Week 5: Colorado vs. Florida State

These teams collide riding very different emotions.

The Buffaloes’ overtime win over West Virginia gives them confidence that they’re progressing rapidly under coach Dan Hawkins.

The Seminoles’ 12-3 home loss to Wake Forest returns the kind of questions about offensive ineptness that have dogged the program in recent years.

Consider this a proving ground for both teams.

The Buffs haven’t been all that dynamic on offense themselves, with Cody Hawkins still struggling through his development at quarterback. They’ll be facing a Seminoles defense that ranks fourth nationally in total defense and gains five players returning from suspensions.

Colorado’s defense denied a potentially potent Mountaineers offense when it mattered most. And there have been signs that this is a unit that may rank among the Big 12’s best. Which begs us to wonder, who’s scoring in this game?

FSU coach Bobby Bowden remains optimistic.

“Everything that happened (against Wake Forest) is correctable,” Bowden said. “It’s not like you’re completely out-manned.

“Our success the remainder of the year will be based on how successful we are correcting those mistakes.”

Colorado will be playing outside state borders for the first time this season, although the game is in Jacksonville, not Tallahassee. The Buffs aren’t likely to be awe-struck, considering they played Florida State tough in Boulder a year ago and regularly plays one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country.

“I think that’s the benefit of playing the schedule that we play,” Dan Hawkins said, “playing in Invesco, playing on television, playing West Virginia.

“We always talk about just having your ‘A’ game on in life every day, and the way they look at it is that it’s just Colorado football.”

Notes:

For Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, this will be game No. 500 in his Hall of Fame career. He stands 375-120-4 overall.

Colorado’s 17-14 win over West Virginia marked the first time in Dan Hawkins FBS coaching career that his team won when scoring less than 20 points. He had been 0-17 in such situations.

The Buffs’ short-yardage defense was stout against the Mountaineers. WVU converted just 3-of-13 third downs and neither of two fourth-down tries.

Under Bowden, the Seminoles are 8-1 in games played in Jacksonville. FSU is 9-1-1 all-time when playing in the River City.

Player to Watch (Buffaloes) – Cody Hawkins, QB

Hawkins has been up and down early in his career, with inconsistency an issue as the Buffs try to make gains in the Big 12. He’s thrown an interception in each of CU’s games this season and has tossed 20 for his career. In a game that figures to be dictated by the defenses, Hawkins must keep mistakes to a minimum.
 
Players to Watch (Seminoles) – Christian Ponder and D’Vontrey Richardson, QBs

Ponder is the starter, but both play, partly because neither has made a case to take the job and run with it. Combined, they’ve thrown eight touchdown passes and five interceptions. All eight scores came against FCS foes. With the offense struggling, one of these guys needs to prove capable of making plays.

Colorado by 6