Iowa State tight end DeShawn Hanika turning heads with clutch catches

AMES — He was bumped, grabbed and put in a perilous position.

Iowa State tight end DeShawn Hanika made the touchdown catch anyway. The 6-foot-6, 238-pound junior’s stunning grab of Hunter Dekkers’ 16-yard pass in Saturday’s 31-14 Big 12 football win over West Virginia came with Mountaineer safety Raleigh Collins III draped all over him.

So how did he hang on?

“Concentration,” said Hanika, who hopes to continue to make big plays for the Cyclones (4-5, 1-5) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Oklahoma State (6-3, 3-3). “With (tight ends coach Taylor Mouser) we do ball distraction drills every week. Before the game, you’ll see him with me and Easton (Dean), messing with us, covering our eyes, messing with our hands. That’s all it really came down to, weeks and weeks in practice of doing it. I touched it so I have to catch it.”

Seems simple, but it’s anything but. Hence the constant application of pressure. Hence the solid play of Hanika, Dean and Jared Rus — a tight-knit group of tight ends called upon to produce one season after two of the program’s all-time greats, Charlie Kolar and Chase Allen, moved on to the NFL.

“Our tight ends played really well (Saturday),” ISU head coach Matt Campbell said. “We need those guys to play well. That’s a key piece of the success of our football team.”

Kolar — who was recently activated by the Baltimore Ravens from the injured reserve list — caught 23 touchdown passes in his storied Cyclone career, the most by a tight end in program history. Allen totaled six career touchdowns while shining in support of the rushing game.

Now Hanika is making his mark. He’s notched three touchdown catches this season while emerging as a trusted red-zone target.

“Charlie was a great player here,” Hanika said. “His name’s in the record books for a reason. He was an NFL Draft pick for a reason and when he came back before the season started he pulled me and Easton aside and told us, ‘Just because I’m not there doesn’t mean that the tight end room isn’t what it has been.’ He told us, ‘You guys can make the tight end room better than what I left it.’

“Me and Easton took that to heart and worked all offseason to show people we can do what Charlie did if not more. Even Rus, catching balls in the flat, I think we all take a sense of pride and have a little chip on our shoulder of people that said our room wouldn’t be what it is.”

That would be productive, even if it hasn’t met Kolar/Allen levels in terms of yards accumulated or points scored. Kolar and Allen combined for eight touchdown catches last season. Hanika and Dean have combined for four in nine games this season. Dean also made a remarkable catch Saturday on a low throw that resulted in a 14-yard gain — and he and Hanika, both juniors, are constant companions on and off the field.

They’re both from Kansas and share similar meat and potatoes-based appetites. Their hunger for growth is equally bound to the earth, which should serve the Cyclones well late this season and beyond.

“He’s like a brother to me,” Hanika said. “The coaches and staff and trainers here, they all laugh, because wherever one of us is, the other one is either right behind, or we’re right next to each other. We think so much alike, so it’s very easy to play off of each other.”

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