Hawkins duo sinks Sooners
Colorado football seems in good hands. The Hawkins hands. Coach Dan and quarterback Cody engineered Colorado’s 27-24 upset of OU on Saturday, and the rally from a 24-7 deficit could be a defining moment for the Buffaloes.
Dan, in his second year in the Flatirons, and his staff clearly outschemed Bob Stoops and Co. A Colorado offense that hadn’t done much this season butchered the Sooner defense in the second half. Here are some sobering numbers.Colorado rushed for 32 yards on 26 carries against Arizona State, which is no defensive juggernaut; discounting two sacks, CU gained 48 yards on 24 carries, a 2.0 average.
A week later against Florida State, which IS a defensive juggernaut, the Buffs rushed for minus-27 yards; throw out sacks and CU’s numbers aren’t much better — 23 carries, minus-12 yards. Think about that for a minute. On average, Colorado literally couldn’t get back to the line of scrimmage trying to run on Florida State.
Yet against OU, the Buffs got stronger and stronger. CU’s rushing yards by quarter: 7, 40, 70 and 44, 161 in all. Dan Hawkins found holes in the Sooner defense and exploited them, courtesy of tailback Hugh Charles, who gained 110 yards on 24 carries.
Call it an extension of the Boise State curse. Dan Hawkins put together the Boise State team that stunned the Sooners 43-42 in overtime in an epic Fiesta Bowl last January. He handed over that team to Chris Peterson, who did a splendid job coaching. But make no mistake, that was Hawkins’ team.
Now Hawkins has torpedoed OU’s national title hopes, and his son was a major reason why. Cody Hawkins, according to Colorado officials, is just the ninth player to quarterback a Division I-A team with his father as coach. I was critical of Dan Hawkins’ selection of his son as QB; a redshirt freshman quarterback on a team that figured to struggle seemed like a recipe for dissent and revolt.
But I was wrong. Cody Hawkins has been a solid quarterback, and he came up big against the Sooners at Folsom Field. Hawkins’ fourth-and-goal touchdown pass to Tyson DeVree brought Colorado within 24-17 early in the fourth quarter, and Hawkins directed two other scoring drives in the period.
His numbers weren’t gaudy: 22 of 36 for 220 yards, two TDs and two interceptions, and even Hawkins’ fourth-quarter stats were merely solid, 5-of-8 passing for 49 yards. But Hawkins made his plays count. Colorado’s future seems in good hands.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
Berry – I am a lifelong Sooner fan born and raised in the heart of Husker Nation. My Dad took me to my first game in 1968 – OU vs. NU here in Lincoln. Those were the days of Eddie Hinton, Bobby Warmack, Ron Schotts, Granville Liggins, Steve Zabel, etc. I walked out of Memorial Stadium that day as a Sooner fan and have never looked back. I will be heading to Dallas this Saturday for my 15th straight OU vs. Texas game. Forget the ratings, it’s OU/Texas! That is all I need to get fired up. I can’t wait.
Now, getting to last Saturday in Boulder. realize that the Sooners stumbled badly. Blowing a 24 – 7 lead in the second half leaves room for no excuses. But I can sure try – why has nothing been said in the media about the reversed call when Iglesias caught that ball at midfield with 3:00 minutes left to play? If some one can show me the requisite “conslusive ” evidence that the ball touched the ground – I will go silently into the night. Every angle I saw showed a catch – which was the ruling on the field. First and 10 at midfield with 3:00 to go and we have a shot – at the very least, we punt them deep and hold on for OT. I am sick and tired of getting screwed on these replays. What gives?
Yours Truly,
Nebraska Sooner
I am glad that you mention that FSU also went to UC and held the Buffalos to -rushing yardage. So I hope the OU folks stop tying altitude to the fact that their year in and year out “stops” at the line of scrimmage are low and probably because of the way the defense is coached back on its heels to react instead of attack mode like FSU. It is the defense coaching philosophy.
From a disgruntled Okie who lives in Tallahassee.
Texas Sooner Says:
Don’t count the Sooners out just yet! The Sooners will get another chance at them if CU wins the north division.
Berry, always appreciate a writer who publicly admits when he is wrong. Maybe you could smooth over the whole Gundy v Sherman/Carlson issue by recommending that Sherman unconditionally apologize, in the paper, for printing Jenni’s piece. That way the hatchet could be buried, and we could all enjoy the rest of this amazing B12 season. BTW, I see alot of Dan Hawkins in Mike gundy. How about you?