Dan Hawkins’ grace period is officially over after one game and 200 off season luncheons. 

All those cute soundbites quipped before the season, well; they don’t seem so cute anymore. 
(Remember the new media darling charming reporters back in August, well, Hawkins doesn’t seem like he’s in such a good mood now.)
(Remember the new media darling charming reporters back in August, well, Hawkins doesn’t seem like he’s in such a good mood now.)

That’s what happens when you lose the season opener to cupcake division I-AA Montana State. I mean Montana State.  Maybe the Buffs can schedule Boulder High to kick off the 2007 season.

The funny thing is Hawkins seems genuinely stunned at the attention the program is receiving because of this debacle.  Turn on any syndicated talk show and the Buffs are the butt of the sports world’s jokes.  You couldn’t drive more than five minutes this morning without Jim Rome killing the Buffs and their new guy in charge.

So much for Hawk love.

To be fair the cupboard is bare up in Boulder.  This team is really bad.  Most of you were spared having to watch it since it wasn’t on local television, but unfortunately, we received a live feed of the game at the station.  Trust me, this wasn’t some fluky win.  Montana State was the better team.  They dominated CU.

In the past, the CU football team has been satisfied embarrassing themselves off the field, but now that the embarrassment happens between the lines it has everyone up in arms.  Remember Gary Barnett somehow survived one off field scandal after another, but he wasn’t dismissed until he lost the last four games of the season by a combined score of 149-32, including losses of 30-3 to Nebraska and a 70-3 pounding in the Big 12 Championship game.

As bad as those losses were, it was nothing compared to Saturday. 

I understand Hawkins deserves to be given the benefit of the doubt.  The players currently on the roster are not his guys. 

But he needs to understand – it’s going to be a big deal around here when the most storied football program in the state suffers one of its most embarrassing defeats in school history. 

So after years of teetering on the edge of destruction both on and off the field CU has officially hit rock bottom.

I guess the good news is there’s only one way to go from here.