Colorado Takes Down Hawaii 31-13 With A Fantastic Second Half

Boulder, CO (Sports Network) - Rodney Stewart ran for 106 yards and two touchdowns, as the Colorado Buffaloes stampeded the Hawaii Warriors, 31-13 in a non-conference matchup at Folsom Field.

Brian Lockridge also went over the century mark and finished with 109 rushing yards for the Buffaloes (2-1), who were coming off a 52-7 trouncing from California a week earlier. Tyler Hanson completed 19-of-26 passes for 200 yards, throwing one touchdown pass each to Scotty McKnight and Toney Clemons.

Bryant Moniz led Hawaii (1-2) with 330 yards passing and one touchdown. Kealoha Pilares had six catches for 117 yards and a score, while Greg Salas finished with 94 yards on nine catches.

Moniz got Hawaii on the board first with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Pilares in the final minute of the opening quarter.

Hawaii's Scott Enos kicked a 31-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, as the Warriors went to the locker room with a 10-0 lead behind a stout defensive effort.

But Colorado opened the second half with a 14-play, 80-yard drive, which resulted in a four-yard touchdown run by Stewart.

CU cut the deficit to 10-9 at the 10:33 mark of the third quarter, when linebacker Tyler Ahles blew up a play in the backfield for a safety.

The Buffaloes took the lead midway through the third quarter on Stewart's second touchdown run of the day, this time from two yards. CU added a two- point conversion to take a 17-10 lead.

BYU answered with an 11-play, 76-yard drive, but had to settle for three points on a 32-yard field goal by Enos.

Colorado began to pull away in the fourth quarter, as Hansen connected with Toney Clemons for a 73-yard scoring strike to push its lead to 24-13.

The Buffaloes added another score at the 3:12 mark on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Hansen to McKnight to put the game away.

Colorado was able to keep the chains moving by converting 10-of-14 third downs for the game, which yielded nearly an 11-minute edge in time of possession.

WR Toney Clemons Makes His First Big Mark on Colorado Football

The Buffs have taken a 24-13 lead on the Hawaii Warriors in Boulder on a 73 yard touchdown pass from Tyler Hansen to Toney Clemons. It was Clemons’ first touchdown as a Buff.

After falling behind 10-0 in the first half, Colorado has put on an offensive show in the second half, scoring 24 points to Hawaii’s 3. The CU offense has done most of their damage on the ground behind Rodney Stewart and Brian Lockridge. Overall, the Buffs have 191 yards rushing on 42 carries. With the 73 yard touchdown pass, Hansen is now 18-25 for 177 yards and a score.

The Offensive Explosion Continues in Boulder - Colorado Leads Hawaii 17-10 on 17 Unanswered

All that needs to be said:

First half- CU had 124 yards
First 8 minutes of the second half – 140 yards

Who the talked to this team at half and what the hell took them so long to do it…could have used this sort of motivation last week

Running Backs Rodney Stewart and Brian Lockridge have teamed up to torch the Hawaii run defense especially in the second half. Lockridge has 9 carries for 69 yards while Stewart, who just added his second score of the game, has 102 yards on 18 carries.

Overall, the Buffs have 175 yards rushing.

Colorado Goes to Hurry Up Offense, Scores First Points of the Day

Colorado has scored it’s first points of the day with 11:28 remaining in the third quarter on a five yard run by Rodney Stewart. Stewart, who fumbled in the first half that led to Hawaii’s only score, has rebounded nicely, rushing 13 times for 75 yards and a score.

The Buffs, after putting up only 124 yards in the first half, went to the hurry up offense and quickly marched down the field 80 yards on their first drive of the second half.

Hawaii Leads Colorado 7-0 in the Second Quarter

Hawaii has taken a 7-0 lead on the Colorado Buffaloes after QB Bryant Moniz hooked up with Kealoha Pilares for a seven yard score. The score came after the Buffs second turnover of the first half.

Other notes:

Colorado continues to hurt itself. They have turned the ball over two times and have had a few costly penalties on third down.

The Buffs have not been able to get pressure on Hawaii QB Bryant Moniz. He has had all day to throw the ball.

The CU offense does not have a vertical passing game at all. Through most of the first half, Tyler Hansen is 12 of 15 for 55 yards. Good for just over 3 yards an attempt. The Buffs aren’t able to put any pressure on the safeties.

Where are Toney Clemons and Travon Patterson? Unless they are catching 2 yard dig routes, they are not existent in this offense.

Buff Defense Holds Off Hawaii Twice

Thankfully the Buffs defense decided to come to play after the second snap today. Hawaii completed an 80 yard pass to the Colorado three yard line (great play by Jimmy Smith to chase down the Hawaii receiver) and then recovered a CU fumble at the three but both times were unable to get any points out of it.

On the first attempt from deep inside Colorado territory, Hawaii fumbled on fourth down after a review of the previous run showed the Warriors were one inch short of the goaline. On the second attempt, Hawaii K Scott Enos missed the 20 yard attempt.

Great stands by the Buffs defense as Hawaii had eight plays inside the 5 yard line and no points.

Colorado 0 – Hawaii 0

Colorado Offensive Line To See Some Changes Today

After an utterly terrible performance against California last weekend, the Colorado Buffaloes have made a few changes to an offensive line that gave quarterback Tyler Hansen very little time to work. Junior lineman Mike Iltis will be moving from left guard to center, replacing Keenan Stevens at the position. Ethan Adkins is starting at the left guard again after being replaced by Iltis the week before. For the Buffaloes to have a chance against Hawaii today, the line is going to need to rebound and hold off the Warrior defensive line.

