Colorado, once a Big 12 power, is 0-2 with a loss to I-AA Montana State

Considering that there is a homemade video circulating on the Internet that serves as a eulogy for Colorado’s football program, perhaps it is not out of line to say that the Buffaloes have hit rock bottom.

Titled “Colorado Football, 1890-2006” — it can be found on YouTube — the video has such computer-generated images as an eviction notice from the Big 12, a “for sale by owner” placard outside of Folsom Field and new coach Dan Hawkins holding a “will work for food” sign.

The good-for-laughs production was the brainstorm of a selfdescribed Colorado fan, one of many that, after a coaching change and an awful 0-2 start to this season, need healthy doses of the best medicine.

“You have the doubters, and they don’t know when you are in the fire, you get the highs and the lows,” Hawkins said. “When you stand outside the fire, it is easy to laugh and guffaw.”

On Saturday, Hawkins’ team was held to 28 yards of total offense in the second half of a loss to in-state rival Colorado State. That was a follow-up to the most egregious case of Buffaloes buffoonery, a 19-10 home loss to Division I-AA Montana State on Sept. 2.

With 22nd-ranked Arizona State playing at Colorado on Saturday, things might get worse before they get better. However, Sun Devils coach Dirk Koetter said that his team is making no assumptions.

“It’s Colorado, the two-time defending Big 12 North champions,” Koetter said. “Compared to the teams we’ve faced (Northern Arizona and Nevada), they are the biggest, fastest, strongest team we have played to date. They are going to break out against somebody, and we hope it’s not this week.”

Hawkins — an assistant to Koetter at Boise State, then the Broncos’ coach the last five seasons — replaced Gary Barnett, who became embroiled in a 2004 sex-and-parties-for-recruits scandal that cost some athletic department officials their jobs.

Barnett survived and led the Buffaloes to seven wins in their first nine games of 2005. But after three straight losses, including a humiliating 70-3 drubbing from Texas in the Big 12 championship game, he was fired.

Colorado’s on-field misery has gotten worse, but linebacker Jordan Dizon said the players believe in Hawkins.

“I’m speaking from my heart, and we know in our hearts that he is going to take us where we need to go,” Dizon said after Saturday’s game. “We’re never going to be successful unless you (deal with adversity). That’s what we’re doing right now, and that’s when you learn the most.”

Still, a turnaround in time for the Sun Devils’ visit would require a lot of rehabilitation, especially on offense. The Buffaloes have compiled just 181 yards per game, ranking 117th out of 119 Division I-A teams.

The quarterback situation is a soap opera, with Hawkins vowing not to switch back and forth, then doing just that with James Cox and Bernard Jackson. The third-string quarterback, junior Brian White, quit on Sunday.

“We’ve got to keep searching,” said offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, who before this season was quarterbacks coach at ASU. “We haven’t found the right buttons. We haven’t executed, all 11 guys at the same time.”

Hawkins indicated that Jackson, an athletic junior, will start on Saturday. He made his first career start against Colorado State, going 7-of-13 for 70 yards and running for a team-high 30 yards.

Cox also played against Colorado State, particularly in passing situations, though he threw just twice.

“We thought Bernard did some really good things,” Hawkins said. “You know we don’t want to play musical chairs every week, but I thought the team responded well to him.”

The quarterback situation is just one facet of the fixing Colorado’s program needs, but Hawkins insists that any jokes of a Buffalo funeral are unwarranted.

“We’re working on restoring the confidence level of the entire University of Colorado,” Hawkins said. “Men of character and integrity survive, they thrive and march on.”

ASU-California game time set

Arizona State’s Pac-10 opener at California on Sept. 23 will kick off at 12:30 p.m. The game between the 22nd-ranked Sun Devils and No. 21 Golden Bears will be televised on FSN Arizona.

The start times for four ASU games remain unset: Sept. 30 vs. Oregon, Oct. 28 at Washington, Nov. 4 at Oregon State and Nov. 11 vs. Washington State.