Box Score

HONOLULU - While the State of Hawai'i bid aloha to some 2,500 military troops of the 29th Infantry headed for Iraq during a pregame ceremony, the Warrior football team bid farewell to Tulsa in a 44-16 rout Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.

A crowd of 44,429, the largest of the season, saw Warrior slot receiver Chad Owens catch for 182 yards and two touchdowns and add a 66-yard punt return for a touchdown to spark Hawai`i to its first win of the season.

In the win, Hawai'i (1-2, 1-1 WAC) quarterback Timmy Chang moved into second place on the NCAA career passing list, surpassing NC State's Phillip Rivers (13,484) with 13,857 career passing yards. Chang's 378 yards tonight is 1,175 yards shy of the record held by BYU's Ty Detmer (15,031). Chang finished 22-of-43 and three TDs.

The Warrior offense gained a season-high 525 yards, while the defense held Tulsa to 248 total yards and limited the Golden Hurricane to three second-half points.

Senior place-kicker Justin Ayat got Hawai`i out to a 6-0 lead on field goals of 28 and 56 yards in the first quarter. Ayat's 56-yarder tied the all-time long set by Jason Elam in 1992.

Tulsa (1-4, 0-1 WAC) got on the board in the second quarter on a 32-yard field goal by Brad DeVault. But three plays later, Owens caught an inside screen pass and strolled 75-yards to put the Warriors up, 13-3.

Tulsa quarterback James Kilian orchestrated a 10-play, 80-yard drive and scored on a 1-yard run to bring the Golden Hurricane to within 3 with 5:52 left in the second quarter. Kilian finished the game with 21-of-44 for 189 yards and was sacked five times by the Warrior defense. The Golden Hurricane tied the score at 13 when DeVault hit a 42-yard field goal just before halftime.

After the break, the Warriors cut loose. Owens took Tulsa's first punt of the half and danced around before breaking free for a 66-yard touchdown to put Hawai`i ahead, by seven. Then Chang found slot receiver Se'e Poumele down the left sideline for a 29-yard catch and run to help the Warriors take a 14-point lead with 2:17 remaining in the third quarter.

DeVault added a 45-yard field goal to cut the UH lead to 11 at the end of the third quarter.

Ayat kicked his third field goal of the night, a 39-yarder, at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Owens caught second TD pass, a 7-yard toss from Chang at the 5:59 mark, while running back Michael Brewster closed out the UH scoring with a 27-yard scamper with 2:33 remaining in the game. Brewster led all rushers with 81 yards and one TD on eight carries.

Chang also broke UH's season and career record for most pass attempts without an interception with 159. The old record was set by Raphel Cherry in 1984. The last interception Chang threw was on Dec. 25, 2003 against Houston in the Sheraton Hawai`i Bowl, 181 pass attempts ago.

- UH -