UH vs CSU Wrap-Ups

The Advertiser has a scoring breakdown, and some game stats.

Dave Reardon has a recap, which also has stats and scoring breakdowns. Here's an excerpt:

"Tonight we showed we're a great team," Brennan said. "Not just a great offense, but a great team."

It took the special teams and defense to break this one open. They struck decisively at the outset of the second half, with two touchdowns before the Hawaii offense even got onto the field.

"Very big," coach June Jones said. "It's a team game. It felt like a 21-20 game."

In Stephen Tsai's wrap-up, Tyler Graunke talks about hearing boos and "We want Colt" chants.

"That's cool," Graunke said of the early catcalls. "As long as I win them back. I know these people will have my back. When I'm not doing good, I expect them to let me know. I've got their back as long as they've got mine."

Also from the article, Kealoha Pilares talks about scoring on a touchdown run.

Pilares ran right on a long-trap play, cut upfield, stopped as a defensive back sped past, and glided into the end zone.

"That's from practicing on the video games," Pilares said. "You see that on the video games, and you go out there and try to mimic it."

And Tsai writes about a new defensive package UH unveiled last night.

Against an opponent that employs a no-huddle, spread offense, the Warriors unveiled their 45 defense, which resembles a nickel defense except the four starting defensive linemen are not replaced by speed-rushers. In this scheme, Thomas enters as a safety, replacing linebacker Brad Kalilimoku, and safety Keao Monteilh becomes the nickelback aligned as a linebacker.

Nick Abramo writes about the UH victory from Charleston Southern's perspective.

"If we could have held strong, I truly believe we could have beaten Hawaii," said Bucs quarterback Eli Byrd, who rolled his ankle three times but will be OK. "We expected to beat Hawaii. A couple of mistakes happened, and against a big team like that, there's no room for error. The second half was bad."

Jason Kaneshiro talks to Tyler Graunke about his shaky performance before settling down in the second half.

"It was frustrating at first. I wasn't really throwing balls the way I know how to throw them, and my head was kind of spinning a little quicker than it should have," Graunke said. "I settled down and started throwing some good balls."

"The second half I was more calm than I'd ever been," Graunke said. "I wasn't even thinking twice about it. I'd look at the coverage and know where I was going to go with the ball -- see what happened and adjust from there."

Stacy Kaneshiro talks to Colt Brennan about sitting out.

Brennan said he could've played; his ankle didn't appear to be affecting him during pregame warmups. But he said it was his and coach June Jones' decision.

"I wanted to rest it because even though it felt better, if I didn't get a chance to rest it then, it would've been sore all week and maybe sore the rest of the year," Brennan explained.

Kalani Simpson writes that tonight served as a reminder that Colt is awesome.

Those guys are good. And this offense works. But we got a slight reminder last night of what it was like BC (Before Colt). There's a difference between when he does this and when anybody else does. There's a reason why this is the year.

Graunke answered the call. He came through. But we were reminded that this stuff isn't as easy as it looks. The guy with the bad ankle is pretty dang good.

Ferd Lewis writes about the extraordinary vision of Herman Frazier.

What sure seemed like a colossal fumble when the schedule came out in June, gave Frazier the opening to claim "strategic placement" last night as the lightness of schedule afforded the Warriors the luxury of working out the kinks until coming up with a 28-point third quarter overdrive to put away plucky Charleston Southern, 66-10.

What he was bashed like a pinata for this summer, Frazier was able to stand at midfield last night and cite as scheduling "by design."

So true.

Billy Hull writes about David Veikune and Desmond Thomas, two backups who got extensive playing time last night.

Veikune had two sacks at critical times and Thomas helped jump-start a struggling offense with a key interception midway through the second quarter to help Hawaii get on track and rout Charleston Southern.

Michael Tsai writes about the Warriors' defensive performance last night.

"I think they're more comfortable, and having fun playing and not thinking so much," said UH defensive coordinator Greg McMackin. "I think they're getting better, which is more important than the wins and losses."

Guyton Galdeira's big night on special teams is featured in Star-Bulletin's Sports Notebook.

"That's pretty standard," UH kicker Dan Kelly said. "When Guyton doesn't have five or six tackles, that's when I notice. What, is he hurt?"

"He's a spark plug," Hawaii offensive line and special teams coach Dennis McKnight said.

Kelly said, "He and Timo (Paepule) are like the two golden geese."

Also from the article:

• Adam Leonard says he was disappointed in some of the fans jeering Graunke.


• News about some injuries suffered during the game to Leonard, Keala Watson and Ryan Mouton, who says he should be okay.

Michael Tsai writes about defensive lineman Josh Leonard, whose due-any-minute pregnant girlfriend watched the game from the stands. Also from the article:

• The Warriors performed the haʻa before the game.


• Graunke says he didn't hear the jeering.


• Dan Kelly made a great tackle on a kick return.