Boulder, CO (Sports Network) – Cody Hawkins threw for 266 yards and three touchdowns as the Colorado Buffaloes downed the Iowa State Cyclones 34-14 in a Big 12 Conference matchup.
Hawkins was 16-of-24 through the air for the Buffaloes (4-6, 1-5 Big 12), who snapped a five-game losing streak and also won their first game for interim coach Brian Cabral. A long-time assistant, Cabral took over this week for the fired Dan Hawkins. Rodney Stewart ran for 123 yards on 36 carries for Colorado, while Paul Richardson caught five balls for 121 yards. Scotty McKnight added three receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown.
Austen Arnaud was 15-of-23 through the air for the Cyclones (5-6, 3-4), while Jerome Tiller hit 12-of-19 passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. The two quarterbacks were sacked eight times, however, for 53 yards in losses. As a result, Iowa State finished with minus-six rushing yards. Collin Franklin caught 11 balls for 118 yards and a score in the losing effort.
Colorado opened the scoring when Aric Goodman booted a 24-yard field goal with 11:13 left in the first quarter.
Alexander Robinson got Iowa State on the board on an eight-yard run with 12:03 left in the first half.
Colorado regained the lead when Cody Hawkins found Ryan Deehan on a nine-yard throw at the 11:08 mark. He followed up with a 26-yard pass to Toney Clemons at the 2:27 point to make it a 17-7 game at halftime.
Goodman extended Colorado’s lead to 20-7 with a 39-yard field goal at the 9:03 mark of the third quarter before Hawkins found Scotty McKnight on a 25-yard scoring pass with 2:25 remaining in the period.
Michael Sipili extended the Colorado lead to 34-7 when he returned a fumble 45 yards to the end zone with 11:33 left in the game.
Jerome Tiller got Iowa State back in the end zone with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Colin Franklin with 8:11 remaining.
Colorado had the edge in time of possession, 34:02-25:58. Iowa State fumbled four times, losing two of them.