Literally.
Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins, son of Buffs head coach Dan Hawkins, was benched in the second half of Saturday’s loss to Texas.
And, by all appearances, that benching is going to last for an extended period of time.
According to offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau, the benching of Hawkins in favor Tyler Hansen wasn’t a one-half or one-game deal. Rather, it seems as if Hansen will be the man under center for the remainder of the season as the Buffaloes attempt to pull themselves out of the wreckage of a 14 start to the season.
“Tyler is a competitor, and that guy wants to play,” Kiesau said.
“The thing you want to make of this is that if and when we do this, like we did (Saturday night), it’s worth his while. The quarterback is very delicate. When you pull that guy, you have to make sure it’s for the right decision. That’s why we did it (Saturday night). We’re going to go with it. We’re going to go with Tyler, and I don’t want to go back and forth. I want to have our guy and have him run the offense.”
Hawkins was barely completing 50 percent of his passes (50.7) and had thrown nine interceptions. With those stats, even the QB himself realized that a change was probably necessary.
“Our offense was a little bit stagnant,” Hawkins said. “We didn’t have a spark. When you’re down by 10 against the No. 2 team in the country and you’re at their place, you’re looking for a spark to find a way to win. I put us in a bad spot (with the interception returned for a TD), because it went downhill from there.”