wasn’t managing the offense or all the blame is on Tyler Hansen,” McKnight said. “It was as a whole. … Tyler is a confident kid. No question. I just talked to him and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got a lot of work to do this week.'”
Hansen is the unquestioned leader of the offense, showing his allegiance by burning potential redshirt years in 2008 and ’09 when he was called on to step in when the offense struggled under Cody Hawkins.
He’s shared reps the last two seasons as Dan Hawkins went back and forth between playing his heady son, who is now a senior, and Hansen, a junior who can make things happen with his speed when plays break down.
Asked what Cody Hawkins entering the game at Missouri possibly intimated about the state of the offense, McKnight simply answered, “I don’t think it says a lot.”
“I talked to Tyler about it just to kind of see how he is doing. He seems OK,” McKnight said. “I’m comfortable playing with both of those guys and I know both can be productive.
“As a receiver, and I think we all feel the same way, we just really worry about doing our job and catching the ball and trying to make plays and better this offense.”
The Buffaloes will tweak their offense against Baylor (4-2, 1-1), more out of necessity than anything. They lost running back Brian Lockridge for the season to an ankle injury and will move receiver Will Jefferson into the backfield to help spell leading rusher Rodney Stewart. Jefferson was a dual receiver/running back threat in high school.
“It’s actually going back to what’s more natural for me,” said Jefferson, who has six catches for 74 yards this season. “It doesn’t bother me at all.”
The Buffaloes will face a Bears team led by their electric quarterback Robert Griffin III, who has had a hand in 19 of the Bears’ 22 offensive scores this season. Griffin’s play-making ability reminds Dan Hawkins of former Iowa State quarterback Seneca Wallace.
“He’s kind of that same sort of guy that you think, ‘Oh, this guy is a runner’ and then you put on the film and watch all the great throws he made,” Hawkins said. “He has been very productive and they do a nice job with him.”
The Bears are coming off a 45-38 loss to Texas Tech last weekend in which Griffin passed for a career-high 384 yards and accounted for four touchdowns.
Now, he’ll face a salty Buffaloes defense and a change in altitude.
“People are making a big deal out of the thin air. I’ve run up there before and yes the air is a factor, but we’re not running 400-meter hurdles; we’re running 5- to 10-yard sprints,” Griffin said. “It will be a little bit different. We’ll have to key in and be mentally tough out there, but it shouldn’t be a major factor in the outcome of the game.”
