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Is Hansen the starter here on out?

Mr. Babar

I have no elephant books
Club Member
It sounds like the QB situation isn't resolved yet at this point. There is talk of all three QB's getting playing time for the remainder of the year.

Call me old school, but I think if you burn a guy's redshirt season you do it for two reasons only:
1) Injuries force you to do it. The freshman starts from that point on.
2) He is the best player at the position. They start every down.

I will be unhappy if this was a "gimmick" we used for one game or Hansen plays sparingly.

Your thoughts?
 
I believe Hansen will definately got more playing time each week, but we will have to rotate him and Cody for awhile longer as Hansen has only a very small grasp of the offense since he has been studying the other teams offense more to be a good Scout Team QB....last week he only ran about 6-7 different plays as that's about all he knew...the quicker he gets a grasp of things and can run whatever the coaches want him to run the faster he'll be a starter....but with only 5 games left chances are that won't happen right away
 
It sounds like the QB situation isn't resolved yet at this point. There is talk of all three QB's getting playing time for the remainder of the year.

Call me old school, but I think if you burn a guy's redshirt season you do it for two reasons only:
1) Injuries force you to do it. The freshman starts from that point on.
2) He is the best player at the position. They start every down.

I will be unhappy if this was a "gimmick" we used for one game or Hansen plays sparingly.

Your thoughts?

I think all 3 will see playing time. We have seen very little of either Hansen or Ballenger to really make an assessment of them at this point so my guess is they'll both have their opportunities. remember, just a few weeks ago we were all pretty excited about Ballenger as we are now about Hansen. They both have looked good but we'll see how they do the rest of the way as they continue to get pt and learn the playbook.

With that said, I would put my money on Hansen getting the most pt since he did work with the 1's as i don't think Ballenger did not to mention the fact that Hansen came in early in this game whereas Ballenger only played in mop-up time along with the fact, as you said, they burned his redshirt. It tells me Hawk is focusing more on Hansen.
 
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No. C-Hawk is the starter for probably the rest of the season. Hansen only had a package or two. He will see more and more PT as he continues to progress in the offensive scheme (which I wouldn't mind seeing change).

I also kind of hate the idea of Hansen... Let me explain. As he gets more and more PT, we will become more of a spread offensive which I think will hurt our strength (running).
 
I also kind of hate the idea of Hansen... Let me explain. As he gets more and more PT, we will become more of a spread offensive which I think will hurt our strength (running).

Not when you have a Speedy Stewart in the backfield....spread offense works great for him
 
I also kind of hate the idea of Hansen... Let me explain. As he gets more and more PT, we will become more of a spread offensive which I think will hurt our strength (running).

I disagree. If the Buffs prove they can throw the ball the running game will open up even more. Teams also have to worry that Hansen will keep the ball and take off.
 
Hope you're right. I just think Helf**k is stupid enough to try and build the o on a freshmen who can run the qb option.
 
Hansen = mini Eric Crouch.

We can't win consistently by running the draw 20 times a pop over the next 5 games.
 
The running game opened up once Hansen burned them a few times. It was more open even when Cody was in after that, but they would react to Cody, and then stuff the read-option.

This offense is working all over the country and teams run out of it. In fact, there are teams that consider themselves run first from this offense, including Okla and Oregon.
 
I'm sorry, burning a kid's redshirt in the 7th game so he can play a handful of plays the rest of the season is weak and a tremendous waste.

I'm not saying he should play every down -- but he should get half the snaps, at minimum.
 
Hansen = mini Eric Crouch.

We can't win consistently by running the draw 20 times a pop over the next 5 games.

He's not going to run the draw 20 times as he gets more reps and a better understanding of the playbook...they only ran about 6 different plays when he was out there and that will change in time
 
Please everyone, don't forget that the kid was learning the opposing offenses offense every week so he could run it in practice. If he can pick up many major formations every week, then he will pick up ours quickly. In fact, that is what I had heard behind the scenes was that the coaches were impressed with how quickly he would pick up the other teams plays and then go out and make them work in a big way. to the point of making our D look a bit foolish at times. So if he is done with scout team, and is wholly concentrating on learning our offense and getting snaps with the ones, then his book of plays that he can use in games will grow rapidly. the the book of plays that work for CU will grow at the same time, as he can hit the entire field and can run. Two huge attributes that defenses will have to respect. No more 8 and 9 players in the box.
 
