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Posted 09/12/2009 at 02:03 AM
I’m not a coach smasher. That said, the Colorado Buffaloes have been among the worst prepared teams I’ve ever seen in their losses to Colorado State and Toledo. I know several coaches are on the hot seat this year in college football, but in many cases it may not be completely justified. Sometimes the coach is just a victim of circumstances, being at the wrong school at the wrong time.
But Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins doesn’t have any excuses for the shoddy efforts being turned in by his team. The Buffs have been incredibly sloppy in both defeats, and they’ve come out dead flat in each instance as well. Hawkins is now 13-26 at Colorado following a wildly successful run at Boise State. For whatever reason, Hawkins has not made any substantive progress with the Buffaloes, and this team is suddenly looking down the barrel at a potentially disastrous season. His grasp on the job was tenuous to begin with, and I wouldn’t think there’s any chance of Hawkins returning next year if the current campaign continues to unravel.
The late injury update for tomorrow’s college slate is fairly light. Boston College continues to have problems, with LB Will Thompson the latest casualty. He’s down with a shoulder injury and will be replaced by a true freshman… If you didn’t see it, Colorado QB Cody Hawkins was obliterated late in the Buffs loss at Toledo. He almost certainly has a concussion based on the visual evidence, so keep an eye his status for next week’s game… Connecticut may be missing their best defensive player tomorrow. LB Scott Lutrus absorbed a neck injury late in last week’s game. He’s listed as questionable at this point, and coach Randy Edsall called it a 50/50 prop as to whether he’s able to play this game… Duke is getting very thin in the secondary with two more contributors out tomorrow… Hawaii opened the season with only two returning starters on defense. They are now down to zero. LB Brashton Satele is done for the year with a shoulder injury and DE John Fonoti’s knee will probably keep him out of the lineup tomorrow… Highly regarded Indiana redshirt freshman RB Darius Willis had a disappointing debut and managed to injure his knee in the process. He’ll miss this weekend’s game… Iowa gets Julian Vandervelde back for this week’s action, but they lose fellow OL Bryan Baluga. Baluga is the Hawkeyes left tackle and best blocker and he’s in the hospital with an unknown ailment… North Carolina has two diagnosed cases of swine flu, with FB Bobby Rome one of the afflicted players. He’s obviously out for this game… Starting CB Sherrick McManis will be out of action for Northwestern. However, the Wildcats have a more than adequate replacement in Justan Vaughn… SMU QB Bo Levi Mitchell is good to go after a bout with the flu. He played through it last week and figures to be back to normal here… Good news for Southern Mississippi as talented WR DeAndre Brown has been upgraded to probable. Brown is a star and he’s apparently now ready for his first game action since breaking his leg in last year’s New Orleans Bowl… Tennessee also gets one of their best players back. WR Gerald Jones is the best wideout on the Volunteers, and his return from an ankle injury is a nice boost to the Tennessee attack.
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In case you missed it in yesterday’s blog, here’s my free opinion for the weekend on the SEC clash between Mississippi State and Auburn.
A pair of SEC teams off miserable offensive seasons. Mississippi State (1-0) ranked 115th in the nation last year in scoring and 113th in total offense, so new coach Dan Mullen comes aboard. He helped guide Florida to the national title. That means the Triple Option offense! Don’t be misled by last week’s 45-7 rout of Jackson State. Mississippi State had three easy scores on short drives following opposition mistakes and the competition was pretty low level. Things get much tougher here.
Auburn (1-0) also has a new coach is Gene Chizik, who struggled in a short stint at Iowa State. He made an immediate good move in getting offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn on board, a guy who has done remarkable things with high scoring, spread offenses. Junior QB Kodi Burns is a good runner but a bad passer, so they are going with QB Chris Todd (2 TDs, 0 INTs). Todd and WR Terrell Zachery hooked up on a school-record 93-yard touchdown pass to help Auburn beat Louisiana Tech 37-13 in Chizik’s debut as head coach. Auburn’s offense had 556 yards. The backfield is deep behind senior tailback Ben Tate and freshman Onterio McCalebb. The defense is loaded with talent under new Defensive Coordinator Ted Roof. Senior LB Patrick Trahan is solid, along with defensive end Antonio Coleman, first-team senior cornerback Aairon Savage and senior Walt McFadden in this deep and talented secondary. Last season Auburn beat Mississippi State in a 3-2 laugher! Auburn’s new spread attack looks so much better with Todd, however. I like Auburn to romp in this spot.
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