Week 1: Florida 56, Hawaii 10
With Hawaii's recent stroke of brilliance, a Hawaii/Florida matchup doesn't seem that farfetched at first thought. However, Colt Brennan is gone, Coach June Jones is gone, and they're without a host of talented skill players including four receivers, as well as two offensive linemen. Needless to say, the Warriors are an entirely new team this year, and it showed against the Tim Tebow led Florida Gators.
Things looked promising in the first half, when the Hawaii defense shutout the Florida offense. The Hawaii offense didn't exactly score, either, but things would change when the second quarter rolled around. Florida scored 56 points in less than thirty minutes, quickly burying the Warriros in a trench they couldn't escape.
Florida had four rushing touchdowns from four different players, a passing touchdown by Tebow, and an interception return for a TD.
But enough about Florida's successes-- if there's one thing we learned from this game, it's that Hawaii can no longer compete with big-time SEC teams (err... generate hype for such games, I mean) on a national stage.
Week 2: Hawaii 36, Weber State 17
After being bullied around by a BCS contender in Week 1, the Warriors returned home for a matchup with Weber State Bowl Championship Subdivision.
Trailing 17-7 at halftime, the Warriors needed a spark, especially after starting quarterback Inoke Funaki came out of the game with a concussion.
What did the Warriors do in this tricky situation? Turn to the best quarterback on the roster, of course!
Tyler Grankue, who has backed up Heisman Trophy finalist Colt Brennan the past two seasons, was held out of fall camp because of academic issues. He didn't travel with the team to Florida and hadn't yet earned back the starting roll, but saved the day with his second half performance against Weber State. He was 13 of 20 passing for 218 yards and three touchdowns. The performance earned him WAC Offensive Player of the Week honors, in case you were wondering. He'll also earn the start against the Beavers.
via starbulletin.com
Week 3: at Oregon State
What has Hawaii's first two games told us? Not much. They lost to a really good team and beat an inferior team. They haven't shocked the nation, they won't be going undefeated this year, and they no longer have the weapons that allowed them to be so pass-happy the last few years.
If you believe in theories of relativity, you'll realize that we beat a much better Hawaii team two years ago. If we pulled off that win over Hawaii in 2006, we should be 1-2 come Saturday evening.
But, I've seen crazier things happen. And it's still September, folks.