I'm sorry, burning a kid's redshirt in the 7th game so he can play a handful of plays the rest of the season is weak and a tremendous waste.

I'm not saying he should play every down -- but he should get half the snaps, at minimum.
:yeahthat:

Please everyone, don't forget that the kid was learning the opposing offenses offense every week so he could run it in practice. If he can pick up many major formations every week, then he will pick up ours quickly. In fact, that is what I had heard behind the scenes was that the coaches were impressed with how quickly he would pick up the other teams plays and then go out and make them work in a big way. to the point of making our D look a bit foolish at times. So if he is done with scout team, and is wholly concentrating on learning our offense and getting snaps with the ones, then his book of plays that he can use in games will grow rapidly. the the book of plays that work for CU will grow at the same time, as he can hit the entire field and can run. Two huge attributes that defenses will have to respect. No more 8 and 9 players in the box.
:dito:
 
And for what it's worth, Hansen took more snaps than Cody did on Sat. I assume that will continue.

Aside from the running there were a handful of throws that made you go :wow: on Sat.
1. the TD to McKnight
2. The 15 yard sideline out to PW (pretty sure the snap was from the far hash
3. The throw to Behrens on the run (great, great catch too)
4. Throw down field (maybe 30 yards) to the TE (It was dropped, but it was right on the money)

And yes, the INT he threw was also:wow:, in a bad way

I think he's going to have a tough go of it this weekend, but he's going to continue to grow and because of that I think we get to 6 wins
 
No. C-Hawk is the starter for probably the rest of the season. Hansen only had a package or two. He will see more and more PT as he continues to progress in the offensive scheme (which I wouldn't mind seeing change).

I also kind of hate the idea of Hansen... Let me explain. As he gets more and more PT, we will become more of a spread offensive which I think will hurt our strength (running).

The spread is actually more of a running system. It's not all about throw, throw throw throw.

When you run the spread effectively, you force either linebackers or a nickel corner to drop into coverage, reducing the number of defenders in the box from 7 (if they're running a traditional 3-4 or 4-3), to 5 or 6. Now you have numbers inside the box, and the Quarterback only needs to figure out what a weakside linebacker or defensive end does, either pursue the running back or keep contain on the quarterback, and he can keep it or handoff (that's the "option" part).

There's tons of variations on this too, such as if our Oline can get healthy and start opening holes, we could then have both Scott and Speedy in the backfield, then we could run a triple option out of the spread. Hansen could handoff to Scott if he sees there might be a hole opening in the line, or he could keep it with Speedy behind him, and run a option play to the weak side. I don't think we'll be running this yet though, it's a pretty complex play with a lot of split second decisions to be made and I don't think we want to overwhelm Hansen.

The problem you run into though, (what happened to West Virginia during our game), is that if people stop respecting the pass threat. Now you have extra linebackers keeping contain outside the box.

Like any other offense, you either run to establish your pass or pass to establish your run.
 
He's not going to run the draw 20 times as he gets more reps and a better understanding of the playbook...they only ran about 6 different plays when he was out there and that will change in time

I like how he stares down his receivers. But I'd care to guess that opposing defense's like it more. His picks were all instances of him staring down his receivers. Over time he should over come that problem.

As for burning his redshirt he'll get to use that when he gets hurt. He likes to take direct hits.
 
I like how he stares down his receivers. But I'd care to guess that opposing defense's like it more. His picks were all instances of him staring down his receivers. Over time he should over come that problem.
As for burning his redshirt he'll get to use that when he gets hurt. He likes to take direct hits.

Exactly, all of these things go out the window in time as he becomes more familiar with our playbook...instead of him questioning where the receivers are going to be he will know where they are can stare down the safety and make the throw.
 
