The First Big Upset of the College Football Season Is in the Books

By Ross Kelly August 26, 2018 at 10:11am

You’ll be forgiven if you didn’t notice, but the college football season officially started on Saturday.

There weren’t any Power 5 teams or ranked programs in action, but that doesn’t mean the weekend was devoid of excitement as a huge upset took place in Fort Collins, Colorado.

The Colorado State Rams played host to the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in what was expected to be a rout for the home team. However, it looked like it would be a rout in the other direction as Hawaii had a 30-point lead in the third quarter before a furious rally by Colorado State fell short.

Hawaii prevailed 43-34, which undoubtedly delighted those who picked the underdog as Colorado State was a 17-point favorite.

The Rainbow Warriors appeared to be on their way to a blowout win as they led 37-7 late in the third quarter. But the Rams showed why they’ve been invited to five straight Bowl games as they outscored Hawaii 27-6 over the last 18 minutes of the game.

Colorado State made it a six-point game with just under five minutes remaining but elected not to try an onside kick. Once Hawaii got the ball back they drove into field goal range and Ryan Meskell’s 35-yarder made it a nine-point deficit with 44 seconds remaining to essentially seal the game.

Colorado State’s sluggish first half may have been the result of the team not having its coach for much of the last two weeks.

Mike Bobo spent 10 days in the hospital for peripheral neuropathy after experiencing numbness in his extremities. He returned to practice on Wednesday and called plays from the coaches’ box on Saturday.

Hawaii hasn’t posted a winning record since 2010. On the other hand, Colorado State has been one of the Mountain West Conference’s best teams as they’ve posted five straight winning seasons.

This marks the first Hawaii win at Colorado State since the teams were battling it out in the Western Athletic Conference 30 years ago.

Hawai'i gets their 1st win in Fort Collins since 1988. They had lost their last 6 road games vs Colorado State by an average of 25.7 PPG.

In a losing effort, K.J. Carta-Samuels breaks Colorado State single-game record with 537 Pass yds

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 26, 2018

Former Washington quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuels made his first start since the 2015 season and did not disappoint. After backing up Jake Browning for three seasons, Carta-Samuels transferred to Colorado State and nearly broke the MWC’s single-game passing record.

Did you watch any of this weekend's college football games?

His 537 passing yards tie for the second most all-time and are just 11 yards shy of the conference record set by David Fales of San Jose State in 2013. Carta-Samuels’ 562 yards of total offense also ranks as the fourth-most in MWC history.

Hawaii’s quarterback, Cole McDonald, wasn’t too shabby himself as he posted a 97.6 QBR (out of 100) in the game.

McDonald threw for 418 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 96 yards and two touchdowns. The two quarterbacks accounted for a combined 1,076 yards of total offense and all 10 of the game’s touchdowns.

Hawaii returns home for its next game on Saturday vs. Navy. Colorado State hosts Colorado on Friday, which means the Rams will play two games before most teams play their first.

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