CHARLESTON SOUTHERN | SEPT. 22

Playing without its best player, Hawai'i overcame a nervous start to make the right plays at the right time for a 66-10 football rout of undermanned Charleston Southern Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.

With quarterback Colt Brennan on the sideline with a not-yet-healed sprained right ankle, the Warriors turned to understudy Tyler Graunke and a redesigned defense to improve to 4-0. UH intercepted three passes — linebacker Adam Leonard returned one 36 yards for a touchdown — forced a fumble, and kept the Buccaneer quarterbacks scrambling. And the special teams added a kickoff return for a score.

The Buccaneers, a Division I-AA team that is allowed 22 fewer scholarships than the Warriors, fell to 1-3.

After an admittedly "shaky" start — in which a vocal section of the 34,101 fans jeered and chanted "We want Colt!" — Graunke found his comfort zone, finishing 22 of 36 for 285 yards and three touchdowns. He also scored on a 6-yard scramble.

By the time he exited at the end of the third quarter, with the 59-point favorite Warriors comfortably ahead, 49-10, Graunke had converted the disgruntled.

"That's cool," Graunke said of the early catcalls. "As long as I win them back."

Graunke struggled through most of the first half, when he was intercepted twice and had communication breakdowns with receivers a few times.

"I settled down finally. I followed my reads," he said. "I was a little shaky at first, but I expected that. I didn't expect to come out and be Colt or anything. I wasn't trying to be. I was trying to be myself. I settled down and worked the offense."

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