Kansas State @ Colorado preview
Folsom Field
Last Meeting ( Oct 24, 2009 ) Colorado 6, Kansas State 20
Brian Cabral picked up his first win as Colorado’s head coach last week. A couple more unlikely triumphs and he might even have the team in a bowl game.
Cabral and the Buffaloes will be looking to keep their postseason hopes alive when they host Kansas State on Saturday.
Colorado (4-6, 1-5 Big 12) let go of former coach Dan Hawkins before last week’s game, due largely to his failure to turn the program around over the last few years and in part due to the ugly taste left by a 52-45 loss to Kansas on Nov. 6.
Hawkins and the Buffaloes blew a 28-point fourth-quarter lead in the contest and had dropped their last eight Big 12 Conference games.
Enter Cabral, a 22-year Colorado assistant who is getting his first taste of the head job on an interim basis. All Cabral did in his first game was guide the Buffaloes to their first conference win of the season, a 34-14 triumph over Iowa State last weekend.
Hawkins had a big hand in the win as it was his son, starting quarterback Cody Hawkins, who threw for 266 yards and three touchdowns as Dan watched from the stands instead of the sidelines.
Even more impressive was the play of the defense, which recorded eight sacks and returned a fumble for a touchdown after getting beaten badly against Kansas.
Still mathematically eligible for a bowl berth at 4-6, the Buffaloes will have to win their final two games, this Saturday against Kansas State and next week against No. 9 Nebraska to have a shot. The Nebraska contest will be an emotional one for the Buffaloes, who will be playing their last Big 12 game before moving on to what will become the Pac-12 next season.
Kansas State (6-4, 3-4) certainly won’t make it easy for Colorado as it attempts to finish the season strong. Already bowl eligible, the Wildcats will be playing for better positioning over the next two weeks as they try to get their quarterback situation under control.
Coach Bill Snyder rotated Carson Coffman and Collin Klein against Missouri last week - not just by series, but by plays. Coffman took most of the snaps on passing downs while Klein was out there for his legs. The switches did not work, however, as Kansas State fell 38-28.
Klein had started the previous week in a rout over Texas while Coffman nursed an injury, but he did not have a great day passing the ball, prompting Snyder to go with the rotation. Klein responded by rushing for 141 yards and throwing the first touchdown pass of his career. Coffman did not have quite as much success, throwing an interception and losing a pair of fumbles.
Kansas State won last season’s meeting between the schools 20-6 behind 145 yards and a touchdown from running back Daniel Thomas.