BOULDER — Players say one of the best things about football is always getting another opportunity to prove oneself.
If Colorado sophomore cornerback Jimmy Smith had not been sure of that before, nobody had to convince him Saturday about second chances following the Buffaloes’ 28-24 victory over Iowa State at Folsom Field.
A CU defense that had yielded two quick-strike touchdowns to ISU earlier in the second half came up with a big play when nothing short of stellar would do. Iowa State stood one foot from a winning touchdown with time for just one play. Cyclones quarterback Austen Arnaud rolled out to his right on an option play. There was no place for Arnaud to go, so he pitched to tailback Alexander Robinson.
There was no place for Robinson to go, either. Smith and senior strong safety D.J. Dykes were waiting.
Holding its breath, a crowd of 46,440 exhaled with a roar.
Two-yard loss. Game over.
“Oh, man, I love football because there’s always another play, another chance to step up,” Smith said. “Iowa State drove the ball on us some, but we made the play when we had to.”
Colorado (5-5, 2-4 Big 12) snapped a two-game losing streak and moved to within a victory of gaining bowl-eligibility. Smith, making his first college start, couldn’t stop smiling. Never before had he made a game-saving tackle. That includes three years of high school ball in Colton, Calif.
“This is a confidence-booster, for the team and for me,” Smith said.
Smith was joined in the second-chances winner’s circle by sophomore quarterback Cody Hawkins, who threw a career-best four touchdown passes — all after halftime.
The coach’s son had stood on the sidelines a week earlier in a seven-point loss at Texas A&M when freshman Tyler Hansen got the crunch-time call in the fourth quarter. The roles were reversed this time.
Entering the game with Colorado down 10-0, Hawkins played the entire second half and led the Buffs to their highest point total since the second week of the season, a 31-24 win over Eastern Washington. Saturday’s 422 yards of total offense marked a season high, the first game to surpass 400.
Cody completed 20-of-29 passes for 226 yards, an amazing, 30-minute performance considering Hawkins had not taken many snaps with the first team in the final two practices of the week. Hawkins said he wasn’t sure if he would play at all against Iowa State.
“I’m glad we won,” Cody said after the game. “I don’t think it’s about me.”
CU offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich would not commit to a starting quarterback for Saturday’s game against Oklahoma State.
“Some of the stuff that happened to Tyler wasn’t his fault,” CU coach Dan Hawkins said. “We just felt like we needed a little bit of a change with Cody.”
Hawkins’ fourth touchdown pass looked like it might be enough. Iowa State (2-8, 0-6) took over at its 39-yard line with 1:22 remaining and quickly moved the chains. Trouble was, only three seconds remained after a 4-yard pass from Arnaud to Darius Darks got it inside the 1-yard line. Arnaud spiked the ball to stop the clock. There would be time for only one more play.
“Everybody was looking steely- eyed. None of us was worried,” CU senior safety Ryan Walters said.
When Arnaud set up in the shotgun, CU defenders guessed it would be an option. The Buffs guessed correctly.
“They ran it to my side,” said Dykes, who assisted Smith on the tackle. “This is big for our team. It shows them (young guys) to never give up.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
Key stat
179.95: Quarterback rating for Cody Hawkins. Playing only in the second half and taking just 43 snaps, the sophomore threw a career-best four touchdown passes, completed 20-of-29 passes and shattered his career-best QB rating. His previous best rating was 160.3 last year in a win at Baylor.
Key play
Talk about a receiver and quarterback being on the same page. On CU’s final score with 1:30 remaining, senior wideout Cody Crawford was already in the end zone when he saw Hawkins stepping up in the pocket on second-and-goal from the Iowa State 5 to avoid a pass rush. Crawford circled around safety James Smith and came back for the ball. As soon as Crawford turned, Hawkins’ pass was there.
Tom Kensler, The Denver Post
