Buffs, NU battle for bowl eligibility Page 1 of 2

Buffs, NU battle for bowl eligibility Today could be Callahan's last game with Huskers

By Kyle Ringo Camera Sports Writer Friday, November 23, 2007

It's been a wacky season, filled with upsets, surprises in the polls and traditional powers falling on hard times.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers visit Boulder today, and for the second time in five seasons they are led by a coaching staff that figures to coach its final game in Folsom Field in front of a national television audience (10 a.m., KMGH-Channel 7).

Former NU coach was fired after the 2003 rivalry game here, giving way to coach Bill Callahan, who has been under fire for two months for his team's poor performance.

Next to Notre Dame, no other tradition-rich program has suffered more this fall in a season that will be remembered as one of the most unpredictable of the modern era. As bad as it's been for the Cornhuskers, they still have a chance to earn bowl eligibility with a victory today. It would be the 38th season in the past 39 the program has qualified for a bowl.

Nebraska's fall fits well into this did-you-see-that season. It is coming off a victory over Kansas State in which its offense scored 73 points in quarterback Joe Ganz's second start. The win was immediately preceded by a record-setting loss in which a once-proud defense known as the Blackshirts gave up an astonishing 76 points to Kansas.

While the Conrhuskers have been consistently defenseless since blowing out Nevada in the season opener, the Colorado Buffaloes have been a shining example of inconsistency. The Buffs have blamed much of their problems on youth and a lack of depth, and they must overcome those challenges again this morning on a day in which the senior class will be honored amid frigid temperatures and expected snowfall.CU, Nebraska and Kansas State all have five wins and need a victory to become bowl eligible. Two of the three could achieve that goal, meaning one would be left out of the postseason if the conference does not have two teams playing in BCS games.

CU also enters the game with a chance to earn a bowl berth and avoid the first back-to-back losing seasons in the past 23 years. But the Buffs are not exactly stampeding downhill into what could be a slugfest.

They have lost four of their past five games, forfeiting the momentum that had fans dreaming of Big 12 Championships and a after a midseason win over then-No. 3 Oklahoma. The Buffs are coming off a loss at Iowa State that served as a microcosm of the entire season. They surged to a 21-0 lead only to fall behind before a desperate rally fell short at the end.

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The common denominators in the four losses have been costly turnovers, surrendering big passing plays and an inability to stop the run. The Buffs have given up at least 169 yards on the ground in each of those four losses.

"Our game plan is always to stop the run," senior linebacker and Butkus Award candidate Jordon Dizon said. "We've struggled a little bit there these last four or five games. We've got to stop the run.

"We've been playing some good teams with great passing games and if you let them establish the run, it hurts you big time."

That will be true once again today. Nebraska features one of the conference's best tailbacks in Marlon Lucky and the Cornhuskers also have been challenging opponents down the field with an experienced receiving corps. They have completed 18 passes of 20 or more yards in the past two games.

The Buffs will be playing without senior All-Big 12 cornerback Terrence Wheatley, who has a broken foot, and they could be without safety Ryan Walters as well.

While CU must stop the run, it might be able to win the game on the ground.

Nebraska features the nation's 114th ranked rushing defense, which is allowing an average of 228 yards per game on the ground. It has been the thorn in the Huskers' side all season.

There is no guarantee the winner of today's matchup of two 5-6 teams will receive an invitation to a bowl game. Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, the has seven bowl-eligible teams and contracts with eight bowl games.

The Big 12 could have two teams playing in games, which would open an extra spot, but if only one conference team plays in a BCS game there could be nine bowl-eligible teams with eight bowl bids.

CU, Nebraska and Kansas State all have five wins and need a victory to become bowl eligible. Two of the three could achieve that goal, meaning one would be left out of the postseason if the conference does not have two teams playing in BCS games.

But both teams would be happy to win today against a bitter rival and let the rest sort itself out.

© 2006 Daily Camera and Boulder Publishing, LLC.

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Woelk: One last chance for CU to get some swagger for offseason

By Neill Woelk Friday, November 23, 2007

Conventional wisdom would suggest that the Colorado football program will be headed in one of two directions after today's matchup against Nebraska.

In terms of the immediate future, that's not an incorrect assessment. A win means bowl eligibility, an enthusiastic finish for fans and a good attitude for players when they begin their offseason workouts.

