BOULDER ? University of Colorado head football coach Dan Hawkins held his weekly press conference Monday at the Dal Ward Athletic Center to discuss this week’s annual showdown with the division-rival Nebraska Cornhuskers. CU’s senior captains, placekicker Mason Crosby, offensive lineman Brian Daniels and linebacker Thaddaeus Washington were on hand as well as junior quarterback Bernard Jackson. The following are quotes from the session:
Head Coach Dan Hawkins
ON WHETHER HE WAS AWARE OF THE CU-NEBRASKA RIVALRY WHEN HE COACHED AT BOISE STATE ? “Oh sure, and obviously the particular day that it is played [the day after Thanksgiving]. You usually have an opportunity to watch it. It was always tough [to watch depending on the schedule] because you are usually still playing. So it’s not like we sat down with a bag of chips and were able to watch it. [We] would catch it coming and going.”
ON WHETHER THE GAME IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE OF THE YEAR?“I mean, it is one of the big games on our schedule and certainly in the tradition of Colorado football I think it is a big game, particularly given our season and the way it has been. It adds even more relevance that way.”
ON THE GAME REPRESENTING A SPRINGBOARD FOR NEXT YEAR?“That thing [the last game of the season] is always big no matter who you’re playing. I’ve had a few seasons where we’ve lost the last game and that thing just lingers with you. You cannot shake it until you get going again. But I think it can be a catalyst for your off-season program.”
ON NOT HAVING BOWL PRACTICES?“[I will miss it] a bunch. I’m already preparing myself for withdraw symptoms which I’m sure won’t be easy. But I think its good [bowl practices] for a lot of ways; it’s good for your young guys to practice, it’s good for your fans. It’s always a difficult time when you are game-planning and recruiting, so you’ve got two thing going on full bore at the same time and that’s always hard. It will not be fun staying home for the holidays. We didn’t go [to a bowl game] in my first year in Boise in 2001. And we didn’t go our first year when I was with [former Boise State and current Arizona State head coach] Dirk [Koetter] in ’98. Then you probably go back to ’94 before that, so there haven’t been too many of them.”
ON CU OFFENSE?“We got better [against Iowa State]. Again, one tends to look at the scores and you go ?Yeah, it was significantly better.’ I think still in terms of maximizing our opportunities I think we have a ways to go. That’s the key ingredient in this whole deal. You’re never there and you’re never not there. You are always on the way. That’s the mentality that you sort of need to get to.”
ON WHAT A WIN VS. NEBRASKA WOULD MEAN TO THE PLAYERS AFTER THIS SEASON?“I think it would send the seniors out on a good note, obviously. I’ve always measured a season in many ways. But one of them is always finishing strong. I think that’s good in football and good in life?to finish strong. It leaves you with a certain sense of accomplishment that ?Okay, we showed up and we did finish.’ So from that standpoint I think that’s always a plus.”
ON PLUSSES AND MINUSES OF HAVING A BYE WEEK TO PREPARE FOR AN OPPONENT?“That could be a big list. The minuses are that maybe you do too much game planning and put too much in. The minuses are that maybe you’re not quite as sharp because you’ve missed a week. The plusses are you heal up a little bit. The plusses are you get a little more practice, a little more of what you are going to do the next game. I think those are probably the big ones.”
ON THE STRENGTH OF THE NEBRASKA OFFENSE?“Maybe that they have no weakness. Seriously, I mean they are a very solid football team. They are good up front like most offenses. I think their quarterback [Zac Taylor] is a very good leader and makes good decisions. He’s a winner-type guy. They have a good, solid running game and some guys that can go make plays at wide receiver. They are a good football team.”
ON NEBRASKA QB ZAC TAYLOR?“Very efficient, he does a nice job. He goes to the right guy, he doesn’t take negative plays and he’s a very efficient guy in there.”
ON WHY THE ROAD TEAM HAS WON THE LAST FOUR GAMES IN THE SERIES?“(Laughing) I don’t know, I hope it continues though.”
ON HOW TOUGH THE SEASON HAS BEEN?“I think this season?it’s not fun when you lose but when you have a little bit more experience and you have a little bit more path behind you, you understand the nature of it and you understand the value of it and you understand what goes on. It has not been fun but at the same time you’re going ?Alright, I knew there was going to be some rough water.’ I knew that, so you got it and you’re here. You need to understand how to navigate the rough water and get through the rough water. From that standpoint I don’t really rank it as one of the tougher season because I have a little bit more perspective on it now than when I was a younger guy.”
ON HOW QUICKLY HE CAN PUT A SEASON LIKE THIS BEHIND HIM?“The awesome thing about seasons like this is if they are done right you never put them behind you. What it does is it always reconfirms what it is that needs to go on, what needs to happen, what things are important. And those are always those vivid reminders in your head of what needs to happen.”
ON PUNTING SITUATION?“[Redshirt freshman punter] Matt DiLallo has been pounding the ball, just absolutely pounding the ball [in practice]. So I would expect to see him in there.”
