BOULDER — Feeling excitement and elation after a victory, Colorado’s Cody Hawkins said he held up fine when chatting Saturday after the 34-14 win over Iowa State with his father, who is out of work for the first time in his coaching career.
Whether the senior quarterback could control his emotions before the game is what had his teammates concerned. For the first time in Cody’s college career, Dan Hawkins wasn’t on the sidelines.
But Cody knew his dad would be watching the game. Hawkins came in and out of his former office to the second-floor balcony at Dal Ward Center, overlooking Folsom Field.
Cody said “it hit me” before the game and he was “was about to lose it” emotionally. Scotty McKnight to the rescue. The senior wideout may be Cody’s closest friend on the team.
“Cody played great,” McKnight said. “Honestly, it’s a testament to his parents and the family that he has. For a lot of kids, this would be really tough to deal with.
“But our team loves Cody. We tried to rally around him. We knew he was going to come out here and play well. He wasn’t going to let us down.”
As efficient as any performance by a CU quarterback this season, Hawkins finished 16-for-24 passing for 266 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions and no sacks.
Hawkins spread the ball around. Junior tight end Ryan Deehan, junior wideout Toney Clemons and McKnight each caught touchdown passes. Freshman wide receiver Paul Richardson didn’t get into the end zone, but otherwise had the best statistical day with five catches for 121 yards, including a 55-yard gain on the game’s third play from scrimmage.
Hawkins’ 7,044 career passing yards rank second in school history. He is 331 yards shy of tying Joel Klatt’s record.
On Saturday, Cody pointed toward Dan Hawkins and other family members on their Dal Ward balcony after each of his touchdown passes.
“I just told them that when I could I was going to let them know I was thinking about them,” Cody said. “It was good to have them out there and know I had their support.”
Ever the team player, Cody wasn’t about to take credit for the victory, although it was evident he was fired up and focused. Almost all of his passes were on target.
“I think the key today was balance,” Cody said, referring to Rodney Stewart’s success on the ground (123 yards).
McKnight said it was obvious Cody was thinking about his father during warm-ups. But, McKnight said, he was confident his pal would come through.
“You could tell something was different with Cody in the pregame,” Mc-Knight said. “He wasn’t as vocal as he usually is. But he was vocal on the field. That’s what matters.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
