Updated at 7:56 p.m., Saturday, October 21, 2006
Warriors defeat New Mexico State, 49-30
Associated Press
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"I can't imagine there's a better quarterback in the country," Jones said after junior Colt Brennan threw five touchdown passes and 330 yards in a 49-30 win over New Mexico State on Saturday night.
It's the second week in a row Brennan has had five TD passes. He had five in the Warriors' 68-37 rout of Fresno State and there's no ignoring the numbers Brennan is putting up. He has thrown 19 touchdown passes this season, with just one interception, and has completed 121 of 161 passes.
Brennan deflected the praise to the Warriors' offensive line.
"We have an unbelievable offensive line," he said. "They gave me all the time in the world. I was able to just step back, make my reads and see what guys were opening up."
Hawai'i's offense was so efficient that punter Kurt Milne could have missed the plane and it wouldn't have mattered because the Warriors never had to punt.
"I think they're the best team in our (WAC) conference," said New Mexico State coach Hal Mumme. That's high praise for the Warriors, given that New Mexico State played and lost to No. 18 Boise State 40-28 last week.
"We got beat by a better team," Mumme said. "They are the hardest hitting team we've played this year."
Brennan, who came into the game second in the country in total offense behind New Mexico State's Chase Holbrook, methodically picked apart the porous Aggies defense. He completed 22 of 31 passes, with no interceptions.
Hawai'i (5-2, 3-1 WAC) took control early in handing New Mexico State (2-5, 0-3 WAC) its 18th straight loss to a Division 1-A opponent.
Brennan completed his first nine passes, including a 34-yard TD pass to wide receiver Ross Dickerson that gave the Warriors a 14-0 lead with 2:09 left in the first quarter. Dickerson also caught a 36-yard scoring pass. Brennan's other touchdown passes were to Davone Bess for 16 yards, 9 yards to Ian Sample and 13 yards to Jason Rivers.
The Aggies managed to tie the score once in the second quarter (14-14) on a 27-yard pass from Holbrook to Chris Williams.
Hopes of a comeback ended midway through the fourth quarter when Holbrook fumbled after he scrambled out of the pocket deep in NMSU territory and was hit by defensive lineman Melila Purcell. Linebacker Adam Leonard picked up the football and ran it back 20 yards for the touchdown for a 42-24 Hawai'i lead.
The hit knocked Holbrook out of the game, but he returned for the Aggies ensuing possession in which he threw his third and final touchdown of the night, a 13-yarder to A.J. Harris with 3:28 remaining in the game.
Holbrook was 31 for 45 for 323 yards.
Both Brennan and Holbrook came up short of their season averages. Holbrook, who had 526 passing yards against No. 18 Boise State last Sunday, went into Saturday's game leading the nation in total offense with 415.5 yards a game. Brennan was averaging 395.7 yards a game.
Williams also caught a 63-yard TD pass and finished with 160 yards on 7 catches.
The two teams combined for nearly 1,000 total yards — Hawai'i with 508 and New Mexico State with 448.
Hawaii 14 14 0 21—49
New Mexico St. 14 3 7 6—30
First Quarter
Haw—Ilaoa 4 run (kick failed), 10:39.
Haw—Dickerson 34 pass from Brennan (Bess pass from Brennan), 6:17.
NMSU—Nwoko 3 run (Bowling kick), :35.
NMSU—Chris Williams 27 pass from Holbrook (Bowling kick), :01.
Second Quarter
Haw—Bess 16 pass from Brennan (Kelly kick), 13:24.
NMSU—FG Bowling 25, 8:56.
Haw—Sample 9 pass from Brennan (Kelly kick), 3:41.
Third Quarter
NMSU—Chris Williams 61 pass from Holbrook (Bowling kick), 12:39.
Fourth Quarter
Haw—Rivers 13 pass from Brennan (Kelly kick), 12:27.
Haw—Leonard 20 fumble return (Kelly kick), 11:11.
Haw—Dickerson 36 pass from Brennan (Kelly kick), 7:58.
NMSU—Harris 13 pass from Holbrook (run failed), 4:25.
A—17,318.
Team statistics
Haw NMSU
First downs 26 28
Rushes-yards 33-155 30-118
Passing 353 330
Comp-Att-Int 23-34-0 32-46-1
Return Yards 3 0
Punts-Avg. 0-0.0 1-56.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-2
Penalties-Yards 9-82 4-40
Time of Possession 29:56 30:04
RUSHING—Hawaii, Ilaoa 18-94, Brennan 6-28, Mauia 7-26, Graunke 2-7. New Mexico St., Nwoko 12-59, Holbrook 10-25, Chris Williams 1-19, J.Williams 5-13, Gibson 1-7, Team 1-(minus 5).
PASSING—Hawaii, Brennan 22-31-0-330, Graunke 1-3-0-23. New Mexico St., Holbrook 31-45-1-323, Gibson 1-1-0-7.
RECEIVING—Hawaii, Dickerson 6-125, Rivers 5-49, Bess 4-55, Sample 4-42, Ilaoa 2-41, Washington 1-23, Mock 1-18. New Mexico St., Chris Williams 7-160, J.Williams 6-43, Harris 6-34, Cleaver 5-41, Dubois 2-18, Nwoko 2-15, Romaka 1-15, Jolla 1-4, Allen 1-3, Buckner 1-(minus 3).
