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. This was the last Colorado team to be invited to a bowl game until 2016.
Preseason Spring practice Official CU Spring Game website Prior 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 Jordon Dizon Lott Trophy watchlist Daniel Sanders Dave Rimington Trophy watchlist Terrence Wheatley Jim Thorpe Award watchlist
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
|colspan="20"|2006 = counts towards 2006 class |- |colspan="20"| Jess Beets (OL, 6–3, 280) from Mission Viejo, CA (Saddleback JC) had given a verbal commitment but picked Kentucky over Colorado. Apaiata Tuihalamaka (LB, 6–3, 205) from Gardena, CA (Junipero Serra HS) had given a verbal commitment to Colorado on November 15, 2006, but later retracted and gave a verbal commitment to the Arizona Wildcats on December 1, 2006. (Subscription required for full story) Devonne Quattlebaum (S, 6–0, 175) from Monetta, SC (Ridge-Spring Monetta HS) had given a verbal commitment to Colorado in November. But he took another recruiting visit to South Carolina State University in late January and gave a "solid verbal" to them afterwards. Adam Tello (OL, 6–4, 290) from Norco, CA (Norco HS) had verbally committed to Colorado but later retracted giving a commitment to Arizona State on February 6, 2007. (Subscription required for full article) Garth Gerhart (OL, 6–2, 300) from Norco, CA (Norco HS) had verbally committed to Colorado but gave a verbal commitment to Arizona State on February 6, 2007. Robert Hall (LB, 6–2, 220) from Friendswood, TX (Friendswood HS) was reported as committing to Colorado but did not sign.
Uniform changes Images of new uniforms On June 2, 2007, Colorado announced changes to their uniforms. This link also discusses the history of CU's football 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. (as of October 22, 2007)Wide receiver (x) 4 Patrick Williams – Junior 9 Josh Smith – Freshman 48 Cody Crawford – Junior 80 Jarrell Yates – Sophomore
Wide receiver (z) 21 Scotty McKnight – Freshman 83 Dusty Sprague – Senior 1 Stephone Robinson – Senior 5 Kendrick Celestine – Freshman
Offensive line Left tackle 77 Tyler Polumbus – Senior 73 Ryan Miller – Freshman 79 Sione Tau – Freshman 71 Matthew Bahr – Freshman 63 Ethan Adkins – Freshman
Left guard 51 Kai Maiava – Freshman 65 Wes Palazzi – Freshman
Center 75 Daniel Sanders – Junior 51 Kai Maiava – Freshman 56 Keenan Stevens – Freshman
Right guard 76 Edwin Harrison – Senior 72 Devin Head – Sophomore 51 Kai Maiava – Freshman
Right tackle 73 Ryan Miller – Freshman 76 Edwin Harrison – Senior
Tight end (numerical order) 87 Riar Geer – Sophomore 84 Tyson DeVree – Senior 13 Joe Sanders – Senior 92 Nate Solder – Freshman 33 Patrick Devenny – Sophomore
Quarterbacks 7 Cody Hawkins – Freshman 3 Nick Nelson – Junior
Tailbacks (numerical order) 2 Hugh Charles – Senior 8 Demetrius Sumler – Freshman 27 Byron Ellis – Senior 20 Brian Lockridge – Freshman 23 Kevin Moyd – Sophomore
Fullbacks 41 Jake Behrens – Sophomore 43 Samson Jagoras – Senior 32 Maurice Cantrell – Junior Defensive line Left Defensive end 91 Maurice Lucas – Junior 90 Marquez Herrod – Freshman
Defensive tackle 86 George Hypolite – Junior 78 Jason Brace – Sophomore 69 Eric Lawson – Sophomore
Nose tackle 94 Brandon Nicolas – Junior 99 Chris Perri – Junior 97 Taj Kaynor – Sophomore
Right Defensive end 47 Alonzo Barrett – Senior 99 Chris Perri – Junior
Linebackers Mike (Inside) Linebacker 45 Jeff Smart – Sophomore 57 Jake Duren – Sophomore
Will (Inside) Linebacker 44C Jordon Dizon – Senior 52 Brian Stengel – Sophomore
Sam (Outside) Linebacker 40 Brad Jones – Junior 59 B.J. Beatty – Freshman 35 Nate Vaiomonuga – Freshman
Defensive backs Left cornerback 26 Terrence Wheatley – Senior 6 Gardner McKay – Junior 3 Jimmy Smith – Freshman
Free safety 15 Ryan Walters – Junior 23 Jalil Brown – Freshman
