University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics

Post-game Notes
Hawai‘i at Colorado State
Aug. 25, 2018
Canvas Stadium – Ft. Collins, Colo.
 
Attendance: 31,007
Hawai‘i Captains: J.R. Hensley, Noah Borden, Jahlani Tavai, Zeno Choi
Coin Toss: Colorado State won, UH received.
 
SERIES INFORMATION

• UH snapped a seven-game series slide against Colorado State. UH’s last win vs. the Rams came in 1992 in Honolulu (24-13) and its last win in Ft. Collins came in 1988 (31-23).
• UH picked up its first-ever Mountain West win over Colorado State (1-4).
• Hawai‘i and Colorado State met for the 25th time. CSU leads 15-10 overall and 9-3 in Ft. Collins.

 
STREAKS/TRENDS

• The second-straight season-opening road win and third overall win in the last four season openers.
• UH ended a string of five straight losses, five straight road losses and four straight Mountain West road losses with the win.
• UH scored on its opening drive for the first time since its 2016 regular-season finale vs. UMass. UH didn’t score on an opening drive in all of 2017.
• UH ended a string of five straight losses on national TV and picked up just its third win in its last 39 national TV games.
• Senior linebacker Jahlani Tavai was suspended for the season opener, ending his team-high streak of 26 straight starts, dating back to the beginning of his sophomore year. 

TEAM NOTES

• UH racked up 617 total yards of offense its best-ever performance in a season-opener and the highest single-game total in nearly five years (624 at Wyoming, Nov. 23, 2013).
• UH’s 43 points were its most since a 52-35 win in the 2016 Hawai‘i Bowl and the most in a road game since scoring 56 in an overtime loss at Wyoming (2013).
• UH enjoyed its biggest halftime lead on the road (16; 23-7) since Nov. 27, 2010 at New Mexico State (21; 31-10).
• UH is now 61-36-5 (.623) all-time in season openers, including a 3-3 mark in season-openers versus conference opponents.
• UH went a perfect 7-of-7 in the red zone.
• The Warriors debuted its new uniforms, wearing white jerseys with black bottoms and black helmets. The only other time UH sported black helmets was in 1999 when it wore a special “25th Anniversary As Rainbow Warriors” decal.
• UH wore a special Hawaiian islands chain decal on the left side of their helmet in place of its normal green “H” logo. 

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Sophomore quarterback Cole McDonald set a new record for passing yards (418) in a UH quarterback’s starting debut. The previous record was 367 yards by Nick Rolovich vs. Portland State in 2001. It was also the most passing yards in a season-opener (416, Colt Brennan vs. Northern Colorado, 2007).
• McDonald also tied a starting debut record with three touchdown passes (also by Max Wittek in 2015 and Greg Tipton in 1985).
• Cedric Byrd’s 181 receiving yards were the most-ever by a player in his UH debut. It was also the second-most receiving yards by a Warrior in a season-opener (272 by John Ursua at UMass, 2017).
• Junior receiver John Ursua played for the first time since his season-ending injury vs. San Jose State last October and finished with seven catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns.
• It was Ursua’s sixth career 100-yard game.
• Ursua has scored at least one touchdown in six of his last seven games played.
• UH had two 100-yard receivers in a game for the first time since Marcus Kemp (151) and Ursua (108) did the feat at Air Force in 2016.
• Ryan Meskell went a perfect 3-of-3 on field goal attempts, including a 35-yarder in the final minute that iced the game. Meskell was 1-of-4 on field goals last year.
• Sophomore defensive back Eugene Ford recorded UH’s first takeaway of 2018 and the second of interception of his career on his first-quarter pick of K.J. Carta-Samuels.
• A total of 11 players made their first career starts as Rainbow Warriors, eight on offense and three on defense: McDonald (QB), Holly (RB), Armstrong-Brown (WR), Bryd (WR), Ward (WR), Vaipulu (OL), Manning (OL), Levao (OL); Pavihi (LB), Kaimana Padello (DL), Ta‘ala (DL).
• Three of UH’s first-time starters were true freshman: Manning (OL), Vaipulu (OL), and Ta‘ala (DL).
• Sophomore Stan Guadion booted a career-high 56-yard punt in his first attempt of the game late in the first half.