A loss means you can erase all of the above and plug in the opposite.

But conventional wisdom doesn't take into account the long haul — and in terms of the big picture, today's game is more about the ongoing rebuilding process that Dan Hawkins started nearly two years ago.

Certainly, a win would expedite that process. A loss would no doubt throw up a detour.

But win or lose, Hawkins' rebuilding efforts will continue to move forward. Despite the crowing from fans that will accompany a win or the moaning from the same over a loss, the bottom line is this: One game won't make or break that process.

Want to know what the Buffs need more of than any of the trappings that come with the postseason?

It's one of Hawkins' favorite terms, that intangible he calls "swagger." It's that combination of confidence, cockiness and self-assurance that takes players and teams to the next level — and it's what the Buffs don't have.

Not yet. Not on a day-to-day, week-to-week, game-to-game basis.

Swagger is the ability to shrug off bad breaks. It's the mental mind-set that comes with long-term success, the cockiness that good programs exude every time they step on the field.

Most of all, it's something that's created over time, not overnight. It must be ingrained through experience. It can't be taught on the practice field.

And when a team has it, when a team possesses that swagger, it knows how to draw upon it when difficulttimes arise.

No doubt, Hawk has tried to accelerate the process. It's why he takes fourth-down gambles when conventional wisdom and common sense would dictate otherwise. It's why he goes for broke when

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playing it safe would seem to be the logical route.

Success breeds success. Confidence breeds confidence. And every time Hawkins has seen the chance to instill in his players a little of that confidence, he's jumped at the chance. He's tried to give them successful moments in times of adversity, the kind of moments that serve as a foundation.

It's been a season of gambles — and not all of them have paid off.

What Hawkins knows is that this is not a program that has experienced a great deal of success in the last four years. Start with the recruiting ordeal, move on to a pair of embarrassing Big 12 title game losses and continue with a 2-10 finish last season. Every positive moment has had an exponential polar opposite.

Simply, these Buffs are still a team that flinches when things go wrong. When adversity hits, these Buffs still have a tendency to wince, waiting for the next punch to land instead of throwing one of their own.

It's why Hawkins has pushed the envelope, perhaps more than has been prudent.

No doubt, how this season is judged will hinge greatly upon what happens today at Folsom Field. As Hawkins allowed earlier in the week, "No question, there's a lot of things at stake."

This is, after all, the coach who said when the year began that he'd consider six wins and a bowl bid a measure of success.

But today isn't just about bowl bids and warm fuzzies for fans. Most of all, today is about the Buffs having one last chance to gain a little swagger to take into the offseason.

All the rest is just icing.

© 2006 Daily Camera and Boulder Publishing, LLC.

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Longmont, Colorado Friday, November 30, 2007

Publish Date: 11/23/2007

Huskers stand between Buffs, bowl

By Patrick Ridgell Longmont Times-Call

BOULDER — It’s been 13 days since the Colorado Buffaloes collapsed in Ames, Iowa, and coach Dan Hawkins has been going “mea culpa” ever since.

On his blog. With his players. When he addresses fans. In passing comments with reporters. Wherever. Whenever. The coach wanted people to know what happened at Iowa State bugs him.

Today is an opportunity to make amends. The Buffs host Nebraska in the regular-season finale for both teams, and the last home game for CU’s 15 active seniors.

The Buffs are Cornhuskers each enter with 5-6 records, so the winner will be eligible to go to a bowl, and the loser will spend the holidays wondering what With his Buffs struggling with one went so wrong. win in their last five games, CU coach Dan Hawkins has his sights Nebraska was supposed to contend in the North division this year and hasn’t. on a strong finish today against Nebraska. A win in today’s CU started 4-2 then lost four of five. It teeters between what should be regular-season finale will leave the considered a solid season with a win today, or more frustration with a loss that Buffs bowl eligible. Lewis would cap a season-ending collapse. Geyer/Times-Call

But playing passive against Nebraska, which CU fancies as its favorite rival, won’t cut it. While that failed fourth- down conversion in the third quarter at Iowa State backfired in a big way, it was that mode of playing that brought CU a win over Oklahoma. So you wonder just how aggressive Hawkins will be today, in a game that can make or break 2007.

He wouldn’t say.

“We’ll see,” Hawkins said tersely.

His players would be surprised if CU punts today given the same situation.

