BOULDER — A coach never really knows about the leadership on his team until players face a crisis.
Even if Colorado coach Dan Hawkins had scripted the speeches, CU’s seniors couldn’t have rallied the squad more effectively during halftime of Saturday’s 31-24 victory over Eastern Washington.
Colorado (2-0) trailed the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) opponent by two touchdowns at the break. Rather than talk about getting embarrassed by a small school or how silly the program might look later on “SportsCenter,” the seniors tried to get everybody thinking ahead to the second half rather than dwell on the first half.
“I told all the guys to calm down,” said CU senior safety Ryan Walters, a team captain.
Said senior defensive tackle George Hypolite: “I just wanted us to come out and not play tight, and not play to lose.”
It worked. With the old Journey tune “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” blaring from the Folsom Field loudspeakers, Colorado overcame a 21-7 deficit, scoring twice with just over two minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The Buffs (2-0) avoided a headline-grabbing upset similar to that of the 2006 loss to Montana State, another member of the Big Sky Conference.
“We always tell our guys not to get caught up with the decal on the side of the helmet,” Dan Hawkins said. “(But) it’s hard a lot of times when you have young guys.”
Colorado pulled even, 24-24, for the first time since early in the second quarter after sophomore quarterback Cody Hawkins flipped a 2-yard touchdown pass to fullback Jake Behrens with 2:05 remaining.
Junior cornerback Cha’pelle Brown put the Buffs ahead for the first time when he returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown with 1:44 to go. It was the first college TD for Brown, a full-time starter for the first time.
Eastern Washington junior quarterback Matt Nichols tried to hit a receiver in the left flat and admitted afterward that he lost track of Brown, who stepped in front of the intended target. Nichols, the 2007 Big Sky offensive player of the year, had a good day otherwise, with 32-of-51 for 303 yards.
“It was like it happened in slow motion,” Brown said of the game-winning pick. “It was like the pass was meant for me.”
Cody Hawkins wasn’t as sharp as his statistics (28-for-38 for 261 yards and three touchdowns) might indicate. He missed several open receivers. But Hawkins did find senior captain Patrick Williams for a 36-yarder down the left sideline to set up the game-tying score to Behrens.
“I wasn’t doing a lot of things I needed to do,” said Hawkins, who was sacked twice and under siege for much of the afternoon. “(The Eagles) were trying to double-team Josh (Smith) a lot. We thought if we could get them in the right formation, we would have a chance to hit Patrick.”
A crowd of 46,417 had fallen almost dead silent when a 48-yard interception return for a touchdown by EWU linebacker J.C. Sherritt enabled the Eagles (0-2) to take a 14-point lead into halftime. Eastern Washington was not going to be intimidated by a Big 12 Conference team, having pulled to within 11 points of Texas Tech in the third quarter a week earlier.
“We will have to learn how to finish an opponent,” EWU coach Beau Baldwin said.
Hypolite hopes it also is a lesson for the Buffs, who have an open date next week and extra time to prepare for a Thursday night game against West Virginia on Sept. 18.
“I just told our guys to make some tackles in the second half,” Hypolite said. “I’m glad somebody was listening.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
KEY STAT
3: Points allowed by Colorado in the final 37:29 of the game, after giving up 21 in the first 22:31
KEY PLAY
Cha’pelle Brown’s interception return for a touchdown. Just when Colorado needed it most, the defense cashed in on the biggest play of the game. Tied at 24 late in the fourth quarter, Brown picked off EWU quarterback Matt Nichols and ran it back 27 yards for what turned out to be the winning score.
QUOTE
“I don’t like to talk bad about teams, but they aren’t going to get that far in the Big 12. They aren’t playing like a Big 12 team. They’re playing like a Big Sky team.” – Ryan Kelly, EWU defensive back, on CU
