Conference Big 12 Conference 2007 record 6–7 (4–4 Big 12) Offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich | Division North Head coach Dan Hawkins Offensive scheme Multiple | |
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The 2007 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Dan Hawkins in his second season at Colorado and played their home games at Folsom Field. Colorado finished 6–7 after losing in the Independence Bowl to Alabama. 2007 was Colorado's first consecutive losing season in 22 years, but represented a vast improvement over the team's 2–10 mark in 2006.
Contents
Spring practice
Official CU Spring Game websitePrior to spring practice, there were two position changes planned: Cha’pelle Brown will move from cornerback to wide receiver, and Joe Sanders will switch back to tight end from outside linebacker. Sanders started his career at tight end but two weeks into his first spring practice moved to inside linebacker (he missed the fall of his freshman year after undergoing shoulder surgery).
Nine players will not return from the 2006 squad: Paul Backowski (OL), Quinton Borders (OL), Dominique Brooks (S), Clayton Cammon (WR, walkon), Steve Fendry (TE), Isaac Garden (P/PK, walkon, graduated), Tom Grubin (C, walkon), Jeremy Hauck (OL) and Reggie Joseph (WR).
The annual spring game occurred on April 14. The game consisted of a mix between live scrimmages and 7-on-7 drills due to the shortage of healthy and eligible offensive linemen. The offense was remarked as having made improvements compared to last season's spring game.
Bernard Jackson, the starting quarterback from last season saw limited time at the position during spring practice and was used as a wide receiver, running back, punt and kick returner. Cody Hawkins (Red shirt Freshman) and Nick Nelson (JC transfer Junior) competed for the quarterback position. Hawkins completed 12-of-20 passes for 119 yards an interception and a touchdown in live action. In 7-on-7 drills, he completed 15-of-23 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns. Nelson completed 3-of-10 passes for 30 yards and an interception and also had two rushes for 20 yards during live action. In 7-on-7 drills, he completed 21-of-28 passes for 256 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
Awards
Infraction
In June 2007, the Buffaloes were placed under probation for two years and fined US$100,000 for undercharging 133 student-athletes for meals over a six-year span (2000–01 to 2005–06) resulting in the major infraction. The football program, with 86 of the 133 student-athletes involved, also lost one scholarship for the next three seasons.
Recruiting
National Signing Day was on February 7, 2007 and Colorado signed high school athletes from around the country. Colorado's overall team ranking was 35th by Scout.com and 31st by Rivals.com. Colorado had 31 scholarships available.
Official CU Signing Day Central
Uniform changes
Images of new uniformsOn June 2, 2007, Colorado announced changes to their uniforms. Most notable is the incorporation of silver into the uniform combining the two school colors, silver and gold, for the first time. The "COLORADO" across the chest and player names on the back are now smaller, and will be gold instead of white (the only color it has ever been). The numbers will now be silver. The pants now have trim on the sides; silver on the gold pants and gold on the black pants. The white pants have now been eliminated. In addition to the design change, the new uniforms designed by Nike also improve technical parts of the uniform including innovative fit, weight reduction, increased ventilation and improved moisture management.
Schedule
The schedule was ranked as the No. 10 toughest home schedule.
Roster
Michael Sipili was charged with assault for being suspected for fighting with Taj Kaynor, defensive tackle, also involving Chris Perri, sophomore defensive tackle on June 22, 2007. Sipili and Perri were suspended for the first three games and Kaynor was suspended for the first game. Sipili was later suspended from campus on September 21, 2007 for the fall semester over the incident forcing him to miss the entire season. As a true sophomore, he will likely use this season as a redshirt and have 3 years remaining of eligibility.
Starting running back Hugh Charles suffered a pulled hamstring on the first series of the Colorado State game, forcing him to miss the rest of that game and the Arizona State game the following week.
Statistics
Colorado does not include bowl game statistics as part of their season total statistics. The statistics below therefore are for the 12 game regular season and do not include any statistics recorded during the bowl game against Alabama.
Source for all statistics below: http://www.cubuffs.com/pdf3/100956.pdf?ATCLID=1207369&SPSID=3844&SPID=255&DB_OEM_ID=600