Sept. 20th – Hawai’i – No Such Thing as a Bad “W”

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Colorado 21, Hawai’i 12

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Colorado jumped out to a 21-6 second quarter lead against visiting Hawai’i, but then almost spoiled a record-setting afternoon by wide receiver Nelson Spruce, hanging on to defeat the Rainbow Warriors, 21-12, before 39,478 sunbaked fans at Folsom Field.

Nelson Spruce had 13 catches on the afternoon, breaking the school-record of 11 (done nine times previously, including three times by Paul Richardson), going for a personal-best 172 yards. Spruce also set a school-record by collecting a touchdown reception in his sixth straight game.

But it was almost all for naught, as the Buffs were shutout in the second half by the Rainbow Warriors. It took an exceptional effort from the Colorado defense – which held an opponent out of the end zone for the first time since 2010 (a 24-3 win over Colorado State) to preserve the win. The Buffs held the Rainbow Warriors to only 286 yards of total offense, the best for the CU defense since holding Utah to 274 yards in the 2011 finale.

No Such Thing as a Bad “W”

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It wasn’t pretty.

In fact, at times it was quite ugly.

Colorado, for the second time in three weeks, allowed a team which won only one game last season to hang around and have a chance to win.

Two weeks ago, the Buffs not only allowed the Minutemen of Massachusetts (1-11 in 2013) to stay in the game, they fell behind 31-20 before rallying for a 41-38 win.

Against Hawai’i (1-11 in 2013), the Buffs methodically rebounded from an early 3-0 deficit to build a 21-6 halftime lead, but needed to rely on its defense for stop after stop to preserve a 21-12 victory.