Colorado’s Dan Hawkins Makes Hard Choices

The Buffaloes aren’t closely followed by most college football fans. They have just as spirited of a quarterback competition going on as any of the major schools, though. What makes this interesting to me, though, is that head coach Dan Hawkins is the father of the guy who has been starting for Colorado so far in 2009.

And unfortunately for Cody Hawkins, that’s no longer the case. After a decent first half against Texas last week, junior threw yet another deep pass that was picked off by the defense, which turned the game in the Longhorns’ favor. That might have been forgiven…if not for another interception following the first. And his dad promptly should him a spot on the bench. These were his eight and ninth interceptions of the year. Ouch.

Hawkins was replaced by Tyler Hansen, who will be starting for the Buffaloes for the rest of the season. Last year, the scene in Colorado was similar, and after Cody bombed during the first half, he and Hansen shared the spotlight. This year, that won’t be the case, as Coach Hawkins thinks there needs to be a single, clear leader. In both years, Hansen was supposed to redshirt, but it hasn’t worked out that way.

Is Hansen ready to lead the team? Image: Newscom

Is dad being too hard on Hawkins? Or, has he been too easy on him so far this season?

I’m not sure, but they’re up against Kansas this week, so I guess we’ll see if there’s been any improvement. They’re 1 – 4 so far, so things can’t get much worse, right?