Offensive woes not tied to Scott

Darrell Scott was a mega recruit of a running back who signed with Colorado, the most highly regarded talent at that position to end up in Boulder since Rashan Salaam.

A game into his sophomore season, all has been a disappointment, whether due to injuries, a lack of development, too much hype or a lack of coaching development.

Scott, who carried but once last week in an embarrassing loss to CSU, says he wants more opportunity to run the ball. You assume he was recruited to do such. He should be running the ball more. Of course, so should Rodney Stewart, so should CU.

The Buffs inability to dominate the ground last week was shocking and inexcusable. They are big and talented up front and despite digging themselves a hole on the scoreboard they should have been able to run effectively all game long.

Scott and Stewart are not the problem. The line takes some blame but not all of it. The Rams' defense gets credit but the coaching, the playcalling, takes the brunt of the criticism.

The Buffs need to run to win.

Even Cody Hawkins knows that deep down.

Does dad and offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau?

Hansen redshirt plans reveals problem

Tyler Hansen plans to redshirt this season, giving him two seasons to potentially start after Cody Hawkins uses up his eligibility as the Buffs starting quarterback. That Hansen is redshirting shows how much of a gap there is between him and Hawkins to start.

As uninspiring as Hawkins has been as a playmaker, not all of it his fault, he still has a stranglehold on the starter's job, which is not good for the offense, the team nor quarterback recruiting. Hansen has mobility and a decent arm but he's obviously a minimal threat to Hawkins.

While I doubt Hansen makes it through the year redshirting him doing so might be beneficial to him and the team if he actually develops his talent.

Freshman Clark Evans, big and raw, also plans to redshirt.

Both quarterbacks might be playing for a new head coach unless the man on top of the depth chart wills this team to a winning season in 2009.

Hawkins secret is no secret

Buffs coach Dan Hawkins is telling the media that he won't publicly name a starter at quarterback before the season opener against Colorado State.

Any educated follower or fan of the Buffs already knows who the starter is going to be, hands down.

Commander Cody, the offspring of Misti and Dan.

Tyler Hansen is not mentally ready to take Cody's job so he will likely sit all game long unless the game develops into a blowout on one side or another, Lil' Hawkins gets hurt or offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau goes for a little, as Reece Davis of ESPN says, trickeration.

Hawkins still an unknown

Cody Hawkins is smart. He breathes football. He cares about winning. He works hard. He's easy to like. We get it. So does this reporter. The issue for CU is does Hawkins have enough talent around him to help the quarterback drive this offense and does Hawkins have enough physical skills, as in mobility and arm strength, to get detractors off his back?

Those are questions that to this today are still unanswered. The good news is that sometime this season fans (see: fanatics) and followers both gain a better understanding on whether Commander Cody is top shelf quality or a dime-store knockoff.

The book here says that Hawkins can be loved by many if the talent around him is better and with the backs (Darrell Scott, Rodney Stewart) and offensive line the Buffs have, there is hope. The question is can the tight ends (Ryan Deehan) and wideouts (Markques Simas, Andre Simmons especially) step up and become campus heroes.

Simmons gets into school, quarterbacks better

In a shocker of shockers, a junior college recruit has been cleared to play football for the Buffaloes. No, this isn't unprecedented news, just a rare gift. The present is a big, fast and talented wide receiver, Andre Simmons, who could very well be that field stretcher and pass grabber to greatly aid the Buffs' offense, giving it an outside explosive presence to go with the numerous possession receivers on the roster.

Coach Dan Hawkins has seen his trials in Boulder so this is a real positive. In Markques Simas ever decides that football is a priority, at least enough of one to get on the field during a game to show what all the hype was about, then CU might have the size and talent at the position they've lacked for a while.

Success often comes in small steps. Getting Simmons into CU was a small, but important step toward success.

One thing is for certain -- quarterbacks Cody Hawkins and Tyler Hansen just got a lot better today.