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'One Team, One Dream'

Defense shares spotlight in season opener
By Glendalyn Junio

Published: Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Updated: Monday, August 3, 2009

University of Hawai‘i fans were given something

to cheer about this past Saturday, as the No. 23
Warriors romped the Football Championship
Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA) Northern
Colorado Bears in a 63-6 victory at Aloha Stadium.
The prolific performances on both sides of the ball
silenced thoughts of another underdog takeover this
weekend as a crowd of 36,845 watched a scoreboard
quickly reach a 28-0 mark with 4:24 still left in the first
quarter. For fans, the season opener was nothing more
than an indication of what's in store this season. UH Warriors quarterback Colt Brennan passed or tied 5
different records in the first half alone.
"We're in for another winning season," UH fan Chris
Jones said. "If we're taking the star quarterback out of
the game that early, that only foreshadows a good
season and future." After the first half, Brennan
and most of the other starters had already showered
and were out of their uniforms. This weekend,
the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines saw an easy victory
suddenly disappear as the Division I-AA Appalachian UH Warriors defensive lineman Siave seti grabs for NC
Bears running back Tyrone Wilson during last Saturday's
State Mountaineers shocked the sports world, handing game at Aloha Stadium.

Michigan a 34-32 upset. "Michigan went out

there and took Appalachian State for granted, and we knew that was one of the main things we
couldn't do (against Northern Colorado)," junior wide receiver Davone Bess said. "With us
being Hawai‘i, a lot of teams took us for granted and thought they could come right in and run
all over us, but some teams were surprised. We definitely don't want to do that because we

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know how it feels to be the underdogs." With the

win, the Warriors moved up to No. 20 in the AP Top 25
poll and No. 22 in the USA Today poll on Monday.
UH dominated in all aspects on the field. Colt
Brennan, a Heisman Trophy candidate, set his path for
another record season, completing 34 of 40 passes for
416 yards and six touchdowns. The Warrior defense
forced three turnovers and held the Bears to a mere 15
yards in the first quarter and 46 yards in the first half. UH Warriors wide receiver Davone Bess speaks with
quarterback Colt Brennan during last saturday's game
Hawai‘i accumulated 439 yards by halftime. "I felt against the Northern Colorado Bears at Aloha Stadium.
The Warriors defeated the the Bears 63-6.
(the defense) set the tone early in the game," UH fan
Justen Dela Cruz said. "It seemed like the offense was feeding off the energy from the defense
and usually it's the other way around." Despite the reputation and success on the
offensive side, for many it was the defense that unexpectedly brought the game to a whole
new level. "This has always been an offensive school and it's hard for our defense to get
exposure, but it's not about that - it's one team, one dream," senior linebacker Timo Paepule
said. "We say that in and out and throughout practice. Whether people just look at our offense
and not give enough credit to the defense, we play together." Under defensive
coordinator Greg McMackin, the new defense allowed only 14 first downs, compared to the
Warriors' 30 first downs and three fourth-down conversions. "With McMackin's new
defense, a lot of people didn't know what was in store," Paepule said. "But we came out with a
bang and hopefully Louisiana Tech and the rest of the WAC see what we're bringing."
Paepule aided the defensive squad with a total of seven solo tackles, one tackle for a loss and
one pass broken up. "This offense is not going to be the talk of the town. It's going to be
this defense," Brennan said. "They're going to win us a lot of football games." Senior
defensive back Brad Kalilimoku added to the effort, as he contributed eight solo tackles, one
sack and one interception. On the offensive side, Brennan spread the field with six
scoring passes to five different receivers. The Warriors led 42-0 following the first half, where
Brennan completed two touchdown passes to Bess and one each to Kealoha Pilares, C.J.
Hawthorne, Jason Rivers and Ryan Grice-Mullins. "I'm surrounded by a lot of veteran
talent," Brennan said. "When you have that confidence and the experience because you're a
veteran, it just makes you that much better of a football player and an offense." Hawai‘i
recorded 577 total offensive yards, while punting only once in the entire game. While earning
WAC offensive player of the week for his performance, Brennan also set or tied five schools
records as he broke his own record of most passing yards in a half (416), most completions in
a half (31), most completions in a quarter (19) and tied the record for most touchdowns in a

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quarter (4). Brennan tied friend and former USC quarterback Matt Leinart for sixth place with
his 99th career touchdown pass. Leinart and Brennan were teammates at Mater Dei High
School. The Bears ended last season with a 1-10 mark. Despite this fact, UNC has won
15 of their last 18 opening games. UH owns a 24-16-1 record in home openers. In the
Warriors last home opener against University of Southern California in 2005, Hawai‘i fell to the
Trojans 63-17. "There was definitely a better mood and more excitement than the
opener two years ago against University of Southern California," UH fan Grant Collings said. "It
would have been awesome playing them (again) this season with all the hype Colt is
generating. If we played USC or LSU in the opener (instead of a weaker team), and played
well, we would have shown the nation that we are a powerhouse." Hawai‘i travels to
Ruston, La., in their longest road trip of the season, to face the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and
open up Western Athletic Conference play Sept. 8. The Warriors will later head to the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas to face the Rebels on Sept. 15.

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