What's new
AllBuffs | Unofficial fan site for the University of Colorado at Boulder Athletics programs

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • Prime Time. Prime Time. Its a new era for Colorado football. Consider signing up for a club membership! For $20/year, you can get access to all the special features at Allbuffs, including club member only forums, dark mode, avatars and best of all no ads ! But seriously, please sign up so that we can pay the bills. No one earns money here, and we can use your $20 to keep this hellhole running. You can sign up for a club membership by navigating to your account in the upper right and clicking on "Account Upgrades". Make it happen!

Is it time for Ballenger yet?

I don't know about all of you.... but I am about sick of seeing Cody struggle to throw the ball over 20 yards. It is making our already poor offense even more one dimensional. Ballenger may not have the leadership skills like Cody, but at least he can get the ball over the D-line. And lets face it..... he can't be any worse than Cody at this point.
 
I don't know about all of you.... but I am about sick of seeing Cody struggle to throw the ball over 20 yards. It is making our already poor offense even more one dimensional. Ballenger may not have the leadership skills like Cody, but at least he can get the ball over the D-line. And lets face it..... he can't be any worse than Cody at this point.

While I don't blame Cody entirely it is clear the offense isn't progressing with him and I really don't see much progress by him as a QB. He still makes several bas passes every game (decision making) and the safety he took yesterday is an example. Ballenger may not do any better but it is certainly worth it to give him more playing time. The time Ballenger has been in he seems to have better poise and pocket awareness not to mention he can see the field better and has the arm strength needed as well as mobility which our QB must have right now.
 
Colt McCoy sucked last year. This year he's a giant killer. The difference? He's now a JR with more experience and maturity under his belt.

n the 2007 season, McCoy was somewhat less consistent. Through the first five games he threw nine interceptions - two more than he threw in the entire 2006 season;[10] he went on to throw 18 interceptions during the 2007 season.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_McCoy
 
I think that time might be close... Ballenger looks good to me, however, we need to appreciate Big Hawks judgement on this decision.

  • Cody looks very unsure of himself right now. Maybe some time off would help him get his Mojo back.
  • Ballenger can move, and with the O Line in disrepair this could provide more first down yardage, and therefore better opportunities on 2nd, 3rd down to convert.
  • O Line will cause both the pass and run games to look good or bad. Its tough, but the injuries at this critical position, and the high level of competition the last few weeks are causing this turmoil.
  • Playbook with Ballenger would likely take a big step backward since he does not know it like Cody. This could be OK, however, it could further debilitate the offense.
Everyone needs to relax. Take a deep breath. Hawkins (the coach) is a bright guy and he will put the right guy in the game when that time comes.
 
Last edited:
How much worse could Ballenger's play be than Cody? At his worst, I don't see him botching things up any worse than what has happened in the past 3 games. Cody has thrown multiple picks, missed wide open TD passes, gave up a safety, not been able to spark anything, had many balls batted at the line, and had far more worse plays than good plays.

Ballenger, may or may not have as much of the offense down but he looks more mobile, has a stronger arm, can see over the line, and has all the tools that a DI QB needs. Why would you not make a switch? What could he possibly do that is worse than what Cody has been bringing the past few games?
 
It may not be time for Ballenger, but it's definitely time for someone different. Anyone different. I'd take Nelson or Ballenger at this point. I can't wait for Hansen next year.
 
Comparing CH to Colt McCoy is... laughable, and you know it. There is no comparison. They are not even in the same realm and they never will be. Ever.
 
I think the comparison was on how the fans turned their backs on Colt during last season. They pretty much said the same things you guys are saying.
 
I think the comparison was on how the fans turned their backs on Colt during last season. They pretty much said the same things you guys are saying.

Doesn't matter if the fans are doing the same thing, because the situations are still different. Colt is a great QB playing bad. Cody is an average QB playing bad.
 
Doesn't matter if the fans are doing the same thing, because the situations are still different. Colt is a great QB playing bad. Cody is an average QB playing bad.

Skills aside. If the coaches listened to the fans, then UT wouldn't be where they are. Am I saying Cody is going to lead us to a MNC? Probably not. But he is good enough to win games for us. He's done it in the past. He just needs time, like any QB needs from their OL.
 
Skills aside. If the coaches listened to the fans, then UT wouldn't be where they are. Am I saying Cody is going to lead us to a MNC? Probably not. But he is good enough to win games for us. He's done it in the past. He just needs time, like any QB needs from their OL.

And I'm not saying Ballenger will either, but who knows if we don't give him a chance.
 
And I'm not saying Ballenger will either, but who knows if we don't give him a chance.

Without an OL. We are probably going to see more of the same from Ballenger. He had zero time to make any decisions out there. That's one of the problems with Cody, he's taken so many shots he's got happy feet. He isn't comfortable in the pocket and I don't blame him.

But like you said, maybe he just need a chance.
 
Without an OL. We are probably going to see more of the same from Ballenger. He had zero time to make any decisions out there. That's one of the problems with Cody, he's taken so many shots he's got happy feet. He isn't comfortable in the pocket and I don't blame him.

But like you said, maybe he just need a chance.

And also maybe Cody needs a chance to release some pressure from himself. Give Ballenger some time, calm Cody down, and one of them will start playing at a higher level. Cody is the type of mature kid that can handle being benched, he won't turn into a head case. It might actually help him and Matt.
 
