Fresno State’s shot at a WAC title takes a big hit as the ‘Dogs fall to 1-1 in conference

Mike Howells / The Collegian

The offensive showcase fans came to see Saturday night in Bulldog Stadium did not disappoint.

That is for the sliver of Hawaii Warrior faithful that packed the northeast portion of the stadium that witnessed the second-half dismantling of the Bulldogs en route to a 49-27 victory.

With the road win, Hawaii handed Fresno State its first Western Athletic Conference loss in front of a home crowd of 38,494 and knotted up the rivalry’s overall record at 21-21-1.

“Whenever you lose a game, especially a league game, it’s hard,” center Joe Bernardi said. “Losing to these guys is hard. This is a bitter rivalry, probably a bigger rivalry than a lot of people on the outside know. They don’t like us and we don’t like them, but we respect each other.”

Hawaii’s offense, anchored by former Fresno City College quarterback Bryant Moniz, rolled to 35 points in the third and fourth quarters, outscoring the ‘Dogs by 18 in the final 30 minutes and stealing its third straight victory in Fresno.

“I’ll tell you what, they get fired up going down that ramp,” head coach Pat Hill said. “They’ve got the kind of kids that play well. Both them and Boise have had good success here in Fresno. Not many other teams have had that kind of success that they’ve had.”

Moniz and Colburn came into the game as a pair of the WAC’s premier quarterbacks, each having led his team to three early-season wins behind big numbers. But Moniz stole the show with 376 passing yards while Colburn played his worst game this season.

The senior tossed three interceptions, the most since a road loss at Wisconsin over a year ago. Colburn finished the night 19-for-37 with 258 passing yards and a touchdown. He also added a touchdown on the ground late in the third quarter.

Fresno State was able to narrow the Hawaii lead to two scores a couple times in the third quarter, but the Warrior’s pass happy offense proved to be too much for the ‘Dogs.

The offensive firepower was nearly nonexistent for much of the first half, however. Following Hawaii’s six-play, 73-yard scoring drive, capped off by one of three Moniz-to-Greg Salas touchdown connections, both offenses stalled. Hawaii was forced into four straight punts and Fresno State punted on five of its first six possessions.

Matt Weir / The Collegian

The scoring picked back up late in the first half when Colburn threaded the needle to Jalen Saunders from 50 yards out to take Fresno State’s only lead of the game 10-7. The lead was short lived as Moniz marched the Warriors 71 yards and stole back the lead 14-10 on Salas’ second touchdown catch of the night with 20 seconds to go before halftime.

The Bulldogs’ defense made Moniz uncomfortable in the first two quarters, pressuring the quarterback into a second-quarter sack and interception.

But the offensive chess match did not last long as Hawaii head coach Greg McMackin’s second-half adjustments put Fresno State’s WAC title hopes in grave condition.

“First half, one of the best things we felt we could have done with this team was put pressure on them, and we did that for a good portion of the night,” defensive end Chris Carter said. “Then they started to resort to screens and shovels and what not.”

Despite surrendering 49 points to the Warriors. Hill and company praised the defense’s effort through the rough offensive outing.

“We just didn’t make enough plays tonight on offense,” Bernardi said. “Give Ben [Jacobs] and the guys credit on defense; they really played their butts off tonight. But against that offense you’re never going to be able to stop them; you’ve got to be able to contain them though.”

Containing Hawaii’s run-and-shoot offense has been a rare accomplishment for opponents in 2010. Of the Warrior’s six opponents this season, only two have held Hawaii under 400 yards of offense anchored by Moniz’s nation-leading 2,245 passing yards.

“He’s a very improved player from last year,” Carter said of Moniz. “I talked to him a little bit after the game. He did a great job of getting the ball to his players even with a lot of pressure on him especially.”

The Bulldogs’ will not have their hands quite as full for this weekend’s homecoming contest against New Mexico State. The Aggies picked up their first win of the season over the weekend against winless interstate rival New Mexico, but still rank last in the WAC in total offense and total defense. The ‘Dogs are in dire need of a win over New Mexico State to stay in the hunt for the WAC title.

“We have a great group of senior leaders who I know will bounce back from this,” Hill said. “We need to rebound the next couple of weeks and make sure when we get to November we are still in position to make a run.”