Alexander passes Hawaii past Wash. State 38-20

By GREGG BELL, AP Sports Writer Sep 12, 11:16 pm EDT

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SEATTLE (AP)—Greg Alexander threw for a career-high 453 yards and three touchdowns and Hawaii won a road game over a team from a BCS conference for the first time in seven tries, 38-20 over mistake-prone Washington State on Saturday night.

Greg Salas caught seven of Alexander’s 26 completions for 195 yards and a touchdown. The much faster Warriors (2-0) started their longest stretch of games off the islands in 45 years by speeding to a 35-0 lead early in the second quarter and gaining 626 yards in all.

And it could have been much worse for Washington State (0-2).

The Cougars were scheduled to welcome Ohio State in their eighth consecutive season of playing a “home” game across the state at the Seattle Seahawks’ stadium. But the Buckeyes paid WSU $450,000 to get out of the game and had a showdown Saturday night against Southern California instead.

The Cougars were left humbled by Hawaii, which last week needed 17 unanswered points to squeak by lower-division Central Arkansas.

The teams combined for 11 turnovers—seven by Washington State. The Cougars were led by James Montgomery’s 118 yards rushing on 17 carries.

The Warriors, who also beat WSU 24-10 last November in Honolulu, flew to Las Vegas late Saturday to prepare for next weekend’s game at UNLV. They are in the middle of 36 days between games at Aloha Stadium, the second-longest away stretch in the nation this year.

They can only dream they all go as well as this one.

This game and next weekend’s against Southern Methodist back home in Pullman, Wash., were seen as WSU’s best chances for a win early this season.

Or perhaps all season, the way Saturday went. One week after allowing Stanford 481 yards in a 39-13 loss at home, the Cougars were throttled by Hawaii’s run-and-shoot offense. Alexander’s yards passing were the most against Washington State since Arizona State’s Paul Justin threw for 537 yards in 1989.

Salas has 14 catches for 375 yards in two games.

Alexander, starting his second season as the replacement for school record-holding quarterback and former Heisman Trophy candidate Colt Brennan, had 263 yards passing by halftime. Rodney Bradley, a junior-college transfer from Texas whose touchdown last week with 1:22 left beat Central Arkansas, had six catches for 135 yards and two touchdowns through two quarters.

Hawaii had averaged 15 points in those six previous road losses to the BCS big boys. It led 35-6 at the break.

Washington State committed five turnovers in the first half, as Alexander played an easy game of pitch-and-catch across the middle of the Cougars’ soft, slower zone defense.

Even Hawaii’s linemen were faster than Washington State’s defensive backs. When Chima Nwachukwu picked up a fumble by Alexander at the Cougars 1 midway through the second quarter—1 yard from Hawaii going up 42-0—he briefly appeared free for a 99-yard score down the sideline. Then Warriors right tackle Laupepa Letuli ran him down and pushed him out of bounds at the WSU 31.

Updated Sep 12, 11:16 pm EDT
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Head to Head - Week 2

Team Total Yds Pass Yds Rush Yds First Downs 3rdD% Pen./Yds Turnovers Time of Poss.
Hawaii 626 489 137 22 25.0% 12/120 4 30:19
Washington State 423 247 176 22 23.1% 7/54 7 29:41
NCAAF

10 Comments

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  1. Dawgmeat
    10. Posted by Dawgmeat Mon Sep 14 12:29am EDT

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    Sean ....... hey now, don't get crazy on us .... the Kitty Cats would still have to beat those Division 2 teams to make the playoffs.
  2. Sean B
    9. Posted by Sean B Sun Sep 13 2:24pm EDT

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    Now that Western Washington (DII) no longer has a football team, there's an excellent chance for the Cougs to move into a division in which they can be competitive. Might even make the playoffs every once in a while.
  3. <i>dawggie62</i>
    8. Posted by dawggie62 Sun Sep 13 12:52pm EDT

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    mgb... did LSU score a td on their last drive of the game? so the last 2 tds cancelled each other out and i am pretty sure the dawgs outgained LSU by a ton. If not for costly turnovers and lots of penalties, that game could have gone a whole different direction. Sure the same thing might be said for the Idaho game but since the Dawgs were so far ahead by halftime, they c uld afford to give up the short stuff. They aren't back, but they might be on the right track.
  4. Albert A
    7. Posted by Albert A Sun Sep 13 3:32am EDT

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    great to see my state is doing good.........
  5. Dawgmeat
    6. Posted by Dawgmeat Sun Sep 13 2:02am EDT

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    David H ....... 42-16 ....... YAWN !!!!!!!



    Kitty Cats SUCK
  6. Matthew R
    5. Posted by Matthew R Sun Sep 13 1:45am EDT

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    Warriors, come out to play, Warriors, come out to play (sorry but I love that movie). This article can not possibly be right and this score has to be wrong because I have been taught (brain washed) by the media, ESPN, and sleazy, elderly, rich, white, college presidents to know that every thing in the B.S. (no C needed) system is better than every thing outside of the B.S. (no C needed) system, so Washington State has to beat Hawaii (I am being sarcastic). The fraudulent, corrupt, moronic B.S. (no C needed) system lays another egg and proves that it is on its last leg. Thank you Hawaii for saying aloha means good bye to the Kittens from Washington State on their home field and striking a blow for every person in America who graduated from a non B.S. (no C needed) system college.

    Die, B.S. (no C needed) System, