Posted by BuffMan6236 on April 6, 2008 at 2:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I like the no huddle. It's clearly an advantage for teams like Missouri and Kansas and even if we don't use it all the time, it can throw other teams off when it is tossed in for a series or two (or few).

It also shows that Hawk adapts, which is important to attain and sustain top level program status. Work in Norman is that Oklahoma is making the same change.

Congrats to Lil' Hawk on a great day. He looked sharp most of the day and is improving deep ball arm strength. They need to settle these issues on the field and it looks like that is what happening.

Posted by MDBuff on April 6, 2008 at 5:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I'd still like to see more use of Ballenger's big arm to help spread the field and open up things for Scott and Polk...

Posted by montanabuff on April 6, 2008 at 6:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)

There is still much to accomplish between now and August 30th, but it sounds like the team is progressing satisfactorily. Hard to judge the numbers from a scrimmage. Do we get excited about a CU tight end (a thin position as of now) getting a long TD pass, or are we concerned about the secondary giving up yet another long completion?

At least it's fun to be talking football again! Go Buffs!

www.cuatthegame.com

Posted by archalon on April 6, 2008 at 6:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Wish the Cody-haters would let it go. He's a good qaurterback - as last year, the offseason, the scrimmage,etc. proves - Ballenger stunk it up. Who cares if he has a big arm if he doesnt show up at game time ? Give the Cody bashing a rest.

Spread offense is a ? right now - on one hand, it helps it tempo and gives a new look to opposing defense. On the other hand, why have the nation's best H.S. running back, another great back in Polk, and Maiava at FB if we'll be spread with 4 WR so much ? That, and lets hope that a rush to run more plays doesnt lead to a bunch more mental mistakes for young players.

Posted by rodrigo on April 6, 2008 at 7:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)

BuffMan, sounds as if you were there. If so, can you elaborate a little. How may of Cody's throws were down field? How did the o-line look? What about the receivers? From the summary, looks like a lot of running backs making catches. And Obi, a d-lineman, broke up a pair of passes... does that say more about Obi or continuation of an unfortunate trend from last year?

Posted by copcobuff on April 6, 2008 at 7:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Would have been nice to see what Ballenger really could do. He ran with what to appeared to be the 2s and 3s all day and got the fewest reps. I thought the job was open???? I guess that means for the 2nd string position. Cody got to run with the 1 s and got the most plays, really opened up the competition Hawk. Sad, maybe whos on to something here.

Posted by mgmtgrad on April 6, 2008 at 9:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)

To all the Ballenger fans (or Cody haters) you decide which:

Ballenger may have had to work with the 2nd and 3rd string, but think about it, he ran the scout team last year. So those are the players he is the most experience with and connected too.

So if he played with the same guys that he practices with, and against the same, then his numbers reflect his growth and how much work he has to do.

Read his own comments, he knows what he has to do to step it up and understood that he didn't do as well as he would have liked. I liked that he didn't make excuses, unlike his fans (Cody Haters) do.

I'd love to see him or any QB step up and win. And he still may be the future, he just can't give up... like a couple of "winners" or should that be "whiners" that changed programs.

Marcus J

Posted by bufffan8 on April 6, 2008 at 9:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Ballenger got at least two series with the top offense and stunk it up. That said, no jobs are won or lost in the Spring. He definitely needs to step it up in the Summer if he has any shot at playing time.

Posted by mgmtgrad on April 6, 2008 at 9:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)

A different why to look at the numbers.

Most spring scrimmages end up with the defense being a head of the learning curve; yet there was only one turn over.

Does that mean the QBs and the offense is that much more a head of last year... or are we weaker on defense?

Even if the defense is a little off from players lost and held out, the natural progression should still give them a small edge or even things up a bit.

So it appears that the offense is a head of where it was last spring. Of course, just having enough line men helped a lot.

Posted by mgmtgrad on April 6, 2008 at 9:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)

From CU's home page:

The offense and defense went at each other for 109 plays with the offense scoring six touchdowns and racking up 635 total yards (313 rushing, 322 passing).

I'm excited for next year with the new players and the improvements made so far. The balance of the passing and rushing yardage is a great sign that the offensive line is kicking butt and coming into their own early in the spring.

Marcus J

Posted by mifrfi on April 6, 2008 at 12:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

With so much focus on Cody's physical limitations many assume that Ballenger is not far behind the starting job. Many forget that the most important qualities for the QB position are intangibles like leadership, poise under pressure and ability to inspire. By all accounts Cody is first class in all of those categories and many more. Down by fourteen with six minutes to go and you still have a chance with that dude. I think Ballenger will be phenomenal some day but in the meantime let him develope and get off Cody's back...he was a FRESHMAN last year.

Posted by bufffan8 on April 6, 2008 at 12:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)

mifrfi - you are spot on. watching the offensive sidelines yesterday it is quite clear Cody is a leader whether he is in the game or not.

Posted by montanabuff on April 6, 2008 at 2:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Eight drives for Cody Hawkins: eight scores (four touchdowns; four field goals). Seven drives for Matt Ballenger: two scores. It is waaaay to early to simply assume that Cody is the starter, but it is nice to see he is effective with the new style of offense.

Go Buffs!

www.cuatthegame.com

Posted by BEL on April 6, 2008 at 2:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I attended the scrimmage yesterday and got my first glimpse of Matt Ballenger. I have heard that he has a big time arm, but I certainly did not see it, at least not in this scrimmage. All I can say is that Matt has a long ways to go before he reaches the same level as Cody. I could tell immediately during warmups that Cody throws a tighter ball with more velocity and better accuracy than Matt. Cody's arm is just fine. I don't know where people get the notion that Cody has a weak arm.

During the scrimmage, CU ran every offensive play from the shotgun formation, most often with the QB flanked by two running backs. I like the change in offensive scheme. This will make it harder for defenses to sack the QB. And, I expect that Cody will also have fewer passes batted down this coming year. Getting passes batted down at the line of scrimmage was not a big problem for Todd Reesing (the Kansas QB who is 2 inches shorter than Cody) mainly because Reesing never had to take the ball from under center like Cody did last year. It is undoubtedly more difficult for shorter QBs to execute those short, quick passes requiring 3 step drops from under center.

Posted by dpease on April 6, 2008 at 2:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Anyone at the game - how was Simas? I would have thought that they would throw it his way at least a couple of times? Still worried about the secondary....

With our up-coming slate of games I would prefer to have an experienced QB (i.e. C. Hawkins) rather than break in a new guy - unless one just stands out. Doesn't sound that way right now.
Go Buffs!

Posted by MDBuff on April 6, 2008 at 3:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The notion that Cody has a weak arm comes from the number of passes that he underthrew last year, his hesitancy to go deep, and the emphasis on short passes. Cody also had several passes that bounced off the O line's helmets because of his height and his arm motion. I'm not even playing the "coach's son" card, but Ballenger is simply a better option. A comparison through one day of spring practice doesn't negate that.

Posted by Buff_since_76 on April 6, 2008 at 4:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)

While attending this scrimmage I did notice the emphasis was on the run and short passing game. I don’t think you can make any big assumptions as to who is ahead in any position at this point. They hardly threw to receivers, passes were mainly to RB, FB, and TE. The long pass were actually short screens and swing passes were the line did a great job of getting down field to block.

I would wait unitl the spring game before making big evalutions as to who has any position going into the fall camp.

On a side note I did notice Geer and Katoa were on the sideline. Katoa even helped Kai man the chain gain.

Posted by rodrigo on April 6, 2008 at 4:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)

All you folks who were there... thanks for the great insights into what was going on. Opinions, observations or whatever, it's totally appreciated.

Posted by extrapoint on April 6, 2008 at 5:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)

MDbuff
any observations on any of the other positions?
BTW Ballenger even admiited he had a bad day.

Posted by MDBuff on April 6, 2008 at 6:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)

It's nice to see the RBs made solid contributions in this scrimmage, and that Cory was awarded a scholarship, but they're all just holding spots until Scott and Polk arrive.

Posted by MDBuff on April 6, 2008 at 6:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Like Rodrigo said, I really appreciate the insight and details from those who saw the practice first hard. Nice work, too, Kyle. Much better than reading about a bored kid designing his future tattoos in classes!

Posted by extrapoint on April 6, 2008 at 8:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I think we will have a return game as well. Stewart will surprise. He shouldnt, as he was 1st team all state in Ohio.

Posted by RWE on April 6, 2008 at 8:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Actually in warmups I didn't see much difference between Ballenger and Hawkins. If anything, Ballenger looked better (but granted, that's just warmups). It's clear Cody has to put in more effort when he throws the ball, so that's where Ballenger's arm comes in, he just makes it look easy. I don't recall Simas making any big plays, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. I only noticed him out there a handful of times. Patrick Williams had a couple of good catches, and Josh Smith had one or two also, but he had some potential big plays broken up by the D. But the two people that stood out most to me were Jaffee and Nabors. Even before Jaffee scored, he had my attention (and so did Nabors - I didn't get a program initially, but when I saw one blow by in the wind I scrambled down to get it just to find out who those guys were). Both of those guys seem to have good vision and a drive to just keep on moving. Moyd looks OK too, and he's fast, along with Lockridge, who I don't think had a great day, but also has potential. Sumler came out of the gate pretty well, but wasn't able to keep it up the whole scrimmage. I certainly wouldn't draw the conclusion that these backs are just placeholders and are going to be tossed aside when the new kids come to town.

Posted by NCHusker on April 7, 2008 at 12:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Looked great. Cody is awe inspiring. Ballenger is an upcoming juggernaut...Nebraska shall crush you.

Posted by buffballaz on April 7, 2008 at 12:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)

yah just like last year NC.

Posted by rodrigo on April 7, 2008 at 3:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Ah, the sport's classiest fans return.

Given the state of Nebraska's blackshirts it probably wouldn't matter if Misti Hawkins was at quarterback when the Buffs play the huskers.

Posted by extrapoint on April 7, 2008 at 4:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)

its about time for tall to change names again anyway

Posted by mifrfi on April 7, 2008 at 5:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I can't remember where I saw the highlights but EP must have seen them, that Rodney Stewart kid is freakin' nuts. Should be like the days of Jeremy Bloom when you figured any particular kick could go the distance. Hawk leaves no stone unturned.

Posted by mifrfi on April 7, 2008 at 5:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)

MDBuff, the throwing motion is definitely a problem with Cody. I often cringe when he throws the ball because of that. His delivery seems to take forever some times. I would even argue that his throwing motion gives more of an impression of a weak arm. That said, until Ballenger is ready to offer the intangibles that Cody brings to the position, I prefer lil' Hawk. Show me a game that we lost because of Cody's arm. I remember a couple we would never have won except for his inspiration (and some awesome contributions by other players of course).

Go Buffs!

Posted by MDBuff on April 7, 2008 at 7:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Mirifi,
CU lost the Iowa State game because of Cody's arm and bonehead throw at the end. He had no timeouts and was in field goal range, and if it's not a 1st down or goes out of bounds, he should have known not to throw it, but he did! Then there's the losses to Kansas State and Kansas in which he threw a combined five interceptions. Or how about how his efficiency dropped each quarter, and the fourth quarter is when Hawkins has thrown his most interceptions? Some of it can be attributed to Frosh mistakes, but others show that he's just not yet ready for prime time.

Posted by buffalo_flyer on April 7, 2008 at 7:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Prime Time's comin!

Thursday Septemeber 18, 2008

CU vs West Virginia

yes I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by extrapoint on April 7, 2008 at 8:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I guess beating NE and OU as a freshman doesnt cut it.
MDbuff
can you extend an invitation for Braim White to return?

Posted by SnowBuff on April 7, 2008 at 8:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I seem to remember a few field goals being made in that Iowa State game that the refs forgot to add to the final score MDBuff... no way you can blame that game on the QB!

Posted by Buff1221 on April 7, 2008 at 10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Ballenger will have better showings in future practices, i'm sure of that. Games that we won last year were won on the ground and never in the air. When we handed the ball to Hugh on a consistent basis we tended to win. When we let Cody go wild throwing the ball we lost. Games in which he threw the ball 39 or more times CU was 0-6. The QB battle will be a good one Ballenger is by no means out of it and I'm sure that Cody has improved since last year.

Posted by pbbuff311 on April 7, 2008 at 10:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)

while i read these posts daily, i rarely post. After reading some of these comments I feel the need to make some points.....Cody Hawkins is our qb....period! I was at the scrimmage on Saturday and there is absolutely no question. The next best competitor by far was Black, and I am excited to see him play the role that b jack was supposed to play for us. Ballenger and Nelson simply are not on the same level. Cody has a great command of the offense and the respect of his teammates. I didnt need to be at the scrimmage to know he is our guy. He had a great freshman (redshirt) year and led an extremely young team to wins against csu, ou and nebraska. has a life long buff fan i will take that every year. Of course i want a championship and i feel that cody can take us there. especially with the outstanding job his dad and the staff (cabral and hagan) are doing on the recruiting trail. please stop hating on cody, and leave this site for fans. go buffs! fill folsom 4/19

Posted by BEL on April 8, 2008 at 2:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I would have to respectfully disagree with mifrfi about Cody's throwing motion. I see nothing wrong with it. In my opinion, he has the quickest release of all CU quarterbacks. He has a short, compact throwing motion. He does not need to do a big windup before his throws. When he drops back to pass, the ball is brought up and held in a cocked, ready position near his right ear, and it stays there until it is released. There is no wasted motion. The elapsed time between the moment that a QB decides to make a throw and the moment when the ball leaves the QB's hand is what pro scouts look at in determining whether a QB has a quick release.

Pure arm strength alone does not make a good QB. Along with the mental aspects and leadership skills, a good QB also needs to have good timing, accuracy, and a quick release.

For fans who are going to attend the next scrimmage on Saturday morning, you will have the opportunity to see for yourself and form your own opinions.

Posted by tallisal on April 8, 2008 at 7:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Suprise, suprise...

Hawkins is the "front runner"....

I guess he earned it, he was the 10th best QB in the big 12 last season.

Posted by nwbuff32 on April 8, 2008 at 7:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Wow, once again you prove what an idiot you are.

Cody was not the 10th best, he was the 8th best as a FRESHMAN! (according to big12sports.com in passing yds/gm). He was ahead of OU's Bradford and TAMU's McGee. He also had as many TD's as Colt McCoy and less interceptions.

So the next time you drop your stupid comments, check your facts. Otherwise, STFU.

Posted by extrapoint on April 8, 2008 at 8:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Jeez
will someone please give Barnett a new job somewhere?

Posted by extrapoint on April 8, 2008 at 8:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)

who was the highest "ranked" qb in the big 12? musta been that kid at Tech. Didnt we beat them too?

Posted by tallisal on April 8, 2008 at 9:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Just not a fan of end arounds that never work and 5 yard passes.

Posted by bufffan8 on April 8, 2008 at 11:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The fact remains that Cody is the best option at QB right now. Every QB got a chance in the scrimmage and none were close to Cody. Maybe that will change by August, maybe it won't. For today, Cody remains the best QB on the roster regardless of his height, throwing motion, wins and losses.

Posted by extrapoint on April 8, 2008 at 11:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)

just exactly what are you a fan of tall?
All that same stuff Watson tried a hundred times in a row that didnt work? His DOA flat passes were less than 5 yards a pop. Almost every 3rd down pass was yards short of the sticks.
Barnett aint commin back, no matter how much you whine.

Posted by WhosYourDaddy on April 8, 2008 at 3:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)

BEL, leaving all the other stuff out of the Cody discussion, you have to acknowledge that he doesn't have a very strong arm. It seemed to me that anytime Cody tried to throw the ball more than 25 yards he had to put so much air under it that he would get picked. The coaches clearly acknowledged this with all the short passes.

