Dan Hawkins seems pretty much locked into a defensive mode these days, which on one hand is a good thing for the Colorado football coach.

On the other hand? Well, not so much.

It's good in the sense that the Buffaloes - who play at West Virginia Thursday night (7:30 p.m. kickoff, ESPN) - need all the defense they can get. After an embarrassing 0-2 start during which they surrendered 77 points and 1,000 yards to Colorado State and Toledo, a simplification of the Buffs' defensive schemes paid off in a 24-0 win over Wyoming.

But the defense Hawkins seems just as wrapped up in is of himself and his program. That 0-2 start, combined with Hawkins' 13-24 record in his first three seasons in Boulder, prompted the inevitable media speculation about his job security. And while Hawkins has not shied away from addressing it, he generally does so by insisting that it is unwarranted media buzz.

"The only speculation was from you guys,'' Hawkins said in his postgame press conference following Colorado's first win. "There has been no speculation from my boss, no speculation from our big hitters. That speculation came from you guys.''

Still, Hawkins felt the need to defend himself. The first question in that postgame press conference was one regarding his team's defensive performance after Colorado had shut out an opponent for the second time in his tenure. He answered in one short sentence and then, unprompted, went about addressing criticism.

"It's easy to stand outside the arena and point fingers and criticize and say you're not good enough and be negative. But when you're in the arena and you're scrapping, you're never that far away from victory and you're never that far away from defeat,'' Hawkins said. "Until you are in the arena, until you've gone through it a time or two, until you've done some things in your life, until you've strived and you've succeeded and you've failed, and you've tried and you've failed and you succeeded, people don't get that.''

It's not simply the 1-2 start to the season that has Hawkins in defensive mode, however. After posting records of 2-10, 6-7 and 5-7 in his first three seasons, the former Boise State coach boldly said during the winter that the goals for 2009 were "10 wins with no excuses,'' thus raising expectations even more. And while that would seem far-fetched after losing to Colorado State and Toledo, Hawkins likes to point out exceptions to the rule.

"It's interesting; [CU tight ends coach and special teams coordinator Kent] Riddle has a buddy who coaches with the [New York] Giants. The Giants went 0-2 in 2007, and what did all of you say? Let's fire the coach. They won the Super Bowl,'' Hawkins said during his mid-week press conference prior to the Wyoming game. "I mean, there are a ton of those stories out there, but nobody likes those stories. Nobody recounts those stories. Nobody publishes those stories because people don't like those stories.

"Every year those things happen and we've already talked about it with Colorado, too. All those stories are out there, but nobody wants those stories, everyone just wants to live in the world of drama and the hype. Every coach has gone through it. Every coach knows. So you just keep hanging in there. You keep doing your deal, keep getting better at what you're doing and eventually the thing cracks. It always does.''

In five years as the coach at Boise State, Hawkins never had to deal with anything like this.

His teams there were 53-11, three times finished ranked in the Top 15 and in one three-year span (2002-04) went 36-3. At Colorado, perhaps the only highlight in three-plus years has been a win over No. 3 Oklahoma in 2007.

Still, Hawkins maintains he isn't sweating his job security.

"I'm always secure. You know, whether you approve of me or disapprove of me really doesn't affect my self-esteem,'' he said. "I know this, my boss is sitting over here, we're doing things right by the kids, we're doing things right by the school, and we're doing things right football wise too. We're doing things the way you're supposed to do them. I know that as a football team, in the weight-room, in academics, discipline wise, and in the structure of where we are and who we are at the University of Colorado, I have 100 percent confidence in that.

"You have to control what you can control, and I know we're doing that.''

BRIEFLY: West Virginia's injury situation doesn't seem to have changed much from Saturday night's loss at Auburn - Jarrett Brown is apparently fine, while Reed Williams and Scooter Berry are not.

Brown, West Virginia's quarterback, went through Thursday's full scale practice apparently without a hitch. He was quarterbacking the No. 1 offense and throwing the football and afterward said his injured non-throwing shoulder was simply sore.

"It feels a little bit better," Brown said. "I can lift my arm."

Defensive starters Williams (foot) and Berry (shoulder), though, both dressed for Thursday's practice in red jerseys, meaning they were essentially allowed to do nothing. Williams is still wearing a walking boot on his injured right foot.

Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.