HIS OPINION ON BSC PLAYOFF SYSTEM?“I will say publicly I voted them [Ohio State and Michigan, respectively] one and two. There were some in my household who were not in favor of that vote. I talked about it with [Associate AD/Sports Information] David [Plati]... ***NEWS FLASH?MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY JUST WON THE NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP*** Nice! How did the women do? ***SECOND*** (Fist slams on press conference table). By how much? It’s probably by about 100 places in front of us...I’ve been in a playoff situation before [in D-1AA] and everyone wants to settle it on the field. And my experience is that it doesn’t get settled on the field, it gets settled in the training room. I’ve been in the situation where I lost my starting quarterback in the semifinal game and it had a huge impact on the national championship game. A huge impact. I don’t know if a true playoff system is really what ought to happen.”
ON WHAT HE WOULD THINK IF MICHIGAN BEAT OHIO STATE IN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME?“It would be the same thing in basketball. If somebody wins the conference championship and somebody gets hot and runs through the tournament you go ?Well we beat them twice.’ But when you got to the national championship game you didn’t win that game. You have the endless debate. You have a lot of guys making a living between nine and ten every day talking about it.”
ON WHETHER PLAYERS HAVE HELPED HIM GET UP FOR THE NEBRASKA GAME?“Yeah, I’ve certainly talked to some of those guys. But I’ve been doing this for a long time?nobody needs to help me to get up for the game. When you’ve been in those rivalries before and you’ve been around them you know how heated they are. You know the emotions; you know what’s at stake. So none of those guys need to help me get up for it.”
Player Quotes
Senior Offensive Lineman Brian Daniels & Junior Quarterback Bernard Jackson
WHAT ARE YOUR EMOTIONS GOING INTO THE NEBRASKA GAME?
Daniels: “I’m just excited to have the chance to play the last game, and no better venue to be able to play it than Nebraska. I know from experience there is no better feeling than going in there and getting a win, so that’s what we’re looking for this week.”
CAN A WIN SALVAGE THE SEASON?
Daniels: “I don’t know if it can salvage the season but it would sure make me feel better to go out on top and wreck Nebraska’s Top 25 standing. Being able to win there would go a long way in alleviating some of the pain from this year.
DID YOU SEE CU’S 62-36 VICTORY OVER NEBRASKA IN 2001?
Daniels: “I was not on the team, but I remember watching that game. Watching that game on TV was one of my deciding factors in coming here. I was like ?Wow, I want to become a part of that. ’To be able to do that again would be great.”
HOW DOES HAWKINS SEE THE RIVALRY?
Jackson: “We know what the rivalry is about. He [Hawkins] doesn’t elaborate or let us know how big this game is. We know as a team and we’re excited about going out and putting up a fight against Nebraska in Lincoln. I think he [Hawkins] knows what to expect, not just from us letting him know but from people from around here letting him know as far as it being a big deal.”
HOW DOES NEBRASKA’S DEFENSE COMPARE TO OTHERS YOU HAVE FACED?
Jackson: “It’s hard to compare them because my thing is seeing it in the flesh. I think they are a fairly sound defense. They are probably going to throw a lot of blitzes at us and we’re going to be ready for it, we’re going to be ready for a challenge. They have a pretty good defensive line. We’re just going to go out and execute like we’re supposed to and prepare like we know how and come back with a victory on Friday.”
HOW MUCH DOES HAVING FORMER CU OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR SHAWN WATSON HELP NEBRASKA?
Jackson: “It’s hard to say. We have a whole different scheme; it’s not like he left his offense here. He knows or personnel. But I don’t think it matters much that he knows us.
Daniels: “I think if the old staff was here it might have mattered a little bit, but not at all now. I just hopes he [Watson] tells those guys how fired up we get for this game so they bring it all, because we want everything this weekend.”
HOW MUCH HAVE YOU CHANGED AT QUARTERBACK FROM WHEN WATSON COACHED YOU?
Jackson: “That was three years ago when I was being coached by him. I think I’m a fairly different quarterback from then. I just take what coach [offensive coordinator Mark] Helfrich has instilled in me and am just taking it and running with it. I was?what [position] did I play last year? It’s a different scheme and a different coach so I’m not really worried about what he thinks he knows about me and what I’m capable of.”
HOW DOES A QUARTERBACK KEEP HIS COMPOSURE IN LINCOLN?
Jackson: “Just trying to keep guys humble as well as myself. We went down to Georgia and played a fairly sound football game against a fairly sound football team. Everybody knows what we’re capable of so I don’t think I have to do too much talking. We just have to go out and execute. I’m sure that will quiet them [Nebraska fans] up pretty fast. We’ll be able to do some things that we want to do early. Hearing them quiet is a good thing for us. That’s the biggest thing for us is to?shock them. We have to come out and make some big plays and do some things that we want to do in our offense.
DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS BEING YOUR LAST COLLEGE GAME?
Daniels: “I try not to think about it. Last week was a good win and it was good to go out at home like that. But I left that game knowing that I got the biggest game coming up. It’s probably going to be the biggest game of my career and it would mean an awful lot to go out there and pull of a win.”
