1. Fast Mo-tion
» Situation: Hawaii 3, Colorado 0, 10:49 remaining, second quarter, Hawaii ball, first and 10 at Hawaii 43
» The Play: QB Bryant Moniz fakes a handoff to RB Joey Iosefa, eludes tacklers in the backfield and then runs for a 57-yard touchdown.
» Impact: Moniz scores the first of a career-high three rushing touchdowns. His running is an element Colorado did not account for early, and was especially useful because Moniz had some passing accuracy problems and was working with nine new offensive starters. He ended up rushing for a net 121 yards on 14 carries, including 30 yards lost on five sacks.
» Moniz: “It worked out better than I thought it would. Nobody was there, so I ran straight. All I saw was Allen (Sampson, the left wideout). I tried to outrun Allen, but he’s pretty fast.”
2. Strung out
» Situation: Hawaii 10, Colorado 0, 3:05 remaining, second quarter, Colorado ball, first and 10 at Hawaii 32
» The Play: RB Rodney Stewart tries to find running room, but a line of Hawaii defenders forces him laterally to the sideline and he is tackled by SS Richard Torres and DE Marcus Malepeai for a 7-yard loss.
» Impact: Colorado was building momentum with its first serious drive and incursion into the Hawaii side of the field until this play. Stewart, who rushed for 106 yards in a victory against UH last year, was held to 52 on the ground. Colorado eventually became one-dimensional on offense because of Hawaii’s effectiveness against the run, and Hawaii was then able to tee off with blitzes and pile up seven sacks, all in the second half.
» Defensive coordinator Dave Aranda: “Once we got them where they had to throw it, then we were able to let our guys pass rush.”
3. Special delivery
» Situation: Hawaii 17, Colorado 7, 12:02 remaining, third quarter, Colorado kicking off
» The Play: Following Colorado’s first score, KR Mike Edwards takes the ball at the Hawaii 4 and returns it 48 yards to the Colorado 48.
» Impact: The field position helped Hawaii take back control of the game, and 10 plays later Moniz scored his third touchdown of the game, putting Hawaii ahead 24-7. Special teams, a weak spot last year, performed steadily for Hawaii. Field position was good throughout, P Alex Dunnachie averaged 42.6 yards per kick (none returned), and PKs Kenton Chun and Tyler Hadden made every field goal and PAT attempted.
» Edwards: “It was pretty much the way we practice it. (Dick) Tomey is a real good special teams coach. He just preaches to us to work hard and everybody executed.”
4. Time and time again
» Situation: Hawaii 24, Colorado 14, 1:51 remaining, third quarter, Colorado kicking off
» The Play: In an extremely unorthodox move, head coach Greg McMackin calls back-to-back timeouts to address the entire Hawaii team.
» Impact: Debatable. On Hawaii’s next possession, Moniz is sacked and separated from the ball on the first play by DE Chidera Uzo-Diribe, with NT Conrad Obi recovering the ball at the Hawaii 34. Colorado eventually settled for a field goal. Hawaii burned its final timeout with 11:25 left, but eventually regained control of the game and the lack of timeouts becomes a moot point.
» McMackin: “We just had a little visit and talked some family business. I just needed a little more time to explain myself. We had talked at halftime about being in the same situation last year and not doing the same things and I wasn’t going to allow it.”
5. Shovel ready
» Situation: Hawaii 24, Colorado 17, 6:17 remaining, fourth quarter, Hawaii ball, third and 10 at Colorado 22
» The Play: Moniz throws a shovel pass to RB Joey Iosefa, who rumbles for the touchdown.
» Impact: Technically, this was Hawaii’s first passing touchdown of the season. But in reality, the shovel pass fills the role of the draw play in its offense, tricking defenses expecting a more conventional play on a passing down. Either way, the touchdown gave Hawaii breathing room after Colorado grabbed momentum earlier in the second half.
» Iosefa: “The only thing that went through my mind was to get a touchdown to secure the game. The only thing I thought was ‘execute the play.’ ”