When Michael Hawkins takes the field this Saturday afternoon at the Cotton Bowl, he’ll make history.

For ninety-five consecutive years, Oklahoma and Texas have matched up with one another on an annual basis. This weekend will mark the 120th overall meeting between the two bitter rivals.

And across those 119 previous matchups, not once has a true freshman taken the game’s first snap at quarterback for the crimson and cream.

It’s not unprecedented for the Sooners to turn to a true freshman signal-caller at some point over the course of a given season. Caleb Williams came off the bench in the 2021 Red River Shootout, orchestrated a comeback for the ages and parlayed that performance into a starting job for the remainder of the season. A frosh by the name of Cale Gundy made a cameo in 1990. Heck, Jamelle Holieway led the Sooners to a national title as a true freshman in 1985. And there have been others over the years, including a fellow from Henryetta by the name of Troy Aikman.

But neither Williams nor Gundy nor Holieway nor Aikman — nor any other quarterback in the fabled history of Oklahoma football — has started the all-important Red River Shootout as a true freshman.

That changes this Saturday, as Hawkins will lead No. 18 Oklahoma into battle at the Cotton Bowl… barely nine months since he graduated high school.

The Longhorns are 5-0, ranked No. 1 in the country and favored by two touchdowns in this year’s iteration of the Red River Shootout. And the Sooners will saddle their hopes of an upset on the shoulders of a young man who’s got exactly one collegiate start to his name.

The odds aren’t in Oklahoma’s favor. And admittedly, it’s going to take much more than one player or one individual performance for the Sooners to topple mighty Texas. But in Michael Hawkins, OU has a quarterback — and a leader — who isn’t intimidated nor deterred by the challenge at hand. The roots of an upset grow in the soil of belief, and belief isn’t something that Hawkins has ever needed someone else to instill within him.

It’s innate for the Dallas native, and so too is his notoriously resolute demeanor.

In the Hawkins household, Michael’s name isn’t Michael. He’s either known as ‘Mike’ or ‘Mike-Mike,’ the latter of which is a longstanding moniker that helps further differentiate him from his father.

Mike Hawkins Sr., 41, played cornerback at Oklahoma in the early 2000’s before embarking on a career in the Arena Football League and eventually the NFL. The elder Hawkins imagined that his oldest son would end up being a cornerback — because after all, it was woven into his very DNA, right?

Eventually, Mike had one of his boys follow in his footsteps; his younger son Maliek is a four-star defensive back who’s committed to the Sooners and will join the program in January as an early 2025 enrollee. But once Michael tried his hand at quarterback, it was over. He wanted to be Cam Newton.

And fortunately, Mike had a remarkable professional network at his disposal. He didn’t know everything about the quarterback position, but as a former defensive back, he could help his son understand the way defenders think. He could help Michael learn how to manipulate opposing secondaries with his eyes, and how to pick up on tendencies and adjust accordingly.

And for all the things that he himself couldn’t teach his son, Mike enlisted the assistance of Kevin Murray.

A former quarterback at Texas A&M in the mid-1980’s, Murray makes a solid living these days as a private QB coach. His most notable student is his own son, Kyler, who requires no introduction amongst the Sooner faithful. And while Mike and Kevin teamed up to teach Michael the ins and outs of the quarterback position, he also benefited immensely from the presence of a live-in nutritionist.

Michael’s mother, Annabelle, oversaw every detail of her son’s diet throughout his childhood and adolescence.

“[In the] very early mornings, before the sun came up, I would just prepare meals for breakfast, lunch, some snacks — healthy foods like proteins and nuts,” Annabelle explained. “I’d make sure he’d stay hydrated. And proper sleep, because sleep is important.”

Buttressed by the rigor and structure that his parents provided, Michael flourished as an athlete from a very early age. And though Dad took the lead with his physical development and Mom took the lead with his nourishment, Michael always demonstrated an inherent coolness that only served to further augment his ability on the gridiron.

“He’s never been an uptight person,” Annabelle remarked. “He’s always been super laid-back and very, very focused. With Mike-Mike, I’ve never really had to question anything that he’s said or put his mind to doing, because I always trusted his word. Anything he says he’s gonna do, he’s gonna find a way to do it. He’s always been super grounded and very determined in everything that he does.”

And on Michael’s part, he credits both of his parents for helping to shape his even-keel mentality.

“I’d say [it’s] my dad,” he observed. “Ever since I grew up, he’s always put me in situations, and just there’s a ton of adversity I need to overcome. So I’ve always been calm growing up. And trying to learn to be calm in my childhood and even in high school. So he’s been a big part of that. Even my mom, too.”