“We’re going to be the Colorado Buffaloes,” defensive tackle George Hypolite said. “And I expect if it’s fourth-and- inches in the first quarter of the game, coach Hawk is going to keep his offense out there because he knows his defense will not give up points.

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. We attack, attack and attack, and we’re not going to take our foot off the gas pedal for anything.”

Said offensive tackle Edwin Harrison: “Our team’s aggressiveness comes back completely to this offensive line, and that’s something we take a great deal of pride in.

“I think we will come out and play aggressive, simply because my unit, this offensive line, will be ready to roll.”

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How ready to roll CU is might come down to forces out of its control. Cornerback Terrence Wheatley, who’s tied for second in the Big 12 with five interceptions, said he will not play today due to his broken foot.

Other CU defenders will play with soreness.

Offensively, the Buffs will be expected to run on Nebraska, like everyone else has in 2007.

But in the two weeks since Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz replaced injured starter Sam Keller, the Cornhuskers’ passing game has clicked.

Ganz has thrown for 11 touchdowns and 915 yards in two games. Some say this is suddenly a different Nebraska team.

“They’re a football team where if this guy had been starting three or four weeks ago, we’d be talking about them playing for a Big 12 championship,” Hypolite said.

Nebraska snapped a five-game losing streak on Nov. 10 by hanging 73 points on Kansas State.

Regardless, coach Bill Callahan is not expected survive beyond today, win or lose.

The Cornhuskers, facing a very uncertain future, will be playing for a bowl and pride today.

So will the Buffs. Their seniors have endured a 2-10 season, a coaching change, a 70-3 loss in the Big 12 title game, a recruiting scandal that really wasn’t and two straight losses to Nebraska.

Lots of things don’t sit well with the Buffs, like blowing a 21-0 lead at Iowa State and having to deal with its ramifications.

Players have appreciated Hawkins’ accountability, but say that game should have never gotten away. Tackle Tyler Polumbus text messaged Hawkins on Nov. 11 and told him he’d do all it takes to win today.

That’s one motivation. There are plenty of others.

“We’re going to get after them in this game for this program,” CU senior receiver Dusty Sprague said.

Patrick Ridgell can be reached at [email protected].

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Hawkins, Bohn: CU on schedule Buffs, despite record, where they should be By B.G. Brooks Friday, November 23, 2007

The University of Colorado concludes its second regular season under coach Dan Hawkins today with a game many fans and Buffaloes followers contend will define the season's success and the program's progress.

Hawkins doesn't see it quite that way, and neither does the man who hired him.

It's not that Hawkins, who during the summer targeted the minimum six wins required for bowl eligibility as a goal, hasn't spent the past 12 days attaching enormous importance to beating Nebraska.

He has, for all the obvious reasons.

And it's not that athletic director Mike Bohn doesn't recognize the significance of at least a break-even record in his school's only revenue-producing sport and the postseason trip it might produce.

He does, for reasons every bit as obvious.

Despite occasionally flawed performances on the sideline and field, both men view Year 2 of the Hawkins era as a realistic next step they envisioned when a coaching change was made in 2005 and Hawkins signed on.

Asked about the overall importance of CU's 2007 won-loss record in evaluating Hawkins' progress, Bohn answered, "It's probably not - and there will be people who read that and say, 'How can (the record) not be that important?'

"But we're asking Dan to wear a lot of hats, and he wears them all well. Look at where we were two years ago. We had six offensive linemen, no true experience at quarterback . . . and I could go on about the status of where we were."

Hawkins sees what the Buffs (5-6) have accomplished this season (as well as painful lessons learned from what they haven't) as another phase in "keeping on establishing the culture, pushing forward and building.

"I've never been (it's) whether you won 13 (games) or eight or you win five. I don't ever look at it like, 'OK, we've accomplished that.' The thing for us is to continue to lay down the culture and continue to build."

But, Hawkins conceded, "Benchmarks are always out there. . . . That's just the nature of it; you just have to (reach one and) move on to the next one."

Most observers, coordinators Mark Helfrich (offense) and Ron Collins (defense) included, would peg the 2007 Buffs as occasionally consistent and efficient.

Said Helfrich: "We've been darn good at being inconsistent. We've shown sparks of being able to run the ball when we've needed to, throwing the ball when we needed to. But it's been just a constant battle for us to put it all together."