I like how he stares down his receivers. But I'd care to guess that opposing defense's like it more. His pick was an instance of him staring down his receiver. Over time he should over come that problem.

As for burning his redshirt he'll get to use that when he gets hurt. He likes to take direct hits.

Fify
 
I think he's going to have a tough go of it this weekend, but he's going to continue to grow and because of that I think we get to 6 wins

I was rewatching the FSU game last night (I hate watching losses, but I wanted to see if I ever got on camera - and the wife is out of town - I dirgress). The comentators were talking about Ponder and why he was starting over Weatherford. Basically, they said Bobby B. was willing to take some chances that the freshman would make mistakes so that he could grow, learn and would be better for it in the future.

You are spot-on HF - Hawk will continue to allow Hanson to make mistakes, but at the same time watch him grow into a very formidable QB.
 
I'm sorry, burning a kid's redshirt in the 7th game so he can play a handful of plays the rest of the season is weak and a tremendous waste.

I'm not saying he should play every down -- but he should get half the snaps, at minimum.

Nobody cares what you think. What does Elle McPhearson think?
 
The more I think about it, I like the rotation. Bringing TH along without throwing the whole load on him seems smart. There are some things CH does well (i.e. check off into different plays) that TH probably hasn't mastered yet. OTH, TH has a mobility threat and a live arm. I am pretty excited about how this is going to play out.

I had nearly convinced myself CH was the only player who was going to get significant PT, I'm glad I was wrong....
 
Aside from the running there were a handful of throws that made you go :wow: on Sat.
4. Throw down field (maybe 30 yards) to the TE (It was dropped, but it was right on the money)

Was this the play interference was called? If it was that was his most impressive throw of the night imo. On the run with two guys on his heels, and just gunned it downfield.
 
Please everyone, don't forget that the kid was learning the opposing offenses offense every week so he could run it in practice. If he can pick up many major formations every week, then he will pick up ours quickly. In fact, that is what I had heard behind the scenes was that the coaches were impressed with how quickly he would pick up the other teams plays and then go out and make them work in a big way. to the point of making our D look a bit foolish at times. So if he is done with scout team, and is wholly concentrating on learning our offense and getting snaps with the ones, then his book of plays that he can use in games will grow rapidly. the the book of plays that work for CU will grow at the same time, as he can hit the entire field and can run. Two huge attributes that defenses will have to respect. No more 8 and 9 players in the box.

Wonder if we can borrow some of his favorite plays from the other teams.

He is critical to keeping the defense off-balance. Having a true throwing and running threat at QB allows us to have a chance to win period. I fully expect that Tyler will be allowed to take on as much as he proves he is capable of running effectively.
 
I wouldn't be surprised to see Matt Ballenger this weekend. That seems like something Hawk might do - have Mizzou prep for TH and CH and then throw in the other guy. Just a thought.
 
I wouldn't be surprised to see Matt Ballenger this weekend. That seems like something Hawk might do - have Mizzou prep for TH and CH and then throw in the other guy. Just a thought.

Somebody who knows the finer points of the three QBs can correct me if I am wrong, but I haven't seen a significant difference between Ballenger and Hawkins when they have both played. It didn't seem to me that a defense would need to prepare any different for either one of them.
 
Somebody who knows the finer points of the three QBs can correct me if I am wrong, but I haven't seen a significant difference between Ballenger and Hawkins when they have both played. It didn't seem to me that a defense would need to prepare any different for either one of them.

Ballenger is Hawkins last year but with a better arm.
 
The more I think about it, I like the rotation. Bringing TH along without throwing the whole load on him seems smart. There are some things CH does well (i.e. check off into different plays) that TH probably hasn't mastered yet. OTH, TH has a mobility threat and a live arm.

I like it, because if nothing else it deflects some of the focus of the opposing defense during preperation for the week. Mizzou now has to prepare to face 2 quarterbacks with two completely different skill sets.

Add to that that I'm not completely sold on Mizzou's defense, the Gary Pinkel factor and Saturday's game should be closer than last years. I don't know that we'll win, but this gives us a better shot.
 
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