The University of Colorado's newest mascot, Ralphie V, a 1,500 pound bison, is led down field by the Ralphie handlers for her debut during Saturday's annual spring football game.

Some statistics from the Colorado Buffaloes' spring game on Saturday -- the 502 yards of offense and three blocked kicks among them -- are a bit deceiving.

The spring game is far more a scrimmage than an actual game, and it's sometimes ill-advised to put much stock in the numbers. CU's 502-yard outburst isn't as eye-popping when realizing the offense never left the field, and the three blocked kicks, according to head coach Dan Hawkins, came against kicking squads comprised largely of scout team players.

But while there is little that can be known for sure about the upcoming season at the end of April, there are some things that two official scrimmages and the spring game have taught Buffs fans about their squad.

CODY HAWKINS ENTERED, LEAVES SPRING AS NO. 1 QB -- Sophomore-to-be Cody Hawkins appears to have solidified his hold on the starting quarterback spot. He started and played with the No. 1 offense on Saturday, completing 15-of-22 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns, and was 42-of-70 over the three scrimmages with six touchdowns and one interception.

Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mark Helfrich wouldn't say for sure if Hawkins would be the starter come fall, but he did say that if the season began on Saturday he would have started Hawkins.

Senior-to-be Nick Nelson was 10-of-17 on Saturday with 133 yards and a touchdown, and redshirt freshman Matt Ballenger completed 5-of-6 passes for 65 yards and a score.

Dan Hawkins, Cody's dad, said that it would probably take until fall to name a starting QB. He added, "Now once we get into camp [this fall], I don't think we'll wanna mess around a whole lot. We'll wanna figure out who's who and just get going. Now, everyone is gonna still gets reps, but once camp gets going I don't think we'll wanna mess around."

CONVERTED QB DEVENNY LOOKS SOLID AT TIGHT END--Junior-to-be Patrick Devenny polished off what has been a promising spring with a five catch, 78 yard performance in the spring game. Devenny was buried on the depth chart much of last season, catching just one pass for three yards. But he has been a favorite target of the quarterbacks all spring.

"Pat did a nice job in the passing game," Helfrich said after the spring game. "He's always been good in that role. We just got to continue to make him a complete player from the tight end position."

Devenny was the game's leading receiver, while senior-to-be wideout Cody Crawford had four catches for 39 yards and redshirt freshman receiver Markques Simas had four catches for 34 yards.

OFFENSE FAST, NOT FAST ENOUGH -- The spring game gave many fans their first look at CU's new no-huddle offense. The new system of calling plays from the sidelines via hand signals has been in place all spring, and while the offense performed well on Saturday, it still isn't quite where it wants to be by this fall.

"We still got to work on our tempo," Devenny said. "I think from a fan perspective it looks like we're going high-tempo, a lot of speed, but we still got to keep going faster and faster."

Helfrich added, "All in all we've definitely made a ton of strides this spring. Now we just need to do everything better and faster. I thought there were a bunch of times today where we could have gotten the defense on their heels--they weren't quite set, and we weren't either. So that's where we need to be ready to roll."

SCOTT MAY GET CHANCE TO SCOOT RIGHT AWAY -- It looks like the much-ballyhooed high school senior, Darrell Scott, will have a chance to log serious minutes -- if not start -- when he arrives in Boulder this fall. None of CU's running backs put together banner spring performances.

On Saturday, CU's leading rusher was sophomore tailback Demetrius Sumler, who had 43 yards on 11 carries, while junior tailback Kevin Moyd toted the ball nine times for 30 yards. The longest run of the day was 13 yards. Scott, from Ventura, Calif., was at Folsom Field for the spring game.

Still, though, Helfrich seemed pleased with his backs this spring.

"News flash: we signed high profile tailback," Helfrich said when asked to evaluate his running backs. "Usually when you sign a high profile guy, guys either tank it, or they step up and get a lot better. Demetrius Sumler got a lot better this spring. Kevin Moyd got a lot better this spring. They know the cavalry is coming and they've gotta join in and step up, and I think they did."

RALPHIE V HAS A CHIPPER DEBUT -- According to Dan Hawkins, it was Ralphie V -- the newest of CU's live buffalo mascots -- that produced the best highlight at the spring game.

Ralphie V was making her first appearance in front of the home crowd, and the year-and-a-half old female made quite an impression. On her first run she lost one of her handlers before she'd gone 10 yards, and to open up the second half she again dumped one of the handlers right out of the gate before coming to a complete stop on the field.

"Holy smokes!" Hawkins said after the game. "That was the highlight of the day. That's an ESPN highlight right there. It's got to be in the Top 10."

Ralphie V eventually charged into her trailer amid roars from the crowd of 17,800, a record attendance for a spring game.

Contact David Vranicar about this story at (303) 443-6272 ext. 112 or sports@coloradodaily.com