Added Collins: "If we had (consistency), our record would have been better. But that's 'coulda, woulda, shoulda.' . . . Overall depth has been an issue, too; watching (tape of) Florida State and Oklahoma rotating in their 'ones' and 'twos,' it looked like a hockey game with them trading lines in and out."

For a young team - entering today's game, there have been a school-record 45 starts by freshmen (27 redshirt, 18 true) -

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inconsistency and inefficiency hardly are desirable traits in dealing with a schedule Bohn describes as "not conducive to building confidence and a lot of wins."

"One thing people don't understand is what we're expecting coach to do with our scheduling, what an important element that is for us," Bohn said. "Some (new) coaches come in and want their (existing) schedules changed; 'Hawk' has embraced it.

"I see a true foundation being put in place. I see, after two seasons, significant success in recruiting. The respect and prominence of Colorado in recruiting circles is on a completely different level than it's been in eight years or so.

"I think all of that bodes well for us."

Nebraska at Colorado

* The game: 10 a.m. today, Folsom Field (53,750 capacity), Boulder.

* The records: Nebraska is 5-6, 2-5 in the Big 12 Conference; Colorado is 5-6, 3-4.

* The series: Nebraska leads 46-17-2.

* TV/radio: KMGH-Channel 7; KOA-AM (850).

* Who's favored: CU by 4.

* Injury update: CU - Cornerback Terrence Wheatley is out (foot); safety Ryan Walters has been cleared after missing the Iowa State game because of concussion symptoms. Nebraska - No new injuries reported.

* Scouting report: Sharing 5-6 records, neither team would appear to have an abundance of confidence heading into a high- stakes game. But that might be misleading; offensively, Nebraska has done some good things of late. Against their past three opponents (Texas, Kansas, Kansas State), the Cornhuskers have averaged 45.7 points and 544.3 yards, with backup quarterback Joe Ganz providing a spark in the past two games. CU has been erratic and inefficient on offense for nearly a month. If the Buffaloes can re-establish their ground game, capitalize on the Cornhuskers' most glaring weakness, run defense, and control the clock, they have an opportunity to win and become bowl eligible.

* Stat that matters: Nebraska is allowing 228.1 rushing yards a game, last in the Big 12 and 114th in Division I-A. But after yielding 364 yards to Texas in a 28-25 loss, the Cornhuskers allowed 218 to Kansas (76-39 loss) and 108 to Kansas State (73-31 win). Nebraska finally might be figuring out how to plug gaps, which would be bad timing for CU.

Dan Hawkins: Year 2 at CU

Three highs

* Opening with an overtime win (31-28) against Colorado State in a game pivotal to the Buffaloes' confidence after an intense and grueling offseason.

* Shocking the nation, but still sharing national attention on what would be a weekend of upsets (Sept. 29), with a 27-24 win against then-No. 3 Oklahoma.

* Moving to one win from bowl eligibility with a 31-26 win at Texas Tech that marked CU's first win in Lubbock and made the Buffs 3-0 against the Big 12 South.

Three lows

* Losing the home opener (16-6) in prime time on national television to a run-of-the-mill Florida State team searching for an effective quarterback.

* Squandering another home-field opportunity - losing 19-14 on Oct. 20 - against now-No. 2 and unbeaten Kansas. Three

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turnovers sabotaged the Buffs.

* Blowing a 21-0 first-half lead at Iowa State and losing 31-28. The Buffs still might be in the shadow of Hawkins' costly third- quarter, fourth-and-1 gamble.

Second season ups and downs

How Colorado coaches fared in their second years on the job since 1949:

Season Coach Record Career mark

1949 Dallas Ward 3-7 63-41-6 (1948-1958)

1960 Sonny Grandelius 6-4 20-11 (1959-1961)

1964 Eddie Crowder 2-8 67-49-2 (1963-1973)

1975 Bill Mallory 9-3 35-21-1 (1974-1978)

1980 Chuck Fairbanks 1-10 7-26 (1979-1981)

1983 Bill McCartney 4-7 93-55-5 (1982-1994)

1996 Rick Neuheisel 10-2 33-14 (1995-1998)

2000 Gary Barnett 3-8 49-39 (1999-2005)

2007 Dan Hawkins 5-6 7-16 (2006-2007)*

© Rocky Mountain News

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