When it was all said and done, the Buffs could finally walk off the field with heads held high. The 33-16 victory began quickly with an early game scoring drive lead by the now-confident Bernard Jackson. “That was something that we have practiced all week. We had to get on top of them early and take it from there,” said Jackson after the game. Jackson threw for two touchdown passes and scored one of his own on the ground Saturday. Jackson walked away with 200 passing yards on the day, as well as 69 on the ground. “He did a great job, he really did,” said coach Dan Hawkins. “There were a few instances there where coach Helfrich had a few choice words for him. The nature of our program, and particularly quarterback, is you really seek perfection.”
Mell Holliday had 126 rushing yards in his final home game, a career-high, and he has strong confidence going into the Nebraska game. “I think this week made us have more confidence because we were playing for more than a win, we wanted to get a good thing going so we can get momentum going into our game with conference rival Nebraska. This week was like Texas Tech, everything was clicking offensively,” Holliday said. Holliday, Jackson and Hawkins all credit to the great performance of the offensive line for the success of the Buffalo offense in Saturday’s game. “It started up front with the offensive line,” said Jackson. “They came out and set their dominance early and we just went from there. . .the offensive line gave me protection all day and I was able to make my reads. After that it was just guys making plays.”
Before kickoff, Colorado honored 23 players who would be playing in their final home game. “I was happy for the seniors to go out on a winning note at Folsom Field. That’s big, and there’s a lot of tradition here and I think that’s awesome,” said Hawkins. The outlook for next year’s returning players isn’t as great as they are used to, however. “Hawk Love” turns to “Hawk Reality” this spring, as nobody is guaranteed their spot on next year’s squad. “I’m one of those guys where it doesn’t matter if you’re 2-9 or 9-2, and I seriously mean this. Once the year is over, it’s over, and there’s no returning starters. We sit down and find out who wants to lift, who wants to go out and do extra things and throw in spring ball and who can make plays. I just think the notion of grandfathering in or granting emeritus status to anybody is not a healthy way to grow a football team.”
All in all, a good way to end at home what has been an incredibly difficult season for the Buffs and the Buffalo fans. But from one Hawk to another, you’ve got my support. The old friends with the blue turf have had a great season, and if your recruiting continues on it’s current path, we’ll be turned around in no time. And let’s be fair, Colorado fans don’t give you much to work with. If we can make it to the game by the middle of the first quarter we’re doing good. Unless the Buffs are in a scoring drive, we’ll be back at our cars for a beer with 2:00 left in the half. If we come back for the second half we’ll be late, and we’ll boo our own team at the first sign of despair. But with all that, Hawk, we’re behind you 100%. Steer clear of the girl kickers though. If you go down that road and it doesn’t work out, there is nothing we can do.

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