BOULDER – In 24 years as a football coach, it was the only time Dan Hawkins pulled an all-nighter in his office after a game.
Last season, Hawkins watched film and scratched his head after Colorado’s 34-31, triple-overtime loss to visiting Baylor. He figured working through the night was more constructive than tossing and turning in bed.
Colorado (3-2, 1-0 Big 12) faces Baylor (3-2, 0-1) on Saturday night in Waco, Texas – a year, almost to the day, since the all-nighter.
Hawkins said he has never taken a loss harder.
“Life is not always going to be fair, and my way of dealing with that is to just go back to work and get better,” Hawkins recalled Tuesday during his weekly media luncheon. “Obviously, there is a lot of emotion running through you. You need to start making notes and turn over more stones to try to win ballgames.”
Hawkins stayed alone in CU’s Dal Ward Center that night. He sent his assistant coaches home.
“I think that said a lot about Coach Hawk and how he takes things seriously and how much he loves this game,” CU safety Ryan Walters said. “I don’t know if you’d see many head coaches do that.”
Baylor had won only its second-ever Big 12 road game. But what really got to Hawkins was the way his team performed.
“I’m one of those guys that, I truly believe if it goes wrong, it’s my fault,” Hawkins said. “You have to find some different way of teaching, of getting the message across. There were times in that game where I wasn’t doing a good job of teaching.”
A year ago, Baylor extended CU’s losing streak to 10 games, dating to the final four games of 2005 under Gary Barnett. Colorado no doubt will carry much different vibes into this year’s game against the Bears. The Buffs come off one of the biggest upset wins in the program’s history, 27-24 over then-No. 3 Oklahoma.
But to make sure his players didn’t become distracted by all those pats on the back, Hawkins began the team meeting Sunday by showing footage of the 2006 loss to Baylor. Usually, the Sunday meeting opens with a film review of the previous game.
Quarterback Cody Hawkins said he doubts the Buffs will suffer a letdown.
“The coaches talk a lot about ‘Stay off the top of the mountain and stay out of the valley,”‘ Cody Hawkins said. “Guys are excited about playing Baylor.”
Footnotes: CU will be without junior linebacker R.J. Brown at least until late in the season. Brown, who suffered a concussion against Florida State in Week 3, said he was told by doctors not to practice or play in games for four to six weeks. …
Although not yet inflated, the fabric for CU’s practice bubble arrived and should be installed by next week. “It’s definitely awesome for the players to see that,” Cody Hawkins said.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