Plus, when Cody first committed to CU his dad said in the Camera that he doesn't have the strongest arm - but according to Hawk, Cody makes up for the lack of arm strength with his accuracy.

Posted by extrapoint on April 8, 2008 at 4:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Joe Montana didnt have the strongest arm either.
Now that we have acknowledged that Cody is not John Elway (or Joe Montana) do you think it is possible for you and tall and whoever else you are to move on?
Maybe you can comment on how slow our running backs are.
or maybe how cold the hotdogs at the stadium are
or why you cant get a job anywhere.

Posted by rodrigo on April 8, 2008 at 6:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The best part... three more years of Cody driving tall/daddy berserk.

Posted by extrapoint on April 8, 2008 at 9:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Did Barnett have any kids?

Posted by choderlos1741 on April 9, 2008 at 11:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I guess is out of medication. Sorry coach barnett, time for naptime!

I seem to remember Cody throwing plenty of deep balls on the money early in the season that were dropped. I guess they were dropped because Cody Hawkins isn't 6'9". And Oklahoma must really suck if a qb was able to beat them only throwing 5 yd passes. Oh, wait, they won the conference last year, never mind. And we ran a lot of misdirection last year because Cody's elaborate throwing motion didn't allow for toss sweeps. I'm sure if Matt Ballenger had been qb we wouldn't have had to start two freshman on the offensive line all year. And gee, I'm sure the defense wouldn't have gotten torched by Missouri if Nick Nelson had been quarterback. If ONLY we had Shawn Watson back! Then instead of 5 yd passes we'd throw minus five yd passes. That was much better. I sure did like getting beat 70-3 by the conference champs alot more than beating the conference champs.

Posted by archalon on April 9, 2008 at 2:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Plenty of dropped passes, rb fumbles, missed field goals, youth and inexperience at all positions and questionable coaching calls (ISU)cost us games. QB play was the least of our problems last year.

It would have been nice to pull out the FSU, KU and ISU games - those three were not lost by the QB. And dont forget, dropped passes in the ASU game cost us a 14+ point early lead.

Posted by ColBuffaloes on April 10, 2008 at 1:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Why do people hate Cody Hawkins so much? Look what he did last year, and he was a freshmen. He can only get better. National Champions in a couple of years.

Posted by rodrigo on April 10, 2008 at 1:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Buff1221,

Just curious... I seem to remember a certain game against FSU where the Buffs rushed 25 times for -27 yards.

A week before that they rushed 27 times for 39 yards against ASU.

We must be talking about two different teams because I seem to recall an utterly inept running game forcing the Buffs to pass in those two losses...

Posted by ColBuffaloes on April 10, 2008 at 3:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Quarterback experience is a huge part of a quarterbacks success. Cody has experience, ballenger doesnt. Look how Cody progressed as the season went on. He is also strait up better than Ballenger. Last year, bothe were freshmen. WHo won the starting job?

Posted by BuffTime on April 10, 2008 at 4:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)

There is no mystery as to why some people feel the need to bash Cody. His father happens to be the coach. If his last name were Smith and his dad were a tax accountant people would be praising his performance instead of trying to find any imperfection as a sign of conspiracy.

As for blocked passes at the line of scrimmage or his "hitting the linemen in the backs of their heads", they are addressing that with practicing the shotgun more this year instead of taking snaps directly under center which he did all last year. It also buys him more time to make decisions and plays.

His O-line is shaping up to be a huge line of "big uglies" which will buy him even more time as well as bust huge holes for the stable of rbs to run through (right behind the monster FB Maiava). Forget 09, I'm psyched for 08!

Ad yes, I will be at the Spring Game looking for the preview.

Posted by extrapoint on April 10, 2008 at 8:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)

all that and the "no-huddle" will make us look a lot like Kansas next year.....which isnt a bad thing.
Reesing is a lot more mobile than Cody but our running backs will be better.