Saturday Buff Bites

Neil Woelk asks to be coach for a day and has his pick for next year's starting quarterback:

Make me the coach for a day and I'd pick Hansen to be my starter on Sept. 5 when the Buffs open against Colorado State.

In the long run, I believe Hansen offers the biggest upside. He's a threat on the run, his arm strength is equal to Hawkins' and he can make plays while avoiding the rush, something that Hawkins has struggled to do on occasion. Give him enough time, and he should also be able to pick up the subtleties that currently escape him.

Patrick Ridgell has a good piece on the scrimmage yesterday. First, yesterday's practice was situational at best since it was inside. The stats won't really pop out at you. Hansen went 9 - 11 yesterday for 64 yards and a touchdown, Hawkins went 14 - 23 for 146 and a score. Most articles this morning have the defense getting the better hand. Here is how Mark Helfrich assessed each quarterback:

Helfrich said both are playing well, though he said Cody Hawkins found him because Sumler is the most assignment-sound back he has self in a couple of situations Friday in which he should have thrown the football and did not. He said Hansen is benefiting from limited quarterback contact in practices because it coaxes him to look downfield more, rendering him more of "a passer first, runner second."

As expected, a decision on who will be the starting quarterback will not be decided this spring.

Running back coach Darian Hagan said that Demetrius Sumler would be the day one starter "because Sumler is the most assignment-sound back he has."

"I trust that guy," Hagan said about Sumler. "The other guys are so topsy-turvy. They are so inconsistent. You don't know what you're going to get from one play to the other.

That being said, Demetrius Sumler only got one carry for 5 yards. Darrell Scott toted the rock 11 times for 43 yards

I think this statement by Ridgell sums it up: "CU's thin receiving corps has become anorexic." Yesterday, WR Ryan Maxwell was out with a virus, Josh Smith out with a sprained ankle and Scotty McKnight out with strained triceps. Michigan transfer Toney Clemons was at the scrimmage, they should have suited him up. Hopefully Clemons wasn't scared away by the weather but he should see the huge gap he could fill at wide receiver in 2010.

Receivers who played Friday were Markques Simas, who could be the offense's most indispensable player in 2009; and walk-ons Jason Espinoza, Kyle Cefalo and Dustin Ebner.

It is hard to get better with only four receivers playing and two starters out. Walk-on Kyle Cefalo led the team in yards yesterday with 4 receptions for 66 yards. Still sounds like Simas is impressing those around him, though:

"Markques is a player, I'm telling you," sophomore quarterback Tyler Hansen said. "He's going to be a force to be reckoned with in the Big 12. We've just been waiting for him to come out. Finally, he's stepping up in the classroom, and he's showing that he can make plays."

Stats from yesterday's scrimmage. The running game still looks like it has work to do. No running back with more than one carry has had more than a four yard per attempt average yet in the first two scrimmages. Darrell Scott's 3.9 ypc yesterday was the best among running backs.

Aric Goodman was 4 - 6 on field goals, 0 - 1 on PAT's...I wouldn't worry too much, kicking in that bubble is not the easiest thing to do.

It sounds like the linebackers are making an impression on defensive coordinator, Ron Collins:

"The linebackers were running around pretty well today," Collins added.  "The edge guys, B.J. (Beatty) and Doug (Rippy) came off the edge pretty well.  I think Mike (Sipili) and Marcus (Burton) are both playing pretty well right now."

Good to see Burton, Sipili and Rippy in that list...thinking we have two All Big 12 performers from last year not on that mention shows you how much of a strength linebacker is.

CuBuffs.com also has some videos up from yesterday.