And also maybe Cody needs a chance to release some pressure from himself. Give Ballenger some time, calm Cody down, and one of them will start playing at a higher level. Cody is the type of mature kid that can handle being benched, he won't turn into a head case. It might actually help him and Matt.

If we bench Cody, we need to stick with Matt imo. Switching back and forth wouldn't be a good thing for either QB imo.
 
I'm sorry but quarterbacks deserve to be benched when they have 3 consecutive games with under 50% completion percentages, two of which were below 40%. 40%. Do you know how bad that is? When was the last time you looked at a box score and saw the QB complete 36% of his passes for a grand total of 90 yards?

I can't recall a performance that dismal. Ever.

That is the kind of performance that deserves a benching. If that isn't cause for CH to be benched, what in the world is? How much worse could you really, actually be than 8/22 for 90 yards with two interceptions?
 
Without an OL. We are probably going to see more of the same from Ballenger. He had zero time to make any decisions out there. That's one of the problems with Cody, he's taken so many shots he's got happy feet. He isn't comfortable in the pocket and I don't blame him.

But like you said, maybe he just need a chance.

You are probably right.

The thing is, the OL is not getting healthier this season. Given that, how woul you expect things to get better if Cody continues to play full-time? Is he going to get over the happy feet by playing behind the same line longer? Is he going to suddenly rediscover his touch? He might. But is the chance of that better than the chance that Ballenger might bring something to the table that can make the offense better? Personally, I don't think so, but I guess everybody will draw their own conclusions about that...
 
I'm sorry but quarterbacks deserve to be benched when they have 3 consecutive games with under 50% completion percentages, two of which were below 40%. 40%. Do you know how bad that is? When was the last time you looked at a box score and saw the QB complete 36% of his passes for a grand total of 90 yards?

I can't recall a performance that dismal. Ever.

That is the kind of performance that deserves a benching. If that isn't cause for CH to be benched, what in the world is? How much worse could you really, actually be than 8/22 for 90 yards with two interceptions?

I know you hate Cody. But when you don't have a patchwork line of OL, it affects everything. No running game, no passing game. Go ahead and bench Cody, but don't expect Matt to knock anyone's socks off. He looked panicked during the KU game.
 
If we bench Cody, we need to stick with Matt imo. Switching back and forth wouldn't be a good thing for either QB imo.

I don't agree with this at all. I know it is a different situation, but if your starting QB gets injured and misses a couple games, do you leave the backup in when he returns just to keep things the same?

Even though Cody is actually injured, his mentality right now almost is. He is playing injured and some bench time might help him recover.
 
I don't agree with this at all. I know it is a different situation, but if your starting QB gets injured and misses a couple games, do you leave the backup in when he returns just to keep things the same?

Even though Cody is actually injured, his mentality right now almost is. He is playing injured and some bench time might help him recover.

Cody is rattled. Benching him won't help his problem imo. Switching back and forth is not the path I want to see this team go down.
 
I don't agree with this at all. I know it is a different situation, but if your starting QB gets injured and misses a couple games, do you leave the backup in when he returns just to keep things the same?

Even though Cody is actually injured, his mentality right now almost is. He is playing injured and some bench time might help him recover.

You keep him if you win games you aren't supposed to (OSU and MU), otherwise you should go back to your starter. Think Bledsoe and Brady.

If the coaches start out another guy, unless he really is the best QB on the roster, then you'll do more damage to the team. As poorly as we are doing right now, we need leadership more than anything. We do not have all of the right people in all of the right places to win a game on someone's shoulders. We may do better with Ballenger, but we may do worse and if he doesn't really deserve that spot the people on the team will question the coaching staff.

Fans can question the coaching staff until they are blue in the face. That's fine. That's what we do. However, we aren't on the field. Once the coaching staff loses the team then we are no better off than we were during 30-3 or 70-3, imo.
 
Do you really think anyone would question Hawkins for benching his own son because of horrible play? I think it is more likely for them to question him not benching his own son because of horrible play.
 
Do you really think anyone would question Hawkins for benching his own son because of horrible play? I think it is more likely for them to question him not benching his own son because of horrible play.

But what does that solve? Benching one player does not answer anything. Throwing the season away would do more bad than good.
 
But what does that solve? Benching one player does not answer anything. Throwing the season away would do more bad than good.

But benching a player isn't throwing the season away. It would solve the issue of who really deserves to be the guy. If Matt doesn't perform, Cody is the man and it sucks that we are stuck with two QBs who can't get it done for us this year.
 
But benching a player isn't throwing the season away. It would solve the issue of who really deserves to be the guy. If Matt doesn't perform, Cody is the man and it sucks that we are stuck with two QBs who can't get it done for us this year.

I hear you 87. But Buff04 keeps on harping on Cody like this is 100% his fault. That's what i don't agree with.

I also believe that Matt Ballenger could become a awesome QB. He has the tools. But i just don't think he's ready. But what do I know.

I say start CH for the KSU game. If he, and our OL, continue to struggle than plug in Matt and hope for the best. I'm not a fan of this, but I can see this happening.
 
I hear you 87. But Buff04 keeps on harping on Cody like this is 100% his fault. That's what i don't agree with.

I also believe that Matt Ballenger could become a awesome QB. He has the tools. But i just don't think he's ready. But what do I know.

I say start CH for the KSU game. If he, and our OL, continue to struggle than plug in Matt and hope for the best. I'm not a fan of this, but I can see this happening.

I hear you too. It's all our opinions anyway and sadly they don't count in this matter, but I fully agree Cody is not the only problem. Not even close.
 
Back
Top