With sleight-of-hand and light-of-feet skills, quarterback Bryant Moniz helped Hawaii conjure a 34-17 football victory over Colorado on Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.

In the season opener for both teams, Moniz compensated for inconsistent passing by rushing for three touchdowns and a lifetime high of 121 yards.

"I never ran that much in high school (or) Pop Warner," said Moniz, who led the nation in passing yards and touchdown throws in 2010. "I don’t think I’ve ever had a 100-yard rushing game. Never."

During one point, Moniz alerted offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich.

"I told Coach my legs were tired," Moniz recalled, "and then he called a run play."

After the game, Rolovich said: "He can rest now."

It was a statement-making outcome for the Warriors, whose 10-point lead disappeared into the Rocky Mountains’ thin air in last year’s 31-13 loss against Colorado. For Saturday night’s meeting, the Buffaloes entered with a new head coach and new play-callers on offense and defense.

The Buffaloes mixed and matched defensive schemes to counter the Warriors’ read-and-attack, four-wide offense. The Buffaloes alternated between three- and four-man fronts, sent five blitzers, and kept a safety 22 yards from the line of scrimmage.

For Moniz, who was working with three new starting receivers, it was a game-long search for rhythm. After completing his first pass, a screen to Billy Ray Stutzmann for 3 yards, Moniz misfired on his next seven throws.

"It was up and down," Moniz said. "It might have been first-game nerves. It might have been timing. It might have been missed reads."

To help Moniz buy time, Rolovich called for rollouts. When that offered limited improvement, Rolovich turned to a summer project. Rolovich had mapped out option plays in which the quarterback could run to the perimeter or through the defense’s gut. The Warriors worked on those plays during training camp.

"We had that in the plan, if we needed it," Rolovich said. "I hoped we didn’t need it."

Leading 3-0 on senior walk-on Kenton Chun’s first collegiate field goal, the Warriors got the ball back at their 43 in the second quarter. Their previous possession ended with consecutive sacks. But that drive also included a dive run by Joey Iosefa, a second-year freshman.

This time, Moniz appeared to hand off to Iosefa on a dive. But it was all an illusion. Moniz kept the football, pirouetted and sprinted into the empty space straight ahead.

Untouched, Moniz completed the 57-yard dash to give the Warriors a 10-0 lead.

"It worked out better than I thought it would," Moniz said. "Nobody was there, so I ran straight. All I saw was Allen (Sampson, the left wideout). I tried to out-run Allen, but he’s pretty fast."

Sampson said: "Mo is fast. I was trying to catch him to get a block in. Mo is a monster."

Asked about the fakeout, Moniz mused: "I think I found it on YouTube."

Asked about the play’s name, Moniz said: "Luck."

CU coach Jon Embree said: "We knew (Moniz) could run. He made some plays last year running the ball. We knew that."

Moniz’s two other scoring runs came on option plays. On one, he scooted to the perimeter, and with the Buffaloes keying on a pitch runner, Moniz cut upfield, eluded a defender and found the end zone.

On the other one, Moniz faked a handoff to Iosefa, again running a dive, then raced around left end for a touchdown.

"It’s a nice little addition to the offense, especially with Mo at quarterback," Rolovich said. "I think it fits easily. It’s easily executed. It’s something else defenses need to work on."

UH head coach Greg McMackin said: "The thing about Mo is he’s a winner. That’s what he is. Whether he does it with his legs or his arms, he gets the job done."

But the Buffaloes refused to concede, and after wideout Paul Richardson’s second touchdown catch off a post pattern and Will Oliver’s 34-yard field goal, UH’s lead was sliced to 24-17.

Between those two CU scores, McMackin gathered the team for a sideline pep talk. "Family business," McMackin said later.

The speech forced McMackin to burn consecutive timeouts.

"It was the same situation we were in a year ago, when we let that (game) slip away," McMackin said. "We had to talk some family business, and it took longer than one timeout."

The message?

"The game’s not over until the final whistle," defensive end Paipai Falemalu said. "He also told us to keep our mouth shut and let our play do the talking."

In a key period in the fourth quarter, Falemalu and Meatoga made back-to-back sacks of CU quarterback Tyler Hansen. The Buffaloes punted.

On the ensuing series, Moniz fed Iosefa, this time on a shovel pass. Iosefa eluded a tackle at the 10, then stumbled his way into the end zone to complete the 22-yard scoring play that made it 31-17.

"I tried to get my balance until I got in," Iosefa said.

The defense then closed it, with Art Laurel’s interception setting up Tyler Hadden’s 22-yard field goal.

Hansen finished with 223 passing yards, but those were part of the backup plan. The Buffaloes had wanted to set the tone with a power-running attack featuring Rodney "Speedy" Stewart.

During Tuesday’s news conference, Embree said: As I tell our team, we are going to throw the first punch. Throwing the first punch offensively is lining up and you run the ball down their throat. They know what is coming and they can’t stop it."

The Buffaloes were held to 17 yards rushing, with Stewart gaining 52 yards on 18 carries, an average of 2.9 yards per rush.

"We took it personally when they said they would come out and throw the first punch," UH defensive tackle Vaughn Meatoga said. "We were really respectful to them. We didn’t come out and say we were going to shut them down. We let our actions speak for us. We had a bad run, but Coach Mack talked to us, and we hunkered down."

Defensive tackle Kaniela Tuipulotu, whose locker is next to Meatoga’s, reminded reporters that Meatoga goes through boxing training in the offseason.