Looking back at my preview, several things have changed. Here are some updates:

Offense: As expected, QB Cody Hawkins has improved after one full year of college ball under his belt. After three games, Hawkins' stats (70 of 103, 70%, 654 yards, 6 TDs, 3 interceptions) are pretty impressive, but what has been more impressive is his mastery of the offense. You can tell that head coach Dan Hawkins is starting to run more of his offense than he did last year. While Cody could stand to cut down on his turnovers and lack of a vertical passing game, his management of the offense has been superb. Perhaps the biggest surprise has been at RB, where fans and prognosticators alike expected true freshman Darrell Scott to waltz in and start. If not Scott, than surely last year's backup, Demetrius Sumler. Instead, unheralded true freshman Rodney Stewart has started and leads the team in rushing. Stewart (242 yds, 5.9 avg, 5 recs, 35 yds) is Darren Sproles clone who is short in stature, but big on speed and hard to tackle. Hawkins has done nothing but sing his praises and Stewart made his coach look like a genius with his 166 yard day against West Virginia. Scott (128 yds, 3.8 avg, TD, 4 recs, 48 yds) has seen his share of carries, but the coaches feel he hasn't gotten acclimated to the college game as quickly as Stewart. It was pointed out during the West Virginia game that Stewart already has a swagger about him while Scott is still trying to find his feet in college. Sumler (43 yds, 3.3 avg, 4 recs, 25 yds) is being used mainly as a third down back because he is the best at blitz pickups. The WR corps was a big concern heading in to summer camp and while the unit has performed well, there is still a major lack of big plays, which Hawkins hoped to fix. Patrick Williams (9 recs, 83 yds) was named the offensive player of the game for the first two weeks, but still isn't living up to his lofty potential. Scotty McKnight (15 recs, 178 yds, 1 TD) continues to be the go-to guy, but his lack of speed or moves makes his nothing but a possession receiver, albeit an important cog in the offense. Josh Smith (10 recs, 119 yds, 2 TDs) has the longest reception of the year (38 yards) but hasn't hit the home run very often. Kendrick Celestine (5 recs, 46 yds) is buried down on the depth chart, but has added the most production off the bench. Big things were expected of Jason Espinoza after being a scout team standout, but he broke his collarbone and is out for the next 2-4 weeks. At tight end, Riar Greer is on the team after his legal problem got resolved, but he has missed time due to knee surgery. He has yet to record a catch, but is a good one. In his absence, Patrick Devenny (8 recs, 61 yds, TD) has emerged as a solid pass catcher and decent blocker. Despite the loss of three starters, the line was thought to be a potential strength and the line has been pretty good so far. The Buffs aren't mowing teams over, but they've rushed for 147 yards per game and only allowed 4 sacks in 101 passing attempts. Returning starters Nate Solder and Ryan Miller have been pretty solid at LT and RT respectively. Daniel Sanders has been his usual solid self at center. The question spots were at guard and the positions have not played out as anticipated. Devin Head won the job at LG rather than RG as expected, but that is partly due to the fact that Mike Iltis was lost to an injury and Erik Faatagi is academically ineligible. At RG, redshirt frosh Blake Behrens came out atop the depth chart. The line has had growing pains, but has played pretty well thus far.

Defense: The defense was a bit worrisome for Buffs fans due to a lack of depth and, frankly, a lack of overall talent. The unit has stood up fairly well, but could stand to improve. Giving up 321 yards per game thus far is good, but giving up a 66% completion rate could come back to bite Colorado against better passing teams. As expected along the line, George Hypolite and Brandon Nicolas have excelled, but the ends have just been average. Hypolite and Nicolas have combined for 22 tackles thus far, but only one tackle for loss. Jason Brace, Marquez Herrod, and Maurice Lucas have been getting the lions share of time at end. However, the concerns about the group being productive have held up as the trio have combined for just 16 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Depth was hurt with the loss of Drew Hudgins to injury for the season. Depth beyond this three is nearly non-existent (no other end on the roster has appeared in more than 1 game) so these guys need to produce more. At least statistically, the LB corps has been the strong suit and that was somewhat expected due to a good returning corps. MLB Jeff Smart leads the team with 32 tackles while OLB Brad Jones has chipped in 21 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks. JC transfer Shaun Mohler (19 tackles, 1 int) won the vacant ILB spot and is 5th in tackles, but hasn't produced any big plays. The Buffs have nice depth too with MLB Michael Sipili (12 tackles), ILB Marcus Burton, ILB Bryan Stengel, and OLB BJ Beatty all having prior playing experience. Beatty was injured in the Colorado State game, but should likely be back for FSU. The secondary has improved on last year in the first three games, allowing just 178 passing yards per game and picking off 4 passes, but that 66% completion percentage is worrying. Not helping was the loss of backup CB Ben Burney to a season-ending knee injury and backup S Bret Smith is out another 3-5 weeks rehabbing an ACL tear suffered last winter. As expected, Cha'pelle Brown (27 tackles, 3 pass breakups, 1 int) and Gardner McKay (13 tackles) have emerged as the starters. Brown continues to get picked on due to his size, but has held his own thus far. Jalil Brown (15 tackles, 2 PBUs) has emerged as the nickel back and has been active so far. Those three have played almost exclusively as backups Jimmy Smith and Jonathan Hawkins have only appeared in one game each, although Smith missed the first two due to injury rather than performance. The safety spots are being well-manned by FS Ryan Walters (30 tackles, 4 PBUs, 1 int) and SS DJ Dykes (11 tackles, 1 int), who missed one game. Backup FS Anthony Perkins (11 tackles in 2 games) has played a good bit, but he is the only backup who has seen the field for more than 10 snaps.

Special Teams: Aric Goodman won the competition for the kicker job and also won a scholarship after making a game-winning field goal against West Virginia. Goodman has made 3 of his 4 attempts, but his long is just 32 yards. Jameson Davis, who lost the kicker battle to Goodman, is kicking off. As expected, punter Matt DiLallo has been solid, averaging 43 yards per boot with a net of 34.3. Josh Smith has emerged as one of the Big 12's top return men. In fact, WVU coach Bill Stewart said Smith was the best return man in the nation after watching film of him. That might be a stretch, but Smith is averaging 38 yards per kick return, with one touchdown, and 13 yards per punt return.

Overall: With the exception of the upset win over West Virginia, things have gone as expected for Colorado thus far. They didn't expect to have to rally to beat Eastern Washington but that might prove to be an aberration. Still, we haven't probably seen the full story from Colorado yet. Their secondary still looks pretty suspect, but they haven't been tested by a very good passing team yet, which makes that 66% rate all the worse. I think Colorado is probably in for a year not dissimilar to last season--some highs (upset Oklahoma last year, upset West VA this year), some lows, and some in-between. The defense will get exposed at some point, especially if the lack of a pass rush continues, but the offense should continue to improve under daddy and QB Hawkins.

Help save Civil War battlefields-go to www.civilwar.org and help the Civil War Preservation Trust FSU Alumnus, 2001/2004