Hall Of Fame Inductee Alfred Williams To Be Honored By The Buffaloes On Saturday

The Colorado Buffaloes will be honoring recent College Football Hall of Fame inductee and former Buffalo and Bronco Alfred Williams before this Saturday's game against Hawaii. 

The 1990 Butkus Award winner, Williams led the Colorado Buffaloes to the national championship that same year. His prowess on the field earned him repeat honors in 1989 and 1990 as the Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year and as a unanimous First Team All-Big Eight selection. He still holds the Colorado record for career sacks (35) and tackles for loss (59), costing offenses an incredible 545 yards during his career. During his time in Boulder, the Buffs won two Big Eight Championships and played in two Orange Bowls.

As part of this season's celebration of Alfred and the entire 1990 National Champion Buffaloes, the current Buffs will be wearing throwback jerseys that are similar to the 90's uniforms for every home game in Boulder. I for one can't wait to see the guys take the field in these, they are going to look great.

Colorado Buffaloes Hope To Rebound Against Hawaii At Folsom

(Sports Network) - The Colorado Buffaloes kick off the home portion of their 2010 schedule this weekend when they invite the Hawaii Warriors to Folsom Field in Boulder on Saturday afternoon.

The Buffs opened the season a couple weeks back with a 24-3 rout of the Colorado State Rams in the annual in-state battle, held yet again at Invesco Field in Denver. However, Colorado took a huge step back last Saturday when the team was crushed by the California Golden Bears, 52-7, in Berkeley.

As for the Warriors, they went from fighting a tough match versus 14th-ranked USC at home (49-36) back on September 2nd to traveling to the other side of the country to face off against the Army Black Knights in another non- conference showdown. The battle with the academy came down to the final seconds, but in this case Hawaii came out ahead in a 31-28 final at West Point.

This game marks just the second meeting all-time between the two programs and the first in 85 years. Back in 1925, the Buffs paid a visit to the islands and were turned away in a 13-0 final by Hawaii.

A 31-yard field goal by Scott Enos with a mere seven seconds left on the clock proved to be the difference as the Warriors slipped by Army over the weekend at Michie Stadium. Quarterback Bryant Moniz got the visitors off to a quick start with three touchdown passes in the first 19 minutes of action and still it came down to the wire. Moniz, who was injured in the season opener versus USC, made it through the entire game as he converted 25-of-36 passing for 343 yards, with Greg Salas collecting seven passes for 63 yards and Kealoha Pilares six balls for 104 and a score. Salas is off to another start this season with a team-best 15 catches, resulting in 187 yards over two games, but the end production is clearly better when Pilares touches the ball because he has taken four of his 11 receptions into the end zone. Completing close to 60 percent of his pass attempts, Moniz has the group moving the ball at a quick pace, even of the group can't seem to gain much yardage on the ground. Again, even though it has been just two games, the disparity between the Warriors running the ball (69.5 ypg) and the opposition (248 ypg) is too great to completely ignore.

Against the run last season the Warriors were one of the worst in the nation, giving up better than 200 ypg and over the weekend the squad was again exposed by an opponent on the ground as Army dialed up 250 yards and four touchdowns on 26 attempts. However, giving up so many yards to an academy is not that unusual so the final numbers from week two might be a bit deceiving. The same can be said about Hawaii's pass defense because the Black Knights attempted a mere six throws, completing four for 58 yards. Corey Paredes registered a team-best 14 tackles and Kamalu Umu came up with two tackles for loss and a forced fumble for the Warriors in New York. Even though the Warriors so very few balls put in the air by Army, after just two weeks the defense still ranks last in the nation in pass efficiency defense with a mark of 208.23, basically because the group was ripped apart by Matt Barkley in the opener. Clearly the secondary falls somewhere in between the efforts they had versus the Trojans and at Army, but for now the numbers are what they are and permitting 38.5 ppg isn't helping matters much.

Tyler Hansen got the start at quarterback for the Buffaloes over the weekend versus California at Memorial Stadium, but he probably would have preferred to have been anywhere but the Golden State given the final results. Hansen converted 18-of-34 for 166 yards, but was picked off three times and suffered six sacks, the latter taking the team's overall run production down to only 75 yards on 42 attempts. Hansen did record a touchdown on the ground, but that was little consolation in the end. Hansen, who saw action late last year and finished 2009 with eight touchdowns through the air, but also seven interceptions, has the 2010 version of the offense generating a mere 273 ypg overall and not only is that last among teams in the Big 12 Conference, it is also 111th in the country at the moment as well. Had the opponent not been Colorado State in the first game of the season perhaps Colorado would not be anywhere near scoring 15.5 ppg (tied for 108th) so that has to be a major concern for head coach Dan Hawkins and his staff.

Against Colorado State in the opener the Buffs had little trouble on defense, but the same could not be said for the squad's meeting with future conference mate California on Saturday. The Golden Bears averaged close to six yards per play and made it look easy with almost as many points (52) as offensive plays (60). Anthony Perkins was credited with 11 tackles for the Buffs, the only player with double-digit stops, while Will Perciak tallied seven tackles and one sack for a unit that failed to force a single turnover. Through two games Perkins is averaging nine tackles per contest, one of the top efforts in the Big 12 in the early going, and that's a marked improvement from last year when he was second on the team with 6.4 stops per contest, so at least one person on defense is moving in the right direction. As a group, Colorado is tied for 28th in the nation in sacks (2.5) and TFLs (7.5) per game so hopefully that effort will lead to more success this year.

Colorado is hoping to rebound after last week's embarrassing loss at Cal, while Hawaii wants to keep the good times rolling after its win at Army. Expect the latter to happen as the UH passing attack will get the better of the CU defense.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Hawaii 37, Colorado 31