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Spring football: Cody Hawkins no lock at QB

Posted March 4, 2008

Colorado coaches are switching things up to a degree this spring when it comes to evaluating their quarterbacks. Only one of the three signal-callers on the spring roster has any real Division I game experience, but offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich said that gives Cody Hawkins only a slight advantage over Nick Nelson and Matt Ballenger when drills begin March 17.

Helfrich acknowledged he doesn't like the idea of heading into his third season in Boulder in 2008 with his third different starting quarterback (Hawkins in 2007 and James Cox/Bernard Jackson in 2006), but what he likes even less is the idea of handing someone the starting job simply because they are more experienced than others.

Cody Hawkins started all 13 games for the Buffs in 2007. Nick Nelson hardly played enough to for anyone to get a real sense of what he might be capable of doing if he was in for a significant number of snaps. And Matt Ballenger was a true freshman who redshirted last year.

All three have different skill sets, though none of the three is a particularly dangerous threat to run the ball. Still, Helfrich said they are different enough from one another that coaches feel they need to be a little more open-minded this spring and evaluate each quarterback based on how well he does what he does best.

“We’re going to play the best guy, and we’re going to put those guys all in — it’s not like we’re going to completely change the offense — but we’re going to put some things in based on each of those guys’ strengths," Helfrich said. "Everyone is going to certainly have a shot. We’re going to do some things with Matt that we won’t do with Cody and that we wouldn’t do with Nick and vice versa. We’ve got to do a good job of giving those guys a shot, and they’ve got to do a good job of making this a difficult decision for the right reasons.”

Look for the offense to be a little more conservative in the mold of the West Coast style system when Hawkins and Nelson are under center. Short pass routes, passes to tight ends and running backs, etc.

Things should open up a bit, particularly in the passing game, with Ballenger under center. Ballanger has the big arm of the three and is more likely to have success hitting deeper pass routes. That doesn't mean that's all he will do as a passer, but if there is one area in which Ballenger holds an advantage over his competition, it is being able to stand in the pocket at 6-foot-5 and see the field and get the ball to receivers with his arm strength.

Hawkins threw for 2,693 yards in 12 regular season games last year. CU does not include bowl statistics in its official stats. Hawkins also threw for 19 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Not bad for a freshman, but other freshmen have been better.

The biggest criticism of Hawkins was his interception rate. He cut down on them as the season went on, throwing just one in the final four games, but Helfrich said the entire offense needs to do a better job taking care of the ball in the third year in the system. Nobody more so than the quarterback, who touches the ball on nearly every play.

"We turned it over way too many times last year that were preventable," Helfrich said. "It wasn’t even really a deal with bad ball security or a physical deal. It was more so mental, whether it was forcing the ball when we shouldn’t have or trying to do something with the ball we shouldn’t do. So we’ll just really be drilling that part in then."

Another criticism of Hawkins was his inability to make plays with his feet if a play broke down and he was forced to scramble. He ran the ball a total of 40 times with a net gain of minus-11 yards. Before losses from sacks are factored in, Hawkins still only gained 89 yards. He won't remind anyone of Missouri's Chase Daniel or Kansas' Todd Reesing, though he is very similar in size and stature to those players.

But when it comes to mobility, one CU assistant coach recently said Hawkins is easily the fastest of CU's three quarterbacks.

Helfrich said Hawkins was clearly the best option at quarterback for the program going into last season, and he remained the best option throughout the year right up through the bowl game in late December. So what do Nelson and Ballenger have to do to overtake Hawkins now, especially given their limited experience?

Helfrich said they have to play with confidence first, which means knowing the playbook. They have to execute at a high level on a consistent basis and demonstrate an ability to lead the team to points.

But he emphasized that the gap between the three quarterbacks is not an ocean as it once was.

"There is certainly nothing insurmountable, whether it’s knowledge base or performance advantage, that he has over those other guys," he said. “Probably a little bit just from the experience standpoint of he’s seen some of these things before, but we didn’t do a lot of things just because of certain things that Cody had a strength or a weakness in.

"And that’s kind of what I mean when I say we’re going to put Matt in some different situations that we’re not going to put Cody in and vice versa. Then hopefully at the end of the day, we’ve got three efficient guys that are all good at their deal without changing it for everybody else. Our offense is versatile enough to do that. I’m sure there is a little bit of an advantage of just snaps. By the same token a guy like Matt Ballenger has probably gotten some false sense of security by playing on the scout team and built some confidence that way, which is good. That’s a good thing. He’s just got to play and compete and see where that takes him.”

It's also important to keep in mind that whatever happens in spring practices won't make or break any player's chances of earning playing time in the fall. No one is going to win or lose the starting job in 15 practices more than four months before the season begins. As CU fans should know by now, this coaching staff is big on competition and players earning their playing time from week to week.

Hawkins had the advantage of having been in the program for a year at this time a year ago when Nelson was just breaking in at CU. Ballenger didn't arrive until training camp. It's entirely possible that one of those players could make up ground on Hawkins this year and maybe even overtake him.

...Each spring CU coaches like to use some of their time taking a look at guys at other positions. As we reported on signing day, one of those experiments this year will be using sophomore tight end Nate Solder at tackle. Helfrich said the plan also includes moving guard Kai Maiava to fullback and tight end.

When I first heard of this and thought of Maiava leading the way out of the backfield for Darrell Scott, I thought it was brilliant. Maiava looks like a fullback and plays with that sort of tenacity. I know he was named a freshman All-American by The Sporting News last season, but he is kind of undersized for offensive line.

" I think Nate Solder was born to be a tackle," Helfrich said. "I just think his body lends to be being a 70 number. So we’re going to experiment with that a try to redefine those guys’ roles a little bit. I think Kai, he can give us some pop and it will help him out as well where he’s not taking on a 330-pound defensive tackle. He’s getting an angle or getting a run at somebody else. We’ve tried to move him around a little at guard to put him in the best situation, but I think the best thing for him and for us is to be that hybrid tight end-fullback type guy who can move around and create some edges and create some gaps for us.”