Head coach takes time to congratulate Rockies
The Buffs pulled off their biggest win of the year last Saturday against the then ranked No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners.
The Colorado Rockies also pulled off their biggest win of the season Monday night against the San Diego Padres, and Coach Dan Hawkins was happy for both teams.
“Go Rockies! Rocktober,” Hawkins said at his weekly press luncheon Tuesday, wearing a purple Rockies shirt.
It has been quite the weekend for Colorado sports, with the Rockies clinching a wild card playoff berth, and CU upsetting heavily-favored Oklahoma on Saturday. CU football is dealing with a lot of excitement and success right now, but there are some concerns about how the team should handle its success.
“The nice thing with our guys is that we are on the same page and they take a lot of what we say to heart,” Hawkins said. “We touched on it on Sunday and I thought they were right there. They worked hard when we conditioned them on Sunday.”
The idea of CU defeating Oklahoma was unlikely. The Buffaloes only lead was with 0:00 on the clock as senior kicker Kevin Eberhart punched the game-winning field goal. The Buffs also had a 14 game losing streak against top 25 ranked teams before facing Oklahoma, and the win has vast importance in CU football history.
“It’s not just because you won and everybody is excited about it that we are going to act like nothing bad happened in that game – there is a lot that we still need to improve upon,” said redshirt freshman quarterback Cody Hawkins.
But for each touchdown pass in the Oklahoma game, there was an interception to accompany it. While turnovers are always something that can be improved on, CU has only committed 16 this season so far, while forcing 22.
Oklahoma’s mistakes though were far more devastating than CU’s, including a botched punt return that led to the Buffs’ repossession of the ball.
Despite the team’s mistakes, Sooners wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias saw the team’s loss not a result of its own mistakes but of CU’s talent.
“We weren’t really clicking like we have been,” Iglesias said. “We need to keep doing what we’ve been doing and come out ready like we need to. We have to come out every game like our record is 0-0. All credit goes to Colorado for this game, though. They came out and played a great game.”
