(AP) Colorado enters preseason workouts without a starting quarterback for the third year in a row. For the second straight year, the contenders are Cody Hawkins, coach Dan Hawkins’ son, and Tyler Hansen. Hawkins started the first five games last year but was replaced during the Buffs’ worst offensive game of the year a 38-14 loss at Texas. Hansen started the remaining seven games. Dan Hawkins said the coaching staff planned to decide about two weeks before the Sept. 4 opener against Colorado State in Denver. If last year’s stats are any indication, it could be a split decision. Colorado was 1-4 with Hawkins as the starter, 2-5 under Hansen. Hawkins, a senior this year, threw for 1,277 yards with 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Hansen, now a junior, had 1,440 yards with eight TDs and seven interceptions, including three in a season-ending loss to Nebraska. The Buffs were last in the Big 12 in total offense and 10th in scoring in 2009.
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(AP) Mack Brown figures defenses are starting to catch up to the spread offense. He’s noticed how much his defense has struggled against powerful, traditional running games in bowl games. And with a young quarterback replacing Colt McCoy, the Longhorns probably shouldn’t throw as much as they have in recent years anyway. With so many things pointing them in the same direction, Texas coaches have made the easy decision to spruce up their running game this season. Brown half-jokingly said Wednesday at Big 12 media day that there was no incentive to run when McCoy was completing seven of every 10 throws.
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(AP) Turner Gill wanted to get to know his new Kansas team and wanted to make sure they knew each other. So he asked questions like who was the most influential person in their lives and why, then had every player and coach stand up and answer. Will that matter on fourth-and-goal from the 1 in the closing seconds of a tight game? It can’t hurt, Gill figures. Gill’s soft approach could be just what the Jayhawks need after eight years under Mark Mangino. Mangino turned Kansas football into the kind of program the basketball team could be proud of. But things came crashing down late last season. Mangino was accused of physically and verbally abusing players and others around the program. He denied everything, then resigned in December.
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(AP) Oklahoma running back DeMarco Murray finally made it through a season without getting hurt last year. Now he wants to do something no Sooner not even his friend, Adrian Peterson has done: rush for 2,000 yards. Murray scored five touchdowns in his first college game in 2007, which must have looked familiar to OU fans who watched Peterson set an OU record with 1,925 yards when the Minnesota Vikings star was a freshman three years earlier. But injuries shortened Murray’s first two seasons, and he’s still chasing the man he followed around as a wide-eyed redshirt. Murray hasn’t threatened Peterson’s rushing record yet. He had 764 yards when he dislocated a kneecap late in the 2007 season. He said his lowest point came a year later when he injured a hamstring on the opening kickoff of the Big 12 championship game, spoiling his only 1,000-yard season (1,002) and costing him a chance to play in the BCS title game loss to Florida.