For Buffs, Cody Hawkins, beauty only pigskin deep

CU knows secret to looking good is no turnovers

By B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 25, 2008 at 2:22 p.m.

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Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins and his offensive teammates are focusing on protecting the football. A T-shirt they can earn sums it up: "It's All About The Ball."

If Cody Hawkins needed an offseason reminder about establishing his priority for the 2008 football season, it came in the form of a T-shirt that could be earned by his fellow quarterbacks and other skill-position players at the University of Colorado.

As winter settled in and spring practices loomed, reducing turnovers, recalled Hawkins' best bud, receiver Scotty McKnight, came to be a daily emphasis.

"We had a group that, if you didn't turn the ball over, you got a T-shirt that said on the back, 'It's All About The Ball,' " McKnight said. "We were really focused on keeping the ball, (and) as everyone knows, that wins or loses games.

"It's been a huge emphasis. As players, we carried it through summer workouts, in the seven-on-sevens. You could tell Cody was really focused on not turning the ball over, as well as all the other quarterbacks and receivers."

Hawkins, who will open Sunday against Colorado State in the Rocky Mountain Showdown (5:30 p.m., FSN, Invesco Field at Mile High), emerged from his first regular season as a Division I starter with record-setting freshman numbers: passing yards (2,693), attempts (424), completions (239) and touchdown passes (19).

Oh, yes - and interceptions (15).

With one more interception, Hawkins would have set a dubious school single-season record. But as his debut season neared its conclusion, he settled in (or down) and finished the regular season by throwing 70 consecutive passes (four touchdowns) without one ending up in the wrong hands.

Then, in CU's Independence Bowl loss to Alabama (30-24), Hawkins threw three touchdown passes but suffered a pair of picks, giving him a 22-17 touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio and planting him at No. 80 in NCAA Division I-A in pass-efficiency rating (119.8) and No. 9 in the Big 12.

But offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Mark Helfrich said what he has seen from Hawkins through spring drills and preseason camp has been encouraging - with the exception of a second-scrimmage interception.

Overall, Helfrich said, Hawkins' timing "is a lot better" and he is "practicing really well right now."

Also, Hawkins has taken football's "bigger, faster, stronger" mantra to heart. He's now a couple of rib-eyes above 190 pounds, says he's sprouted to 5-foot-11 1/2 and can run himself and the Buffs offense out of a jam if necessary.

"I'm not trying to be Tim Tebow," he said of Florida's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and close friend. "I'm trying to be Cody Hawkins - just be the best I can be, and, hopefully, that's the best for the Buffalo program."

CU's offensive game plan will never exceed Hawkins' capabilities, meaning he never will be mistaken for a dual-threat quarterback. But, he said, "Last year, when I had to run the ball, I did fairly well (he finished with minus-11 rushing yards, with a long run of 12 yards and 97 yards lost in sacks).

"Whenever I've been asked to do things, I've been capable of doing them. Nobody on the staff is going to ask somebody to do something they can't. They're going to put us in position to succeed."

As CU's starter in 2007, Hawkins accepted a quarterback's leadership role, but he did so with a resume he believed was lacking in one critical area - experience.

"I knew the quarterback had to be a leader," he said. "But it was tough for me when it came to the aspect of having to call somebody out. . . . It was tough to call out guys who had been here for five years and tell them they need to do something when they've been here through so much and been here for so long.

"I tried to focus on just the physical aspect of leadership - show up at every workout and work very hard. I think now I'm in a much better (situation), where I can call guys out and get guys here to throw extra. I can call guys up to watch some extra film, I can pump guys up. I think I have a much better gauge for that."

To McKnight, the biggest change in Hawkins has been in his comfort level with his teammates and how he has been accepted.

"Obviously, it's a big jump from your freshman to your sophomore season and your first year playing," he said. "I think he's got a lot more confidence, more of a command of the offense and, this year, he's really got a leadership role - guys are looking to him to be a playmaker."

In 2007, he proved can be one. In 2008, he wants to do it more efficiently.

• August 26, 2008

  6:01 p.m.

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  RealLife writes:

  Sorry lambs, this one's not going to be close. It's back to second fiddle in the state.

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