Colorado QB Hagan Runs With the Ball

A year ago, Darian Hagan was an obscure sophomore best known for the player he was replacing. This year, he’s so popular that he has to turn down some interview requests.

That’s what happens when you lead your team to an undefeated regular season and finish fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

After quarterback Sal Aunese was stricken with cancer before the 1989 season, Hagan took over and guided Colorado to an 11-0 record and No. 1 ranking before losing to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl 21-6.

“We were flying high last year; we thought we were unbeatable,” Hagan said. “But we got brought back down to reality. That’s a valuable lesson, one that will help us this year.”

Hagan, a star player at Los Angeles’ Locke High School, enters his junior season with a stronger throwing arm and a repaired left knee. A wrist injury that hampered his throwing last season has healed, and the torn cartilage in his knee was repaired by surgery.

“My wrist and arm are strong,” he said. “My knee is no problem.”

As if to prove it, he spent part of his summer moving refrigerators. The rest of the time he worked on his passing, especially on improving his timing and touch.

“He’s throwing it with a lot more confidence, a lot more zip,” wide receiver Mike Pritchard said. “Every day, he’s looking more and more like a complete quarterback.”

Hagan became the sixth player in NCAA history to run and pass for 1,000 yards in the same season, finishing with 1,004 rushing and 1,002 passing.

“Darian is handling all the attention and preseason publicity as well as anyone could have hoped,” Coach Bill McCartney said. “He’s humble, he’s coachable, he’s hard-working. A kid this celebrated doesn’t always handle it so well.”

Colorado has 13 returning starters, including Hagan and linebacker Alfred Williams, the Big Eight’s offensive and defensive players of the year.

Also back are All-American guard Joe Garten and talented tailback Eric Bieniemy, although he’s been suspended for the season opener against Tennessee in the Pigskin Classic on Aug. 26.

The biggest obstacle standing between Colorado and a national title may be the Buffaloes’ schedule. Their non-conference opponents include Tennessee, Illinois, Stanford, Washington and Texas. And the Buffaloes must travel to Lincoln for a rematch with Nebraska, which lost 27-21 in Boulder last season.

“You can’t tiptoe into this kind of schedule,” McCartney said. “We’ve got to have some heavy drills, some rugged practices to get ready. At the same time, I’m not sure we’re deep enough to have too many scrimmages. We can ill afford to get some of these guys hurt because there’s a drop-off if somebody goes down.”