BOULDER — Multiple self-inflicted wounds doomed the Colorado Buffs in their season opener Thursday night, yet they had a chance to win in the game’s waning moments. There was some solace in that.
“Really, we hurt ourselves in the first half,” coach Mike MacIntyre said Saturday after the team’s first practice following a 28-20 loss at Hawaii. “In the first half we shot ourselves in the foot a few times that were pretty monumental shots. We really shot ourselves in the leg, or the head.”
For a team that entered the season believing it had the makings of a winner, maybe that’s the way to reinforce shaken confidence.
“I still believe this is a good football team,” Mac Intyre said. “I still believe we’re a lot better than we were last year. Hawaii’s better than they were last year. I think we’re still going to win a lot of football games. We had a couple unfortunate incidents happen we need to make sure we don’t do. That kind of turned the tide of the game.”
One was a blocked punt when a Hawaii player came untouched off the edge. Another was a 79-yard touchdown pass for Hawaii involving senior cornerback Ken Crawley. He got beat but had a chance to make a tackle at midfield.
“He was stripping and trying to tackle, and the guy was a big guy,” MacIntyre said. “He fell off him.”
MacIntyre said this Hawaii team is better than the one that lost 21-12 to CU at Folsom Field last September — CU’s last win — largely because it has Southern California transfer Max Wittek at quarterback.
“The defense played hard,” MacIntyre said. “We gave up the long pass, which we shouldn’t have. We should have tackled the guy there. We needed to be a little stouter in the red zone after our first turnover. If we could have made the play in the end zone, we would have made them kick a field goal. I think that would have made a big difference.”
The Buffs had a chance to tie the score in the waning seconds of the game, but the referee bobbled the ball before setting it as time ran out.
“Cannot comment on it — against NCAA rules,” MacIntyre said. “So please don’t try to walk me into something I get fined for.”
John Meyer: jmeyer@denverpost.com or
