The Colorado Daily – Georgia

September 20, 2010

Buffs plan Blackout for Georgia game

It’s not exactly a night game, but it’ll have to do …

For the third time in four years, Colorado fans are being asked to wear black. The first Blackout came in 2007, when the Buffs fell to Florida State, 16-6. In 2008, Colorado defeated No. 21 West Virginia, 17-14.

There was no Blackout game in 2009, simply because the Buffs, on their way to a 3-9 season, did not merit a night game.

The Georgia game will mark only the second time in school history in which a member of the Southeastern Conference has visited Boulder. In 1979, LSU came to face the Buffs, with the Tigers thumping Chuck Fairbanks’ team, 44-0. Overall, Colorado is 2-9-1 against teams from the SEC, with the wins coming in a 47-33 Liberty Bowl win in 1969, and a 1971 regular season victory over LSU in Baton Rouge, 31-21. The tie, of course, came in the 1990 season-opening Pigskin Classic against Tennessee, when the Buffs fought the Volunteers to a 31-31 draw. The last time Colorado played a team from the SEC, it was the 2007 Independence Bowl, with Colorado falling to Alabama, 30-24.

Nickel back trauma

Last Friday night, in a speech to the team before the Hawai’i’ game, College Hall of Fame inductee Alfred Williams challenged the Buffs to be great. As senior captain Scotty McKnight put it, “He said if you’re a starter, you need to work harder than anyone on the team. If you’re a backup, make it your goal not to be a backup next week.

Apparently, if you want to be a starter at Colorado, all you need to do is to volunteer to be a backup nickel back.

For the third week running, Colorado had a new starter at nickel back. For the third week running, the starter went down with a long-term injury. In week one, Parker Orms was lost for the season with a torn knee ligament. Against Cal in week two, replacement starter Travis Sandersfeld broke a bone in his leg. Then, against Hawai’i, Sandersfeld’s replacement, Paul Vigo, suffered what was described as a lower leg injury, which will keep the redshirt freshman out for four-to-six weeks. Vigo’s replacement, junior Jonathan Hawkins, had five tackles against Hawai’i, and had the Buffs’ lone interception.

Here’s to keeping Hawkins healthy against Georgia …