UH at UNLV Wrap-Ups

Here's the AP's article covering the game.

The UH Athletics Department has a recap and a box score.

The Honolulu Advertiser has a scoring breakdown.

Colt Brennan passed for two touchdowns and ran for three in Hawaii's 49-14 victory over UNLV, all on a badly sprained ankle. Stephen Tsai writes:

"I was having fun," Brennan recalled. "When I jumped up to try and catch a football, my ankle gave out, and I heard a loud pop. Within a couple of minutes, it just swelled up."

Brennan limped across the field, where he was met by athletic trainers Eric Okasaki and Brian Wong. Brennan was taken to the training room, where he was treated with ice packs.

"I knew right away something wasn't right," Brennan said. "(The trainers) attacked (the injury) all night and all morning and all afternoon. They did a great job to make sure I could play."

"I told everyone I wanted to have my best career game," Brennan said. "Statistically it wasn't but emotionally it was."

As his ankle was being treated, several offensive linemen entered the room to check on Brennan.

"As you can see," Brennan told a reporter, "they give the love. I love these guys more than anything, man. And our defense, you can't ask for a better performance. It's great being on this team."

Dave Reardon writes about how the UH defense adjusted after UNLV drove down the field for a touchdown on their first possession.

"They gave us a lot of trouble on the first drive," said linebacker Solomon Elimimian, who led UH with 14 tackles. "We had to slow down and calm down and do our responsibilities. They use multiple formations and try to make the defense make mistakes. They spread us out."

One adjustment UH made was often using a three-man front and five defensive backs to counter UNLV's quickness on offense and penchant for the perimeter. Outside linebacker Adam Leonard was in on 11 tackles and Desmond Thomas, the fifth DB, participated in six stops.

Ferd Lewis talked to Mike Lafaele about the defensive performance.

The difference was "this time we were confident we could stop 'em," said defensive tackle Michael Lafaele. "We took some punches in the beginning but we bounced back."

Ferd also gets the opportunity to write about the toughness of Colt once again.

"I was pushing it," Brennan acknowledged. "And the truth is I can't feel my leg.Tomorrow, my ankle is fat, black and blue then, then the next couple of days will be rough days. I knew if I shot it up and hobbled around on one foot and made plays then it would do a lot for the team and the crowd. And, that's what I wanted to do."

In those situations, Brennan was as good as we've seen him in his UH stay. Which leads to the question: What more can Brennan do to amaze us?

Stay tuned. An answer shouldn't be long in coming.

Jeff Miller of the Orange County Register covered the game and profiles Colt.

He doesn't make it look easy; he makes it look predetermined, as if Hawaii reaching the end zone is as inevitable as the game clock reaching 00:00. He throws darts more than he throws passes and is as precise as a decimal point.

He missed on his first attempt, then completed 13 in a row, hitting fingertips and chests and coolly filleting the Rebels, practically separating them from their tattoos. During his best stretch, he went 26 minutes, 34 seconds between incompletions.

Dave Reardon writes about the Warriors rushing the ball more in this game.

UH ran the ball on six of the 11 plays of its first scoring drive and three of the five plays on its go-ahead drive.

"We know we have to run the ball to control the pass rush," Jones said. "Screens are good for that, too. At one point we had seven straight screens."

Since bringing the run-and-shoot offense to Hawaii, Jones has maintained that if the running back position produces 100 yards on the ground, that's all he needs to be successful. The Warriors fell only 4 yards shy of that mark last night. They gained only 37 yards in the season-opening win over Northern Colorado and 45 vs. Louisiana Tech in the Western Athletic Conference opener.

And in his Sports Notebook, Reardon writes about the Warriors' unveiling the new haka for the UH fans in Vegas.

The new chant/dance is Hawaiian as opposed to the original UH haka, which is Maori.

"For us, I think it's a lot more fitting," senior defensive end Karl Noa said. "There's been a lot of controversy with the old one. This gives us an identity for this year. It's special because it's made by guys on the team."

It looked awesome. Also from the Notebook:

• Colt broke another NCAA record.


• Mike Lafaele talks about the unsportsmanlike conduct of some of the Rebels.


• John Fonoti had a tackle for loss in the game.