HONOLULU — Vowing to rebuild Colorado’s program brick by brick, first-year coach Jon Embree instructed each of his players to bring a brick on the charter flight for Saturday night’s season opener against Hawaii in Aloha Stadium.
Perhaps this week, Embree should order his players to take a bite out of them.
The Buffs’ attempt to end a 17-game road losing streak with a designated “brick game” failed because the CU offense took too long to build some momentum.
Hawaii’s 34-17 victory made Embree the third consecutive permanent Colorado head coach to lose his first game, joining Dan Hawkins (19-10 to Montana State in 2006) and Gary Barnett (41-14 to Colorado State in 1999 in Denver).
A year ago, Colorado recovered from a 10-0 halftime deficit to overwhelm Hawaii 31-13 in Boulder. CU had to dig out of an even deeper hole this time, trailing 17-0 at the break.
“Offensively we did not do a good job,” Embree said. “Every time we had a good play we went out and made a mistake. We will get that corrected. I believe in this team — the whole team.”
CU finished with 240 total yards, just 17 yards rushing and 223 yards passing. Hawaii finished with 343 total yards.
Embree vowed earlier in the week that the Buffs would attempt to “implement their will” on opponents this season by running the ball “down their throats.” CU senior running back Rodney Stewart had some success, particularly on cutbacks off a sweep. But it took some pinpoint passing by senior quarterback Tyler Hansen for Colorado to climb back into the game.
Hansen connected with sophomore wide receiver Paul Richardson for a pair of second-half touchdown passes. And, after a 34-yard field goal by freshman Will Oliver, the Buffs trailed by just a touchdown and got the ball back with 13 minutes to go.
But Colorado had to punt away the possession after Hansen was sacked and Hawaii smelled blood.
The Warriors’ explosive senior quarterback, Bryant Moniz, hit tailback Joey Iosefa in the right flat for a game-clinching 22-yard catch-and-run touchdown with 6:17 left to clinch Hawaii’s payback win.
Moniz finished 299 total yards, including 121 rushing with three touchdowns.
“Who would have thought he’d beat us with his legs,” CU junior linebacker Jon Major said. “He did what he had to do. That’s the sign of a great player.”
Moniz was 20-of-33 passing for 178 yards and one touchdown; he did not throw an interception but was sacked five times.
“Mo might not lead the nation in passing this week, but he might lead the nation in rushing,” Hawaii coach Greg McMackin said.
Colorado looked like a different team in the second half. After taking the second-half kickoff, the Buffs needed just six plays to go 73 yards for their first score — a 15-yard touchdown pass from Hansen to Richardson, who got behind the Hawaii defense on a skinny-post pattern.
CU senior tailback Rodney Stewart set up the TD to Richardson by taking a swing pass from Hansen and racing 52 yards down the right sideline.
“We did some good things in the second half, but we’ve got to get better. We made too many mistakes,” said Hansen, who finished 16-of-30 passing for 223 yards with one interception, but he was sacked seven times.
It didn’t take long for Hawaii to reclaim the momentum. Hawaii’s Mike Edwards took the ensuing kickoff 48 yards to set up the third touchdown keeper of the day by Moniz.
Colorado started two untested cornerbacks, true freshman Greg Henderson and senior Travis Sandersfeld, a former walk-on. Henderson became CU’s first true freshman starter at corner since Victor Scott in 1980.
Trying to protect the newbies in pass coverage, CU defensive coordinator Greg Brown called a variety of blitzes in an effort to keep Moniz guessing.
At times, the strategy worked. Moniz often looked out of sync with his passes. And CU junior linebacker Doug Rippy recorded two sacks in the first half.
But there is a weakness in every defensive formation. CU’s blitzes came largely from the corner, leaving the Buffs defense vulnerable to scrambles up the gut. Moniz, smart and fast, took advantage. He kept drives alive with his feet and then burned a blitz by tucking the ball under his arm and sprinted 56 yards untouched for a touchdown that put the Warriors up 10-0 with 10:39 left in the second quarter.
Playing in his first college football game, Colorado freshman punter Darragh O’Neill showed no signs of jitters, averaging 46 yards on his first two boots with only short returns. Oliver, another true freshman, did his part by making the 34-yard field goal late in the third quarter on his first career attempt.
That pulled the Buffs to within 24-17 with almost a full quarter to go, bringing Hawaii fans to the edge of their seats for the first time.
Colorado had to play much of the game without its starting offensive left tackle, sophomore David Bakhtiari, who suffered a knee injury in the first half. The extent of the injury was not announced, but Embree did not rule him out for Saturday’s game at Folsom Field against Cal.
“It affected things a lot. It affected us emotional,” Richardson said of Bakhtiari’s injury. “That’s our leader.”
Colorado and Hawaii will resume the series with another home-and-home, a 2014 game in Boulder and 2015 rematch at Aloha Stadium.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
