Senior offensive tackle Nate Solder, a biology major, was named to the Playboy Preseason All-America Team in June. CU Athletics

Getting together to watch the Buffs on the gridiron continues to be one of the most popular activities for alums. Take advantage of local and national opportunities to hang out with alums and celebrate your CU pride. More event information can be found at our Football page.

• The season kicks off against Colorado State University at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver. The game starts at noon, MST. Join us for a pregame beforehand outside the stadium.
• The big away game is in Berkeley, Calif., on Sept. 11. We are expecting a huge turnout. Join the fun with events on Friday and Saturday. Learn more at Road Buffs.
• Home pregame parties will be held on Benson Field starting Sept. 18 when the Buffs play Hawai’i. Don’t miss Family Weekend and the Baylor game on Oct. 18 and Homecoming when CU plays Texas Tech on Oct. 23. This year’s Homecoming theme is “Animate your life.”

• Can’t make it to Boulder for a game? Find a watch party in your area by visiting our chapters page.

Dan Hawkins - photo courtesy CU athletics

Despite the Buffs finishing 3-9 — the fourth losing record in Dan Hawkins’ four seasons as CU football coach — university officials decided to retain Hawkins for a fifth season. He owns a 16-33 record since arriving at CU.

“I know for me it’s been humbling,” said Hawkins, whose contract runs through the 2012 season. “This whole thing has been humbling. That’s not all bad for a person to have to kind of go reinvent yourself.”

Asked after the season what a fair set of expectations would be for 2010, Hawkins said, “Beating Colorado State and Nebraska, getting to a bowl game and winning that bowl game. That ought to be a baseline.”

Shortly after the season, secondary coach and defensive passing game coordinator Greg Brown left Hawkins’ staff to become co-defensive coordinator at the University of Arizona. Also on the assistant coaching front, former NFL defensive back Ashley Ambrose will be promoted to full-time wide receivers coach this year.

CU senior tight end Riar Geer was named to the Associated Press All-Big 12 first team in 2009 and was invited to the East-West Shrine all-star game. Meanwhile, senior cornerback Cha’pelle Brown was named the Buffs’ 2009 most valuable player.

For more information call 303-492-2879 or 800-492-7743, e-mail becky.cabral@colorado.edu or go to www.cualum.org/football.

Tyler Hanson, above, replaced Cody Hawkins as the top QB during the Buffs' first conference game, a loss at Texas.

The football team struggled during the nonconference portion of its schedule, posting a 1-3 record before starting Big 12 action. It was only the third time in the last 23 seasons that the Buffs have recorded a losing mark after their first four games (along with 2000 and 2006).

Because Coach Dan Hawkins said after last season he expected the Buffs to win 10 games in 2009, CU caught some flak for losing to Colorado State, Toledo and West Virginia, while blanking Wyoming 24-0 in week three. But the Buffs rallied in a 34-30 win against Kansas.

“It’s easy to stand outside the arena and say you’re not good enough and be negative,” Hawkins said after the Wyoming win. “But when you’re in the arena and you’re scrapping, it’s little things that decide the game.”

One source of support was former coach Bill McCartney, who led CU to a co-national championship in the 1990 season.

“I still believe (Hawkins) has laid the right foundation,” McCartney told the Denver Post. “And with a foundation of sound character, hard work and principles, it’s just a matter of time.”

Cody Hawkins initially won the starting quarterback job, which was made public when CU took the field against CSU. But sophomore Tyler Hansen replaced Hawkins as the top QB during the Buffs’ first conference game, a 39-17 loss at Texas

Meanwhile, just before the season opener, CU and CSU announced they will play in Denver at Invesco Field each year from 2010 to 2019.

You were laid up in July with a kidney stone.

Bad things happen to everybody. You learn from them. It helps you get perspective on life. It gives you a little zest.

You and your family have vacationed at such spots as Machu Picchu in Peru. What’s on the Hawkins’ travel horizon?

Our next big adventure will be base camp at Mount Everest. We’re going to try to do that next year.

What are three keys to success for the 2009 season?

Leadership, momentum and turnovers.

Why did you challenge the Buffs to achieve “10 wins and no excuses” this season?

I talked about the expectation of winning 10 football games but there was no prediction.

The principle is excellence. On the field, off the field, that’s the bar. What I don’t want ever is for our guys to back off that standard of excellence, not just ‘Let’s win another game and get in a bowl.’ I just don’t live that way. I don’t operate that way.

Why did you decide to coach the wide receivers this year?

I’m going on my 27th year of coaching, and the sad thing to find out is I’m not really a coach anymore. I stand around and evaluate. When I became the head coach at Boise I was the tight ends coach. It was fun being in the trenches, being right on the tip of the spear. You can lead by example, whether it’s enthusiasm, tempo, drill setups, coaching style, handouts. You can get right in there and say, ‘OK guys this is where it’s at.’

