UH opens season with win at Colorado State
What a way to open the 2018 football season.
Hawaii, behind redshirt sophomore quarterback Cole McDonald, came out blazing in the return to the run-and-shoot offense. The Rainbow Warriors built a 30-point lead in the third quarter then held on tight to defeat Colorado State 43-34 today in Fort Collins, Colo.
UH (1-0, 1-0 Mountain West) snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Rams and won in Fort Collins for the third time ever, and first time since 1988. UH last beat CSU (0-1, 0-1) at any location at Aloha Stadium during the WAC championship season of 1992.
McDonald was masterful in his debut as the starter, going 26-for-37 for 418 yards and three touchdowns passing, to go with 96 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
New receiver Cedric Byrd hauled in 181 of those passing yards and scored once, while slotback John Ursua was prolific in his return from an injury, catching two touchdown balls and going for 123 yards.
And placekicker Ryan Meskell showed off his improvement in his second season of college football, nailing all three of his field-goal attempts, including a huge 35-yarder with 44 seconds left to make it a two-score game after UH curiously threw the ball away and stopped the clock. The Rams were charging hard, putting together a 27-3 scoring spurt on the arm of K.J. Carta-Samuels, who threw for a school record 537 yards and five touchdowns in his CSU debut.
Receivers Preston Williams (188 yards, two TDs) and Olabisi Johnson (157 yards, two TDs) took turns shredding the Warriors’ secondary down the stretch in the 5,000-foot altitude.
But, UH — which was without star linebacker Jahlani Tavai, who was suspended for a violation of team rules — did just enough to hold on and now plays host to Navy next week at Aloha Stadium with considerably more optimism amongst its fan base than was expected.
The Star-Advertiser’s running story of the outcome is here.
The full final stats are here.
Great win! On the road. Amazing!
Terrific!
Great win to start the 2018 season!!
Defense needs especially the secondary could use a little tweaking. Being it’s the first game of the season and it was on the road. Is a good sign of many more exciting games to come.
Offense was great. Watch out MWC. Hawaii will prove many doubters wrong.
The return of the run and shoot. A conference road win. What a Saturday!
Good road win as everyone already stated but Coach Corey Batoon, C’mon man your DBs made Colorado State’s transfer QB (who was 3rd string at UDUB) look like Tom Brady. Just wondering if you’re up to the task at FBS level?. Zero adjustments with only 3 receivers and a RB who can’t cut. Williams owned UH. That was almost a major choke job in the 2nd half 37-7 mid-way through 3rd quarter. Rolo can’t be happy and UH fans know that’s not a good sign. #16 looks scared to make a tackle and #14 seems to be confused on every play. #4 is inconsistent and I pray we don’t have to resort to putting Kaneshiro in the game. He was burnt toast at STL last year. We need players in the secondary and a DC who knows what he’s doing at this level.
DC and UH secondary and LBs got exposed in the 2nd half. Cover 3 and Cover 4 with our caliber DBs? Williams tooled all over our DBs, granted he was pushing off, but we’re not fast, we’re not physical and we’re definitely not smart. Agree with StL Alum, #16 plays scared.
Good road win as everyone already stated but Coach Corey Batoon, C’mon man your DBs made Colorado State’s transfer QB (who was 3rd string at UDUB) look like Tom Brady. Zero adjustments with only 3 receivers and a RB who can’t cut. Almost gaged it up after leading 37-7 mid-way through 3rd quarter. Rolo can’t be happy and UH fans know that’s not a good sign. #16 looks terrified. Please tell me that we don’t have to resort to putting Kaneshiro in the game?
Offense looked awesome. Cole looks like the real deal. Reminds me of Colt but with the ability to scramble. Also Byrd and Ursua will wreak havoc on opposing secondaries. Defense definitely could use a lot of work. Pass rush was nonexistent and our DB’s were getting getting burnt all day. It’s a good thing CSU wasn’t airing it out in the first half otherwise it would have been a different story. But glad we got the W.
Ideal running game: Freddy Holly (3), going above 100 yards every game. Dayton Furata to back him up to block. And passing, Armstrong Brown to do the 3rd down and 7 or 8 to 1st down conversions whole season at 100% completion. Plus McDonald at quarterback commanding the offense all season. He looks like Colorado’s Sefo Liufao. At 6-4 also. Who also made pro NFL team somewhere. Denver.
Good win Warriors! Would have been great if the team didn’t let CSU get back into the game. Keep working hard and it will all pay off! Thanks for bringing the run and shoot back! With that offense, the excitement is back! P.S. please keep the Hawaiian islands on the helmet! That is the best looking helmet in all of college football! Have the best of seasons and we are all rooting for all of you! Like the hawaii little leaguers mantra WE>ME!
Navy’s early line of (-17) may now be too much higher to reach. Hawai’i looks to go up 2-0 @ Aloha Stadium. 5:30 p.m. game. I’d go with Hawai’i to win again.
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I think our DBs were a little gassed in the 2nd half from the altitude and having to chase the CSU receivers for most of the half. The way to win at altitude is to get out to a big enough lead so that you can hold on to win at the end.
questioning whether or not the DC can coach “at this level” after a win at altitude during week 0 is ridiculous. Defense allowed us to go up 37-7…
I agree with #13. The defense played well till the 3rd QTR. Then they looked gassed at altitude. Pass rush started coming in spurts and less often. The DB’s have to keep up with receivers that live at altitude for 60 minutes. I live at 5500 feet, and it was an adjustment when we moved here. 2 days is not enough time to acclimate.
I was proud of the way they dug in and finished in the 4th. I hope its a sign of this teams heart. The last time I watched them play in Albuquerque they quit in the 4th and lost the game.
FAU is a D1 (FBS) program.
Heh #5, 6, what about the 1st half and half of the 3rd Qtr when our D held them to 7 points? Agree with #13 that chasing the QB and receivers in thin air took its toll, but we did not fold. Great Win on the road against a team that manhandled us last year at home.
Agree that the secondary looks weak and was exposed when CSU starting to air it out even when we knew they had to air it out. Unfortunately, this is the same situation as last year. Only difference this year is we outscored the opponent. Is it the scheme or is it the coaching or player talent? On paper we are as good as most at DB. Against Navy, hopefully we can put the game away early and force them to throw. Otherwise, it will be a long night…but will be exciting because the RnS is an exciting offense.
Also it seemed like the defense was confused a bunch to times. On numerous occasions the D-line and LB’s weren’t even set and and ready for the play when the CSU offense snapped the ball. Looks like they were looking at our sidelines for info. Coaches gotta work on this and get their players more prepared.
Db’s gotta be more physical. Also coaches will get better with there calls too! A lot of defensive calls were incorrect in the secondary, but they will fix it in time. A lot to look forward to for the future!