TOLEDO, Ohio - Is Game 2 of any football season too early to trot out the "must win" angle? And at Toledo, of all places?
Perhaps not for the Colorado Buffaloes, who enter Toledo's Glass Bowl Friday night (7 p.m. MDT, ESPN) hoping to reveal to themselves and a concerned fan base that what happened five days ago on their home turf was not a portent of their 2009 season.
Stunned by a 23-17 opening loss on Sunday to rival Colorado State, CU faces another non-BCS school shouldering that same aggravating chip.
After watching tape of CU's insipid start against CSU, Toledo, a Mid-American Conference member, might view its visitors as the soft filling in a BCS cookie. After opening with a 52-31 loss at Purdue, the Rockets play No. 8 Ohio State next week in the Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Thus, Friday night's encounter probably is being eyed as the Rockets' best September chance to waylay a BCS school. The loss against Purdue dropped Toledo to 5-13 against the Big Ten, and that mark isn't likely to improve next week against the Buckeyes.
For the encounter with CU, Toledo is calling for fans to wear blue, pushing for a "Midnight Blue Out" in a game that likely will spill into Saturday morning. School and city are revved up for "The Late Show."
"It's a great opportunity to showcase our program and city . . . to get the Toledo name spread throughout the country," first-year Rockets coach Tim Beckman said.
"We get Colorado, then Ohio State . . . anytime kids get to play BCS teams, they get better and get noticed. We're excited about the opportunity."
Conversely, CU coach Dan Hawkins hopes to take this opportunity to show the country a better side of the Buffs. The past five days have been close to sitting on briars for him and his staff.
"We're dying, too," Hawkins said of the post-CSU furor. "You want people to care; that's awesome. But we're dying, too. You have to be able to flush it.
"You always play both edges of the deal . . . you're always capable of winning or losing; we'll be OK."
CU is 2-0 against current MAC members, but Hawkins isn't letting conference affiliations shade his thoughts on the Rockets, who allowed the Boilermakers 535 yards (315 rushing) in total offense last Saturday.
"That's a good conference; it's got some really good football teams," Hawkins said of the MAC. "I'm concerned about everybody, are you kidding me? What, am I sleeping at night? No, I'm not sleeping, I'm not sleeping at all, not at all."
CU has never played in Toledo, and not since 1966 have the Buffs played in a stadium that seats fewer than 30,000. The Glass Bowl's capacity is 26,248, but Hawkins says stadium size means nothing.
"I'm used to smaller stadiums . . . you're talking about a guy who's coached high school football; it doesn't matter to me," he said. "The players are going to play and the coaches are going to coach."
To get a handle on Beckman's tendencies, CU viewed Oklahoma State tapes; Beckman came to Toledo from OSU's defensive staff.
"What they do on defense is similar (to OSU), but not totally," Hawkins said. "They've blended stuff with what they're doing now."
What the Rockets do on offense might be more familiar. Quarterback Aaron Opelt directs a spread offense similar to what the Buffs have seen in the Big 12 Conference.
"They spread it out and pass it a lot, so it'll be a challenge," CU cornerback Cha'pelle Brown said, alluding to Opelt's school-record pass 67 attempts against Purdue. He completed 41 for 423 yards and three touchdowns, with the completions and passing yardage both personal bests.
"But we're used to the spread; they're starting to get us ready for the Big 12," Brown continued. "It's going to be fun."
But not if Brown and his mates in the secondary don't tighten up their coverage from Game 1. CSU found success with the deep ball, completing three passes over 40 yards and having another long ball dropped.
Plus, Toledo's Stephen Williams might be better than any of CSU's wideouts. The 6-foot-5 senior caught 15 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns in the opener, with his reception total the second most in Toledo history.
CU's defensive staff has re-emphasized pressure on the quarterback this week, but coordinator Ron Collins says it will have to arrive quickly: "(Opelt) gets rid of the ball very, very fast."
How fast? Even though Opelt had almost 70 pass attempts, Purdue didn't sack him once.
Offensively, CU hopes to generate much more than the 29 rushing yards it produced in the opener, with tailback Darrell Scott (one carry against the Rams) figuring more prominently in the game plan.
The Buffs haven't been a formidable road team under Hawkins, winning only twice and losing 12 times. Picking up road win No. 3 couldn't come at a more critical time.
"Yeah, we've got to beat Toledo; we've got to get ready to play," guard Ryan Miller said. "Every game is a must win; we have to win. That's the bottom line."
HOME TO O-HI-O: CU has a trio of Ohio natives on its roster, including two - outside linebacker Doug Rippy and tailback Rodney "Speedy" Stewart - who could see extensive playing time. The third is true freshman defensive back Deji Olatoye, a redshirt candidate from Dublin.
Between them, Rippy, of Trotwood, and Stewart, of Westerville, expect about 75 relatives and friends to attend the game.
Their respective hometowns are each about a two-hour drive from Toledo, but neither has visited the Northern Ohio city. Stewart, however, received some recruiting interest from the Rockets, while Rippy's only attention from MAC schools came from Akron and Central Michigan.
Rippy, a redshirt freshman, said playing before family and friends is special because it will be the first time he's played a college game with most of his family watching.
"It will be great to see them (pre-game) . . . especially my mother and grandmother (82) - it'll be the first time she's ever seen me play," he said.
Ditto for some of Stewart's family: "They been saying they can't wait for us to get a game closer to them," he said. "With Colorado being so far away, it's hard for family to make it out here.
"I've been looking forward to this since last year. Me being kind of hurt, though, I wish that would have never happened. I'm going to still go 100 percent in the game, though."
Rippy's take on Toledo's offense: "They'll spread us out and try to put their tackles in space. They want to air the ball out. They threw 67 times (vs. Purdue) and that's a lot. Just getting pressure on the quarterback is going to be a big thing for us."
He said facing a spread offense should be familiar for the Buffs: "We're used to that offense, since we ran it last year. We basically know what we need to do . . . everything else will take care of itself.
"In the second half (against CSU), we came out and played pretty well. If we start like from the first, it'll take care of itself."
Stewart's take on the CU offense getting back on track: "We've got to be better at picking up blitzes, staying on our blocks, and making the right reads."
SIMMONS PROGRESSING: Receiver Andre Simmons, a junior college transfer, debuted against CSU with one catch for 44 yards. He had another couple of balls thrown his way, drawing a pass interference call on one of them.
After being given 12-15 plays to learn for the opener, coaches want his role to expand weekly.
Said Dan Hawkins: "Andre is getting there, he's doing better, but like I keep telling these guys, it's never going to be good enough for me. It's always going to be more. So, once they get to a certain level, I've got to drive them to that next level. But he's coming."
QB PLANS: Freshmen quarterbacks Clark Evans and Seth Lobato are on the travelling squad, but Dan Hawkins said the No. 3 QB is yet to be determined.
Sophomore Tyler Hansen remains Cody Hawkins' backup, but also remains a redshirt candidate unless he's needed in scenarios that involve a long-term injury or perhaps the offense bogging down.
INJURY UPDATE: Center Mike Iltis (sprained ankle) is expected to play . . . . Receiver Scotty McKnight (concussion) is probable . . . . Tailback Rodney Stewart (hamstring) was not listed on CU's weekly injury report and said he hopes to play . . . . Safety Patrick Mahnke (sprained ankle) is listed as questionable, but secondary coach Greg Brown believes Mahnke could play.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