WHAT WILL YOU MISS MOST ABOUT YOUR COLLEGE CAREER?
Daniels: “Everything. Players, the team, coming out of the tunnel, playing at different stadiums. The whole college football experience I think I will miss.”
WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE TO STRUGGLE ON OFFENSE THIS SEASON?
Jackson: “Throughout the season it’s always been a block or a play away from being a big play and getting the momentum on our side. Unfortunately things haven’t happened out way, but with the offense the way it is clicking right now, if we carry it over to Nebraska, we will have something to build off of this off season. I think next year we will come out and the sky is the limit for this offense.”
Senior Placekicker Mason Crosby & Senior Linebacker Thaddaeus Washington
HOW FAR HAS THE NEBRASKA OFFENSE COME IN THEIR SYSTEM SINCE THEY INSTALLED IT?
Washington: “Last year they came in here and beat us 30-3, so at the end of the season they had started to establish a good foundation in the system they are running right now. Since then, they are getting better and better every week. They have a chance to go to the Big 12 Championship right now. They come out and they want to establish the run. Then they want to come out with the play-action pass and get you on that with deep passes. They are pretty strong in all areas. We just have to go out there and find their weakness. Every team has their weakness and once you keep drilling at them it will show up.”
COULD A WIN SALVAGE THE SEASON?
Crosby: “I think it’s just going to be a great game for seniors and the both of us. I think if we go out there and win this game we will look back and say ?Alright we won against Nebraska our last year.’ It’s our last game and our last opportunity to show what we have as seniors here at CU, and I think that’s probably the most important thing.”
Washington: “I think so. You always want to go out big. We haven’t had a great season and it’s not okay, but if you go out strong it looks better for us as senior and our character. Just to go out and win in Lincoln is very big, so if people see that you can come out and play a great game and win in Lincoln then I think that would be a great start for the guys next year.”
IS THIS GAME LIKE A BOWL GAME?
Washington: “It basically is. It’s our last game and we have to go out there and practice and fun and enjoy ourselves?especially the seniors. It will be our last time together. We just have to make the most of it. I just have to go out there and do what I know how to do. If big hits come up then I will be happy with it.”
IS THIS GAME LIKE THE CULMINATION OF BEING A SENIOR?
Crosby: “I didn’t know what was going to happen [when I decided to come back for my senior year]. I’m not disappointed about what’s happened this season. I think I’ve become a better player and a better guy because of it. Being around a team that can go through all this adversity and not give in and not quit, it’s been an unbelievable learning experience for me personally. This last game is an opportunity to close off a career here at CU hopefully in a good fashion. It’s my last shot at doing something great, ending my career here as a Buff.”
HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT DOING SOMETHING GREAT LIKE HITTING A GAME WINNER IN LINCOLN FROM 65 YARDS OUT?
Crosby: “I haven’t really though about what would be classified as great. I want to go down there and we’ll be putting points on the board whatever way possible, our defense will be stopping them and if it comes down to that it would be great. But I think my version of ending a career is just being consistent and making every kick. That’s how I want to finish.”
WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU HAVE LEARNED HAVING GONE THROUGH THIS YEAR?
Washington: “Mason and I had never really experienced a new head coach coming in. We’ve had to adjust to a lot of things. Everything is new. New personnel, new schemes and basically everything is totally different. It has been a great challenge and I think we have taken it on pretty well. I am proud of the seniors just showing their great character in how they handle things. I just appreciate all of my teammates.”
Crosby: “Hopefully after this year all of the underclassmen after the seniors leave will not take anything for granted again. As long as they take from it and learn from it there is a potential to be some great teams here in the future because of what we’ve been through. We talk about the seniors but it’s been the whole team, we just all came together and have been Buffs together.”
WHAT EXPERIENCES HAVE YOU HAD THAT HAVE SUMMED UP THE RIVALRY?
Washington: “I can just think about when I was coming in on my recruiting trip [in CU’s 62-36 win in 2001] coming to the game and knowing it was big. I saw the guys come out in all black and they made sure that they were going to come out and make a statement. They weren’t just coming out to have fun, but to beat Nebraska. Just to see the fans’ faces and see how the community reacts to this game?it’s just a big game. They put it in a way that you have to win this game and if you don’t then it’s a big problem.”
Crosby: “It’s just the talk surrounding the whole rivalry and everything building up to it. The media, the players, there is stuff online all the time, people just heckling each other. You don’t know who goes after who more but it’s always going to be one of those battles, one of those challenges that you look forward to at the end of the year.”
WHAT KIND OF “TRASH TALKING” GOES ON IN THE RIVALRY?
Crosby: “I don’t get involved in much trash talking. I’m kind of far away from them, that’s more Thaddaeus. The fans seem pretty nice. This year I’ve been getting a lot of Facebook stuff. Fans from [Nebraska] send me things saying ?We’re going to beat you’ and all of this stuff. That’s happened a lot this year with all of the new technology. All the fans get together and go after the other team. It’s just a mental fun part of the game and I love reading them and seeing what they have to say.”
