PERSPECTIVE
Cody’s nerves not a problem
Unless Cody Hawkins has everybody fooled, Colorado’s new starting quarterback appears to be one cool customer.
He’s a redshirt freshman who sounds and acts like a fifth-year senior – even as the hours count down before making his college debut in a rivalry game, with 70,000 fans watching his every move.
“I’m not a big nervous guy,” Hawkins said. “I might get butterflies every once in a while. But I’m pretty calm. If you work hard during the week, then why be nervous on Saturday?
“You need to enjoy the moment. How many people get to go play college football? There’s no reason to eat yourself alive about it.”
Cody Hawkins speaks like a coach and seems to think like one. No surprise there. Cody grew up listening to his father, CU coach Dan Hawkins, at the dinner table.
Cody said he is braced for whatever comes his way on Saturday. He expects a rip-snorter of a game from the Colorado State defense.
“I’m not stupid – I know if I was playing against a freshman quarterback, I’d bring the heat and smoke him and break his helmet and do everything I could,” Cody said.
Of course handling all that is easier said than done.
– Tom Kensler
RAMS ASSISTANT WOULDN’T MIND SCRATCHING A 21-YEAR ITCH
Lay returns, learns rivalry a bit different from past years
Colorado State offensive co-coordinator Dave Lay, who never stood on a winning sideline when CU and CSU played in the 1990s, admits he has never been to Invesco Field at Mile High. While most other staffers own a few wins in the rivalry, Lay’s only victory goes back to 1986 in his first stint at CSU. “In the ’90s we thought. ‘If we get a few breaks and they overlook us, we’d have a chance,”‘ Lay said. He has been too involved preparing the offensive line and running game to notice the usually rivalry distractions. “Today is the first day I felt like it was game week,” Lay said Wednesday.
A MORNING PERSON
“I don’t know if I’ve ever played a football game at 10 a.m. But I’d rather play at 10 a.m. than 8 p.m. I hate sitting around all day waiting to play.” – CU senior offensive tackle Tyler Polumbus, who said even his youth football days never had a game kick off that early
FAMILY REUNION
Oh, brother: Sprague house divided with game on horizon
CU wide receiver Dusty Sprague said his parents’ home in Holyoke is decorated with touches of black and gold. It wasn’t always that way, however. Two older brothers, Aaron and Russell, played for CSU. The entire family plans to be at Invesco Field on Saturday, no doubt with divided allegiances. “My brothers don’t have black and gold at their houses,” Dusty said with a grin. “But really, we all feel fortunate that we got the opportunity to play Division I football. No matter where that’s at, it is a good thing.” Russell is going to law school at Nebraska. Aaron is working the family farm in Holyoke. Dusty said the importance of the CU-CSU game goes beyond the rivalry. “As it’s shown in history, whichever team wins this game seems to have success during the season,” he said. “And the one that loses seems to have a harder time to get things going.”
CURE: MORE KYLE BELL
“It’s absolutely stood the test of the entire camp. I have no doubt I can get 30 carries if needed.” – CSU running back Kyle Bell, on his progress from last year’s knee surgery
SERIES HISTORY
The head spike
CSU 19, CU 14; Aug. 31, 2002, in Denver; attendance: 75,531
Bradlee Van Pelt always insisted he was just raising his arm to prevent CU defensive back Rod Sneed from grabbing his face mask. But the controversial sequence, replayed endlessly on TV, sure looked like a head spike to Buffs fans as the former CSU quarterback scored the go-ahead touchdown with 6:20 left.
Both teams had other signature plays. CU freshman Jeremy Bloom scored on a 75-yard punt return the first time he touched the ball. CSU’s Cecil Sapp, now a Broncos running back, carried a group of Buffs into the end zone on a touchdown run.
Van Pelt went one step further in igniting the animosity of CU fans. He called the Buffs the worst No. 6-ranked team ever.
The charismatic Van Pelt single-handedly defused perpetual CU chatter that the series wasn’t really a rivalry. The teams’ encore the following year in Denver set a state attendance record for a college football game at 76,219.
