Hawaii vs. Nevada: Warriors Dismantled by Wolf Pack, 69-24

After seven straight losses to the Warriors in Honolulu, the Nevada Wolf Pack came into Aloha Stadium determined to make the memory of their 2012 excursion to Hawaii a pleasant one. By the time they were finished ripping the Warriors' defense to shreds, all that was left for Hawaii head coach Norm Chow to do was to begin searching for answers to the many questions plaguing his team.

After Nevada scored first on a 55-yard pass from Cody Fajardo to Stefphon Jefferson, the Wolf Pack would never trail in the game. Midway through the second quarter, Warriors fans saw their team draw to within three points when quarterback Sean Schroeder hit Jeremiah Ostrowski with a 36-yard TD strike to make the score 20-17, but that would be as close as Hawaii would get.

That is the point at which junior running back Stefphon Jefferson took over the game.

Jefferson scored seven touchdowns in the game and single-handedly demolished the Warriors defense on his way to 170 yards rushing. The Wolf Pack rolled up 575 yards of total offense on their way to a gaudy 69 points in the game before a crowd of 31,417.

"It was terrific," said Nevada head coach Chris Ault [as quoted in Nevada's game summary on NevadaWolfPack.com]. "I thought we played well on both sides of the ball."

Coming into the game, the Warriors' defense had allowed an average of less than 63 yards a game, but Nevada pounded the ball for 355 yards on their way to the most lopsided victory between the two schools since 1948, when Nevada beat Hawaii 73-12.

Sean Schroeder was 11-of-40 in the game with two TDs and two interceptions for the Warriors, who fell to 1-2 on the season. Will Gregory led Hawaii in rushing with 92 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown.

"It's just one game," said Norm Chow after the contest [as quoted by the Associated Press on Sports.Yahoo.com]. "Obviously, we didn't play as well as we could."

The Warriors must next travel to Utah to face BYU on Friday, September 28.