That calmness — regardless of its origin — helped elevate Michael to four-star status as a prospect, a successful three-year stint as a varsity starter in high school, and a scholarship opportunity at the very same school his father once attended. For those that aren’t acquainted with the specifics of his journey, here’s a condensed glimpse at his recruitment and how he eventually chose Oklahoma.

But arguably no one, perhaps not even Michael himself, imagined that he’d be thrust into the spotlight at OU this soon. That’s not to say he isn’t capable, or that his ascension is premature. But something had to give — and something out of his control, at that — in order for him to ascend to QB1 status as a true freshman.

Hawkins took second-team reps throughout spring ball and fall camp, biding his time behind Jackson Arnold. He wasn’t the guy at Oklahoma, at least not yet. But in the meantime, he simply took care of the things that were within his purview.

“I think it just goes back to the foundation of the standard that was set for Mike when he was a little boy,” said Mike Sr. “I always put the pressure on him — if you wanted to conquer this, or you wanted to be the best of the best, then this is what it takes. And Mike embraced that. He never complained; he just went to work.”

Hawkins flashed his ability as both a runner and a passer in the Sooners’ April spring game, and earned some praise after the exhibition from Brent Venables.

“Mike Hawkins was really good all spring,” Venables proclaimed to a gaggle of reporters. “Anyone who saw us play, it was easy to see… He’ll have another opportunity to make a big jump in the course of the summer. We feel good about it. Great leadership; the guy’s got talent, the ability to run, and the instincts and the leadership. All the things that you want.”

Even before the spring game, there had been whispers that the gap between Hawkins and Arnold wasn’t terribly wide — if there was even a gap at all. Throughout fall camp, those whispers grew louder. But as expected, Arnold opened the 2024 season as Oklahoma’s starting quarterback, and he looked solid in the Sooners’ opener. Despite a modest 141 air yards, he flung four touchdown passes in a 51-3 victory against Temple. Hawkins saw garbage-time action, completing 2 of 4 passes for 17 yards and rushing twice for 10 yards.

It all seemed mundane enough, and based on that performance from Arnold, there wasn’t any ostensible reason to question the hierarchy at QB. But Venables made a comment after the game that would echo loudly within a matter of weeks, as innocuous as it may have seemed at the time.

“Mike’s a really good player,” said Venables of his backup quarterback. “He's got a great future ahead of him, and, you know, we really feel that it's important that we get him some experience. You've got two really young quarterbacks at the one and the two, and we don't have a lot of experience there, so we feel like we're going to need to be able to have both guys ready to play.”

The faint and early calls for Hawkins began amongst the fans a week later, as Arnold threw two early touchdown passes but struggled mightily for the remainder of the contest in an eventual 16-12 squeaker over Houston. He performed well enough the following week in a 34-19 triumph over Tulane, but tossed an ugly pick-six that only served to magnify the swirling questions.

The following week brought a cataclysm. OU opened SEC play at home against Tennessee, and Arnold hit rock bottom. He threw an interception on the plus side of the field, fumbled inside the Tennessee 5-yard line, then committed a third turnover on a short-hop lateral pass to Zion Ragins that the Volunteers recovered. Minutes later, Dylan Sampson cruised into the end zone for a UT touchdown. The halftime horn hadn’t even sounded, and the Sooners already trailed 19-3.

When Oklahoma’s offensive unit marched back onto the field, Arnold stayed behind on the sideline.

And from her seat in the southeast corner of Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, 12-year-old Bella Hawkins saw her big brother take the field to the optimism-tinged approval of 84,000 people.

“I started jumping up,” said Bella. “My tummy got bubbly. Just excited.”

From the moment that the Vols scooped up Arnold’s ill-advised lateral toss to Ragins, there had been murmurs within the crowd that a change was coming. Michael and seventh-year journeyman Casey Thompson had both begun throwing on the sidelines during the ensuing Tennessee possession. But in need of a spark, the OU staff turned to the young gun over the super-senior.

“I remember standing there, and I was just kind of pacing,” Annabelle recalled. “I don’t know; I just felt weird the whole entire time. I just felt weird — in a good way. And I just kept pacing, and all of a sudden, I hear the fans surrounding me saying, ‘He’s warming up! He’s warming up!’ So I’m looking, and I’m already struggling to see far away, so I’m trying to find him, and my stomach is full of butterflies. I was so excited, but at the same time, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. This is happening.’ And I was just overwhelmingly happy and proud of him.”