Photo courtesy of Shane Grace/Ka Leo.
Throughout the offseason, the Colorado Buffaloes’ football program raved about how much it had improved, and even went as far as to preach a bowl game. If their 28-20, Thursday night, season-opening loss at Hawaii says anything about the tone of the season, ugly doesn’t begin to describe it.
That’s not to say that they didn’t make the game dramatic in the final seconds of the fourth quarter. The Buffs put the ball on Hawaii’s six-yard line with 11 seconds left and an eight-point deficit, but could not form the line of scrimmage quickly enough to manage that final snap. Coach Mike MacIntyre’s use of two timeouts on the same drive in the third quarter bit him in the end.
Though the Buffs played close with the Rainbow Warriors in the first half, their hopes of snagging a victory in Aloha Stadium quickly faded with an unanswered Hawaii touchdown and subsequent field goal late in the third.
Perhaps, if anything, it shows that this Buffaloes team, which defeated Hawaii in Boulder last year, has regressed despite the addition of defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt. And, much like last season, three turnovers — junior quarterback Sefo Liufau’s interception and fumbles by Christian Powell and Shay Fields — destroyed what should have been a win for the visiting team.
The offensive line, no doubt, played a key role in this defeat after countless missed blocks and failure to protect its quarterback through a good number of plays. Though the defense played a bit better than it did last season, the overall inability to produce winning plays in the trenches all night cost the Buffaloes in the end.
Perhaps one of the only bright spots of Colorado’s tough loss in Honolulu came during the first half, when junior running back Michael Adkins—who had a huge night on offense with 90 rushing yards and CU’s only two touchdowns—hit the 1,000-yard milestone of his career.
The Buffs’ 2015 season got off to a rocky start after they went three and out in the opening minutes of the first quarter. To make matters worse, Hawaii’s special teams blocked freshman kicker Alex Kinney’s punt and finished the drive with a touchdown and two-point conversion.
Within the first two and a half minutes of the 2015 season, Colorado was already losing, 8-0.
Throughout much of the first quarter, CU’s offensive line looked as though it hadn’t made any progress in the offseason. It missed block after block and failed to protect Liufau well. The defensive line, on the other hand, showed much better cohesion under new coach Jim Leavitt’s direction.
It seemed as though all was not lost when junior defensive back Chidobe Awuzie picked off a pass by Wittek in a beautifully executed defensive play with two minutes remaining in the first. That glory for Colorado was short-lived as Liufau quickly threw one of his infamous interceptions to cost the Buffs a nice drive.
On the next Hawaii drive, the Buffs responded in kind after sophomore defensive end Derek McCartney intercepted the ball. Soon thereafter, Adkins scored his first of two touchdowns in the half.
Once the clock struck zero on an ugly half defined by five overall turnovers, the Buffs and Rainbow Warriors had each scored again, but the Warriors managed to come out on top with an 18-14 score.
In the first half, Wittek was Colorado’s Hawaiian nightmare, as he threw for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Those 50 rushing yards from running back Paul Harris and 89 receiving yards from wide receiver Marcus Kemp certainly didn’t help, either.
On the other side of the ball, Adkins created the biggest headache for Hawaii after he scored Colorado’s only two touchdowns on 68 rushing yards. Senior wide receiver Nelson Spruce no doubt added to that migraine with 47 receiving yards on five catches. Liufau’s 61 passing yards paled in comparison to Wittek’s numbers.
Shortly into the second half, Colorado once again closed the gap to one point after junior Diego Gonzalez kicked a field goal to bring the score to 18-17. For most of the rest of the third quarter, the Buffs’ defense discombobulated Wittek, who suffered through eight straight incompletions.
He managed to shake that off eventually, and threw for 100 more yards in the third quarter alone. He hit Isaiah Bernard for another touchdown leading into the fourth — 25-17 Hawaii. It only took one more field goal from each team to seal the deal and send the Buffs packing, 28-20.
The Buffs begin their home schedule next Saturday, Sept 12 against Massachusetts at noon with the hopes of redemption.
Contact CU Independent Assistant Sports Editor Alissa Noe at alissa.noe@colorado.edu.
