Hawaii builds a halftime lead but can barely move the ball after that in falling to Colorado State
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Colorado State defensive back Ayden Hector, left, stops Hawaii wide receiver Dior Scott after he pulled in a pass in the first half.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Colorado State linebacker Dequan Jackson, left, tackles Hawaii tight end Caleb Phillips after he pulled in a pass in the first half.
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Hawaii kick returner Jalen Perdue, top center, is tackled by Colorado State place kicker Henry Katleman, bottom right, after a short return in the first half.
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Hawaii wide receiver Dior Scott, front, is pursued by Colorado State defensive lineman CJ Onyechi.
FORT COLLINS, COLO. >> For more than 58 game-time minutes, the University of Hawaii football team silenced Colorado State at Canvas Stadium.
But the visitors’ locker room was quiet enough to hear a tear drop following the Rainbow Warriors’ 17-13 loss.
Running back Avery Morrow’s 10-yard scoring run with 1:28 to play completed the Rams’ comeback from a 13-3 halftime deficit.
The Warriors’ final drive collapsed when nickelback Ayden Hector, playing in place of Angel King, intercepted Brayden Schager at the UH 45 with 39 seconds left.
“It’s tough to lose,” Schager said after the Warriors fell to 2-6 overall and 1-2 in the Mountain West. “We keep doing it. It’s tough. We have to swallow this one and keep playing. But I know this is a game we could have won, but couldn’t get rolling in the second half. We have to play better offensively.”
UH tight end Caleb Phillips said: “We wanted this one. It’s really frustrating. The locker room is quiet right now, as it should be. We have to use the motivation to get better and continue on to next week.”
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In the breath-seizing thin air of Fort Collins’ 5,003-foot elevation, the Warriors’ intent was to lengthen offensive possessions.
“We were trying to use the clock, and try to run it down, and limit the possessions (UH’s) defense was on the field,” Schager said. “I thought we did a good job of that in the first half, but not in the second.”
>> RELATED: Hawaii linebacker Logan Taylor makes most of opportunity
After amassing 219 yards in the first half (6.3 yards per play), the Warriors managed 38 yards after the intermission (2.2 yards per snap). They gained only 9 yards on six third-quarter plays.
“It was a tale of two halves,” UH coach Timmy Chang said. “In the second half, we hurt ourselves offensively. Drop a snap, penalty, the ball gets out. On the offensive side, I thought we could have kept us on the field and kept moving. And, really, what happened was defense stayed on the field.”
The Rams controlled the ball for 22 minutes, 16 seconds in the second half.
Each team had four first-half possessions, and the Warriors made the most of their portion with two field goals and Phillips’ touchdown reception.
The Warriors received two breaks in that touchdown drive, which broke a 3-all tie. After former Warrior Michael Boyle connected on a 38-yard field goal, UH’s Jalen Perdue took the ensuing kickoff. Perdue appeared to have fumbled near the end of the return, but a review determined the loose ball came after the referee’s whistle.
Schager then led the Warriors to the CSU 1. Chang tried to call a timeout, but the officiating crew ignored his request. Schager then threw to Phillips on an out route. Draped by safety Henry Blackburn, Phillips reached the football to the right pylon, making contact for a touchdown and a 10-3 UH lead with 7:15 left in the first half.
“I saw the pylon, reached out for it, kind of shocked I hit it,” Phillips said of the Warriors’ fourth scoring reception of the season.
The Warriors barely beat the whistle in extending their lead to 13-3 at the intermission.
Schager completed a 3-yard pass to running back Dedrick Parson, who was tackled at the CSU 7 with 13 seconds left. Without a timeout, UH’s field-goal unit raced onto the field, with Matthew Shipley launching the 23-yard field goal before the clock struck “0:00.”
Despite being without two injured defensive starters — weak-side linebacker Isaiah Tufaga and safety Meki Pei — the Warriors made timely stops. Three times the Rams failed on fourth down, on two incompletions and Morrow not advancing on a fourth-and-1 carry.
Of the fourth-down situations, linebacker Logan Taylor said, “That’s just who’s tougher. We’ve got that mentality. If you’re going to go for it on fourth, we’re going to make you pay. We live by that. Who’s more of a man. We’re going to go toe-to-toe against anybody.”
The Rams appeared to be stopped short on a fourth-and-goal from the UH 2 on their first drive of the second half. But the Warriors were penalized for crossing the neutral zone ahead of the snap, and the Rams were given another chance. This time, from the 1, Morrow found the end zone.
In their final drive, the Rams faced fourth-and-2 from the UH 33. After a timeout, Clay Millen fired a 13-yard pass to wideout Tory Horton for a first down. In the second half, the Warriors had designed a strategy with Horton in mind. Kaulana Makaula was assigned man coverage on Horton on third-down plays. The Warriors also often employed a three-safety umbrella to counter the Rams’ vertical routes. But on that decisive drive, Horton secured his third catch in eight targets.
Two plays later, the Rams advanced to the UH 10. Once again, the Rams turned to Morrow, who ran for 168 and 116 yards in his previous two games. Morrow spun his way out of two would-be tacklers for the decisive touchdown. “When you get in the end zone,” Morrow said earlier in the week, “the feeling is like Christmas,”
Morrow finished with 147 rushing yards.
“We’re one play away,” said Taylor, who amassed 16 tackles as Tufaga’s replacement. “We played hard the whole game, and it’s just that one play. We’ve got to get better. We’ve got to make those plays.”
