By DAVID CAMPBELL

david.campbell@theeagle.com

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By DAVID CAMPBELL

david.campbell@theeagle.com

Two young quarterbacks split time for the Colorado Buffaloes in a 24-17 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday. Freshman Tyler Hansen led a 98-yard scoring drive but threw two interceptions, and sophomore Cody Hawkins threw a key interception in A&M's end zone in the second period.

Neither signal-caller won the starting job with his performance, although Hansen's ability to run gave him an edge in the second half (32 plays to Hawkins' five). Colorado picked up 5.1 yards per play with each quarterback.

For the game, Hawkins completed 7 of 11 passes for 109 yards and moved into sixth place on Colorado's all-time passing list. Hansen hit 11 of 23 for 89 yards.

Hawkins, who started the game, threw short to an open Scotty McKnight and Jordan Pugh intercepted for A&M in the end zone.

"[Hawkins] did OK," said Colorado offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich. "Obviously, he had a turnover in the red zone and that should be a touchdown. He had a guy in the back of the end zone. We can, and have, and will execute that."

"I thought we came out of the gates OK," Hawkins said. "That guy at the goal line [Pugh] made a great play and that was a pivotal point in the game. I tried to stay in and keep everybody focused and thought our guys did an awesome job fighting."

Hansen displayed his athletic ability on a gadget play. He made a shortstop-style pickup on a one-hop lateral before throwing downfield for a completion.

"The old skip pass is normally from the quarterback to receiver," Helfrich said. "That was not by design."

"I like Tyler a lot," said Hawkins. "He's one of my good friends. I have a lot of respect for him and for this coaching staff and I know full well they will put us in the best position possible. They are going to get whoever in who needs to play. They've been in this rodeo before and I'm sure they've had a lot of quarterback battles."

That's why Hansen played late. He drove Colorado 98 yards in the fourth period to put the Buffaloes back in the game.

"He was winded and he was pretty gutty," said Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins, Cody's father. "A lot of it was him just running the football, but he made a couple of nice throws as well. We needed some wheels and needed somebody who would be able to create something with his legs."

"We felt that Tyler would give us the best chance from a running standpoint if the situation arose, and he did a good job on the previous drive," Helfrich said.

On the next drive, his first-down out pass was intercepted by Trent Hunter, effectively clinching the game for A&M.

"That was a dumb mistake and in a critical situation I can't be making those mistakes," Hansen said. "The same exact thing happened in practice with the same coverage but the guy didn't pick it."

Every time Colorado threw a first-down incompletion in the second half, the Buffaloes gave up the ball without picking up another first down. A&M picked off three passes in the game, including Hunter's clinching pick.

"It can be tough the more predictable you become," Cody Hawkins said. "When we got into a hole and were forced to pass, their defense did a great job rallying and making plays they needed to."

Dan Hawkins deferred comparisons between his quarterbacks.

"The ultimate thing is to win football games," said Dan Hawkins. "We are turning the ball over, which isn't good. They are scrapping and they are coming and are battling some things and I give them a lot of credit for that."

"Eventually, it might evolve to one guy, but Tyler is a great player," Cody Hawkins said. "I'm going to keep competing. I would prefer to be out there all of the time, but the coaches will put us in the best position to make plays."

"At certain times, Cody does things better than I do, and at other times, I do things better than Cody," Hansen said. "As long as we do it right, I think this is a good thing to do."

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