Colorado vs. Colorado State football preview

This year’s Rocky Mountain Showdown could be called the Rocky Mountain Rebuild this season.

Both Colorado University and Colorado State University are in the first three years of a rebuilding process with neither team has had a winning season since Colorado went 7-6 in 2005.

Colorado seems to be on its way back up, after some shady business involving rape allegations and a female kicker. The Buffaloes made a coaching change in hiring Dan Hawkins. Though his first season only brought two wins, Hawkins led the Buffaloes to six victories and an Independence Bowl berth last season. They even obtained a vote in the preseason coaches poll.

Colorado State hit rock bottom last year, going 3-9 overall. This resulted in a coaching change as well, with the Rams bringing in Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild. Colorado State was hoping to get a fresh start with this move, after former head coach Sonny Lubick led them to nine bowl berths since his hiring in 1992, saw success dwindle to last year’s abysmal results. The Rams went 17-30 over his last four season at the helm, and a three win year left Colorado State no choice but to make a change.

The Buffaloes seem to have the upper hand in the 80 th meeting between the two rivals. Their system, in its third year is more established, and Colorado also returns more of its starters from last season. The Buffaloes bring back their starting quarterback, Hawkins’ son Cody Hawkins who threw for over 3,000 yards with a passer rating of 119.8 last year, as well as his favorite receiving target, Scotty McKnight. McKnight had 47 receptions for 555 yards and 4 touchdowns last season. The pairing gives Colorado a bright future with both entering their sophomore year.

> Check out the great Colorado Buffaloes clothing & apparel as well as 2008 Colorado Buffs football tickets available online through Big 12 Fans!

On the defensive side of the ball, senior safety Daniel Dykes who made 83 tackles with an interception, and senior tackle George Hypolite who made 6 sacks last year come back to help stabilize the defense of a very young team. Over half of the Colorado roster is made up of underclassmen, as Coach Hawkins hopes to progress on a last season’s improved record.

CSU lost many key players from last year’s roster, which was mediocre to begin with. The Rams will have to rely on youth to upgrade their record from last year. They lose their starting quarterback, their top two wide receivers; however, they bring back a powerful one-two punch at running back in seniors Kyle Bell and Gatrell Johnson. Last season the two combined for 1648 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground, for an average of 4.58 yards per carry. The Rams will need to infuse a passing attack with its youth as well, because a strong running game isn’t difficult to stop if the defense doesn’t need to protect against the pass.

The Rams defense was far from a bright spot during the 2007 campaign. It may get worse before it gets better, as the squad lost three starters on the D-line as well as its two starting corner backs. With those players, the defense ranked 8 th(out of nine) in the Mountain West Conference last season. With linebacker being the only strength for the Rams as far as returning players go, they’ll need to find help both on at the front and in the secondary if they wish to improve on this rating.

The Buffaloes match up fairly well with the Rams on both sides of the ball. CU’s defense wasn’t bad last year, and with many key defenders returning, they should improve on being 72 nd in the nation on total defense from last year. The Rams will have to establish that they can pass against this defense early, or they’ll be in trouble finding, at least six in the box on every offensive snap.

The keys for Colorado on offense will be taking advantage of CSU’s inexperienced defense, especially in the secondary. If Hawkins and McKnight can hook up on a couple of deep balls, it could open the flood gates.

We could see a blowout if CSU’s defense or passing offense has trouble early. The Buffaloes should be able to be in charge of this game, especially with Hawkins also having an experience advantage in coaching. This will be Fairchild’s first game as a collegiate head coach, and may be a learning experience for him as much as it is for his young roster.

By Ryan Turner
Big 12 Fans Guest Writer

Find more Big 12 football articles online through Big12-fans.com and check out our entire archive of Big 12 sports articles!