Strong safety 9 Daniel Dykes – Junior 25 Lionel Harris – Senior 30 Joel Adams – Junior
Right cornerback 42 Benjamin Burney – Junior 29 Cha'pelle Brown – Sophomore Punters 14 Matt DiLallo – Freshman 95 Tom Suazo – Junior 39 Kevin Eberhart – Senior
Kickers 39 Kevin Eberhart – Senior (FG) 89 Tyler Cope – Freshman (KO)
Out/Injured 10C Bernard Jackson – Senior (Academics) 34C‡ R.J. Brown – Junior (Head) 54 ‡ Marcus Burton – Junior (academics) 61 Erick Faatagi – Junior (academics) 86 ‡ Cameron Ham – Freshman (leg) 49 ‡ Drew Hudgins – Junior (Achilles) 98 ‡ Michael Sipili – Sophomore (Suspended)
C = Captain‡ = Out for season(SUSP) = Suspended for game(s)
Positions listed by (numerical order) mean nopreference by the coaching staffwho is a starter and/or playing timeTight ends and tailbacks
Coaching staff
Name2007 Coaching Staff Position Yearsat CU Alma mater (year) Dan Hawkins Head coach 1 University of California, Davis (1984) Ron Collins Defensive coordinator 1 Washington State University (1987) Mark Helfrich Offensive coordinatorQuarterbacks 1 Southern Oregon University (1996) Jeff Grimes Offensive line 0 University of Texas at El Paso (1991) Eric Kiesau Passing game coordinatorReceivers 1 Portland State University (1996) Romeo Bandison Defensive line 1 University of Oregon (1994) Greg Brown Secondary 4(1991–93) University of Texas at El Paso (1980) Brian Cabral Linebackers 18 University of Colorado at Boulder (1978) Darian Hagan Running backs 2 University of Colorado at Boulder (1991) Kent Riddle Tight endsSpecial teams 1 Oregon State University (1991) Mark Nolan Recruiting coordinator 1 Willamette University (1995) Jashon Sykes Recruiting coordinator 1 University of Colorado at Boulder (2002)
Game summaries
Colorado State
The 2007 Qwest Rocky Mountain Showdown was back in Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver, CO with the kickoff at 10:10 am MDT. Both the Colorado Buffaloes and Colorado State Rams were coming off losing seasons. Colorado State won last season's game and the series was tied at 4–4 over the last 8 games coming into the game. Colorado State returned running back Kyle Bell who missed last season due to an injury. Colorado started quarterback Cody Hawkins, head coach Dan Hawkins' son and a redshirt freshman in his first start at the college level.
Colorado had been favored entering the game. This was Colorado's 200th game against current members of the Mountain West Conference, with a 137–55–7 record. Colorado was 73–39–5 in their 117-season openers and had won five of its last eight season openers entering the game. Colorado was 8–5, prior to the game, against intrastate rival Colorado State when the Rams have been the opposition in the season opener.
The game was not sold out, with the low sales possibly due to the losing records of both teams last season. There were about 9,000 tickets still available a week before the game. Invesco Field has a capacity of 76,125. A crowd of 68,133 ultimately attended the game.
Colorado made a come from behind victory to force overtime and then win the game. The game started with the first three series scoring touchdowns. Cody Hawkins completed 18 of 31 passes for 201 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Colorado State's Kyle Bell rushed for a career-high 40 times for 135 yards and a touchdown. Colorado State's quarterback, Hanie went 20-of-27 and threw three touchdown passes to tight end Kory Sperry and one interception, in overtime.
Colorado State won the coin toss in overtime and elected to go first. Terrence Wheatley made an interception to end the Rams' OT side. Kevin Eberhart, senior place kicker, had a good game going 3 for 4 with a career long 38-yard field goal before halftime, a 22-yard field goal with 13 seconds left to send the game into overtime and the game winning 35-yard kick in overtime.