Colorado
0-1
Hawai'i
1-0
Down Early, Buffs Unable To Complete Comeback
September 04, 2015 | Football, Neill Woelk
HONOLULU — In what proved to be an all-too familiar storyline, the Colorado Buffaloes made it close Thursday night, but couldn't close the deal.
In a game that ended in the late-night hours in Hawai'i and the early morning hours on the mainland, the Buffaloes gave themselves plenty of chances to win — and just as often, they gave those chances away.
The end result was a 28-20 loss to Hawai'i, a somber beginning to a season of big expectations.
CU coach Mike MacIntyre called the loss "disheartening," but he also vowed to turn the Buffs in the right direction.
"I still believe in this team," MacIntyre said. "I'm still excited about this team. They fought their hearts out. I still think this team is going to win a lot of football games."
The Buffs did do some things well. They finished with more total yards offense (373-302), more rushing yards (215-100) and a dominating edge in time of possession (33:16 to 26:44).
"When you do those things, you should win the game," MacIntyre said.
But they also turned the ball over three times and threw in a blocked punt to boot. The blocked punt led to an easy Hawaii touchdown and two of the turnovers killed potential scoring drives deep in Hawaii territory.
It was too much to overcome, particularly against a Hawai'i team that had just enough big plays in their pocket to keep the Buffs on their heels.
"We had some areas where we thought we could start dominating the game, and then we'd have some miscues," MacIntyre said. "We just made some bad mistakes."
The Buffs entered the game with the idea of getting off to a fast start and finishing with a bang.
They did neither. Instead of a fast start, the Buffs fell behind in the first few minutes of the game — thanks to the early blocked punt — and played catch-up all night long. Three times they pulled to within one point — 8-7, 15-14 and 18-17 — but each time, Hawai'i answered, and the Buffs contributed to their woes by ending two potential scoring drives with turnovers deep in Hawaii territory.
Hawaii finally pulled away with a touchdown late in the third quarter and a field goal early in the fourth to take a 28-17 lead. Colorado managed to cut the gap to 28-20 on Diego Gonzalez's second field goal of the night, but a last-gasp drive that began with just under two minutes to play ended inside the Hawai'i 10-yard line when a chaotic final play resulted in the clock running down before the Buffs could take one last shot at the end zone.
It appeared as if the Buffs had gained a first down on the final play and that the clock should have been at least temporarily stopped, but MacIntyre said he would have to look at the game film before making any judgment.
But there is no guarantee the Buffs would have scored with one more play. What is certain is that the Buffs hurt themselves all night long with key miscues.
"We just didn't get the job done," said quarterback Sefo Liufau, who struggled all night in the passing game. "I always thought we were going to get it going, but every time we thought we had a little momentum, we shot ourselves in the foot."
Liufau finished with just 158 yards passing on a 23-for-40 night and failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time in his career, a streak that stopped at 20.
The Buffs couldn't have drawn up a worse start. After taking the opening kickoff and gaining just six yards on two runs and an incomplete pass, the Buffs lined up to punt — only to see freshman Alex Kinney's first career attempt blocked. That gave the the Rainbow Warriors a first down at the CU 16, and three players later, Hawai'i quarterback Alex Wittek tossed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Quinton Pedroza in the end zone. Hawai'i then went for two, and Wittek again hooked up with a wide-open Pedroza for an 8-0 Rainbow Warriors lead less than three minutes into the game.
"It's obviously not the way you want to start the game," MacIntyre said, "but it was early. There was a lot of game left."
And a lot of "Good Buffs, Bad Buffs" to come.
After the two teams traded punts following Hawaii's opening score, Buff nickelback Chidobe Awuzie intercepted a Wittek pass and returned it 26 yards, giving CU the ball at Hawaii's 33.
Eight plays later, the Buffs were in position to put their first points of the game on the board — only to see Liufau throw his first interception of the year.
"A bad decision on my part," Liufau said.
CU's defense held again — and again the Buffs handed the ball back when CU punt returner Shay Fields made an ill-advised attempt to field the punt as it bounced, putting the ball in Hawaii's hands again and bringing CU's defense back on the field.
But, CU's defense answered one more time, this time getting an interception from defensive end Derek McCartney, who leapt high in the air and came down with a Wittek pass. McCartney rumbled 33 yards to the Hawaii 23, and finally, the Buffs didn't waste the opportunity.
Three plays after McCartney's interception, running back Michael Adkins slipped in from the 5 and a Gonzalez PAT pulled the Buffs to within one, 8-7, with 9:21 left in the second quarter. Adkins finished as CU's leading rusher with 90 yards on 22 carries.
The one-point deficit, however, lasted barely a minute, as Hawai'i struck quickly on its next possession. On third-and-5 from the Hawai'i 21, Wittek reared back and lofted a deep ball to Marcus Kemp, who had a step on Ken Crawley. Crawley had a chance to tackle Kemp, but slipped off his back and Kemp raced into the end zone, with the ensuing PAT bumping Hawaii's lead back to eight, 15-7.
After the bomb to Kemp, Colorado's offense finally put together a long drive. Phillip Lindsay's 41-yard kick return gave the Buffs good field position and the Buffs put together a nine-play, 57-yard scoring drive. Adkins carried five times for 33 yards on the drive, including a 3-yard touchdown run, and also caught an 8-yard pass from Liufau.
Again, the Buffs were within one, 15-14 — and again, they aimed at their own feet on their next possession.
After another Hawaii punt, the Buffs drive inside the Hawaii 25. But on third and 2, Christian Powell fumbled the ball away, and the Buffs watched another scoring opportunity slip away.
Hawaii then answered with a nine-play scoring drive in the final 1:12 of the half, aided by a 15-yard pass interference penalty on Ahkello Witherspoon. A 27-yard Rigoberto Sanchez field goal as time expired sent the Rainbow Warriors into the locker room with an 18-14 edge.
"We've just got to go back to work," Liufau said. "We've faced a lot of adversity and never put our heads down. This team has always had fight and that's not going to stop now."
Team Stats
COLO 0, UH 8
UH - PEDROZA, Q. 11 yd pass from WITTEK, Max (PEDROZA, Q. pass) 3 plays, 16 yards, TOP 1:03
COLO 7, UH 8
COLO - Adkins, Michael 5 yd run (Gonzalez, Diego kick), 3 plays, 23 yards, TOP 0:44
COLO 7, UH 15
UH - KEMP, Marcus 79 yd pass from WITTEK, Max (SANCHEZ, R. kick) 3 plays, 84 yards, TOP 1:07
COLO 14, UH 15
COLO - Adkins, Michael 3 yd run (Gonzalez, Diego kick), 9 plays, 57 yards, TOP 3:12
COLO 14, UH 18
UH - SANCHEZ, R. 27 yd field goal 9 plays, 48 yards, TOP 1:12
COLO 17, UH 18
COLO - Gonzalez, Diego 40 yd field goal 12 plays, 47 yards, TOP 5:07
COLO 17, UH 25
UH - BERNARD, Isaiah 1 yd pass from WITTEK, Max (SANCHEZ, R. kick) 6 plays, 47 yards, TOP 1:50
COLO 17, UH 28
UH - SANCHEZ, R. 34 yd field goal 8 plays, 29 yards, TOP 2:06
COLO 20, UH 28
COLO - Gonzalez, Diego 40 yd field goal 8 plays, 42 yards, TOP 2:37
