2008 Opponent Previews: Colorado
The Buffaloes saved their 2007 season with a win over Nebraska to become bowl eligible. They might find themselves needing to do the same thing in 2008.
CU has another brutal schedule. They open with a neutral site game against Colorado State in Denver (a game they needed overtime to survive a year ago). Then after a speed bump the Buffs host West Virginia in a Thursday night contest. They follow that up with a trip to Tallahassee to face Florida State and then return home to take on Texas. But wait! There’s more!
They then travel to Lawrence and host a Kansas State team that beat them by 27 points a year ago. Then it’s back on the road to face Missouri and Texas A&M, before a little daylight with a home game against Iowa State (who managed to beat the Buffs a year ago). They host Oklahoma State next before closing the season in Lincoln.
Most people would put them at 2-2 in the nonconference slate, though 1-3 seems entirely possible. That means they’ll need to find four or even five conference wins to return to a bowl game. That doesn’t seem all that likely.
Colorado showed some life with their upsets of Oklahoma and Texas Tech, but when followed up with losses to Missouri, Iowa State, and Alabama, it doesn’t scream consistency. They recruited a nice running back but behind a young and smallish line, how much can they really expect from him?
Dan Hawkins survived a 2-10 season. It made his 6-7 season appear to be progress. But he followed a coach in Gary Barnett that won the Big 12 North four times in his last five seasons including a conference title in 2001. Anything less than 7-6 is probably a failure. Maybe he'd survive going 5-7 or 6-7, but he will officially be "on the hot seat" if he does.
Hawkins could easily be coaching for his job when the Buffs come to Lincoln. Rivalry or not, this game should mean a lot for the Buffs.
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