Things have changed plenty since the football teams from the universities of Hawaii and Colorado last tangled here in 1925.

Or, the UH "Fighting Deans" and CU "Silver and Gold," as the nicknames went back in the day.

And, then again, maybe some things don’t differ so much after all.

For all the advances — and the UH Under Armour uniforms that debut with two-way stretch fit pants for linemen and "natural anatomy" flow for receivers — you suspect the old coaches, Otto "Proc" Klum and Myron Witham, would recognize the emphasis on physical force surrounding today’s 4:15 p.m. nationally televised kickoff.

More than most games the Warriors will play this year, this one figures to be a throwback to the leather helmet, in-your-face days of black-and-blue physical superiority. It recalls an era in which imposing a will on the other guy took precedence over trying to elude him.

First-year Colorado coach Jon Embree, a former tight end for the Buffaloes, promises it up front and UH’s Greg McMackin, an old lineman, sure isn’t ducking it.

"We’re going to throw the first punch; throwing the first punch means offensively that we’re going to run the ball down their throat," Embree told CUbuffs.com. "They know what’s coming and they have to stop it. It’s been successful in the past here (at CU); I know we can get back to doing it."

Embree said, "I really try to preach that to my team."

Small wonder since the Buffaloes have an 18-game road losing streak to lay to rest and will need toughness to avoid the winless-in-conference fate many have forecast for them in the inaugural Pac-12 campaign.

"I told them we’re not going to be the most talented team 13 out of 13 Saturdays when we go out there," Embree said. "Other teams are probably going to have more talent than us. That’s OK. We need to take care of things we can control, things that don’t take talent, like physical toughness."

The Warriors have known what’s coming since this Buffaloes coaching staff, featuring Embree and former running back Eric Bieniemy, began taking shape in December. And McMackin hasn’t let his players forget it with sharp reminders at practice.

For a team with a finesse reputation on offense, the Warriors were, more often than not last year, up to the task in all three elements of the game. Witness how Alex Green ran over people, the Corey Paredes-led defense topped the nation in turnovers forced and Jordan Monico provided some special teams "katoosh" highlights.

But in the short, opening term, the Warriors’ ability to come out banging from the season’s first kickoff has frequently been questioned in the run-and-shoot era. Knocking down foes and, sometimes, even wrapping up on tackles, has often been something they’ve taken a quarter — or three — to warm up to since adopting the so-called pro approach in training camp in an attempt to limit injuries.

This year McMackin has encouraged hitting and increased tackling drills but within a framework of staying out of pileups and off the ground, where many of the injuries take place.

With Colorado and, next week’s opponent, Washington, likely to be two of the three most physical teams UH will encounter this year, some homage to 1925 (a 13-0 victory over CU) would be a good way to ring in the new season.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 808-529-4820.