If you were czar of college football, would you change the Bowl Championship Series?

It’s not perfect but the way it is now, every Saturday is extremely important for everybody. It can make or break your season. It’s not that way in basketball. In football you better play the opening weekend and you better play every Saturday.

Shortly after last season’s end, the Boulder Camera reported you established “accountability groups,” dividing the team into groups and having the entire unit bear the punishment if one player breaks a rule. How has that worked out?

It was awesome and part of trying to develop the leadership on our team. Young kids think, ‘I work hard and do things right and I’m a good leader.’ Well, no, you’re not.

Part of a leader’s job is to evaluate: ‘Are you doing the right things? Are you taking care of business?’ Just like in history, we all pay for the mistakes of the few. Guess what? One guy messes up — the whole group pays. That guy messes up a few times. Then maybe the other people are saying, ‘Hey look, you’ve got to get it figured out,’ or ‘We don’t want you.’ It’s a great social reinforcement mechanism.

Still listening to Great Big Sea [a Newfoundland folk-rock band Hawkins has championed]?

Oh yeah. I’ve been back on my Van Morrison kick lately. I saw him this spring at the Greek [Theater] in Berkeley.

The CU football season starts Sept. 6 when the Buffs play Colorado State in Folsom Field. Cody Hawkins is shown above.

Enjoy a classic Big 12 matchup as the Buffs take on the Longhorns in Austin.

The weekend will kick off Friday night, Oct. 9 at Maggie Mae’s on Sixth Street at 7 p.m. Join us on Oct. 10 for the pregame party at Clark Field, just two blocks from the stadium.

For event and travel information, visit www.buffssportstravel.com. Walk-ups for the pregame event will not be allowed. Make sure you register in advance to save your spot at the season’s biggest CU pregame party.

Don’t miss the Oct. 30-31 Homecoming celebration of “CU in Hollywood” as marshal Josea Rosenberg (EngrPhys’97), who won Bravo TV’s Top Chef competition this year, leads the Friday night parade on the Hill. Other events include the marching band pep rally on the Pearl Street Mall and the football game against Missouri.

As a reminder, home pregame parties sponsored by the Alumni Association will take place Sept. 6, Sept. 19, Oct. 17 (Family Weekend), Oct. 31 (Homecom­ing), Nov. 7 and Nov. 27, starting two and a half hours before the game on Benson Field south of Folsom Field.

See www.cualum.org/football for more information.

To learn more about CU’s history, visit the Heritage Center on the third floor of Old Main or go to www.cualum.org/heritage.

The university’s first football team took to the field undisciplined and without a coach. The 1890 flannel-clad sportsmen lost every game. The next season they chose Rev. Frederic Kramer (PhD1895) to lead them. He was the All Saints Episcopal Church pastor and a CU English instructor. His leadership led to the team’s first victory in a 24-4 romp over the Colorado Springs Athletic Association.

“The rush line linked arms and meandered down the field,” Kramer wrote, “followed by the backs, one of whom carried the ball. [It was a] human steamroller effect . . .”

Four years later Kramer led the university to another first, earning a PhD in 1895.

Team MVP senior Ryan Walters, above, and his team finished 5-7 in 2008. The team will start the 2009 season with the April 25 spring game.

The football team failed to earn a bowl berth for the second time in coach Dan Hawkins’ first three seasons as head coach, but he is aiming for a big improvement in 2009. During his closing remarks at the Buffs’ post-season senior awards banquet, Hawkins set a goal for this year: “Ten wins and no excuses.”

Should the Buffs live up to those words, they’d double their win total from 2008, when they finished 5-7.

“There is no question that Dan is challenging his staff, he’s challenging his team and he’s challenging our fans,” athletic director Mike Bohn told the Boulder Camera. “I salute his vision.”

Hawkins’ record at CU is 13-24, with his best single-season mark being 6-7 in 2007, when the Buffs lost in the Independence Bowl. CU has posted three straight losing seasons for the first time since 1982-84.

CU needed a win against Nebraska in the regular-season finale to become bowl-eligible but lost 40-31 in Lincoln after leading going into the final two minutes.

The Buffs were hampered in 2008 by 11 season-ending injuries, plus six players being academically ineligible.

Because of all the injuries, CU will begin spring football later than usual with the spring game set for April 25.

Another problem was nine current and recent players got in trouble with the law during the first nine months of the year. To prevent a recurrence, Hawkins has created nine-man “accountability groups” within the team and CU plans to hire a director of “student-athletes wellness.”

Meanwhile, “Ralphie’s Green Stampede,” CU’s zero-waste initiative during home football games, resulted in a 199 percent increase in materials recycled or composted compared to 2007. Total waste generated decreased 30 percent.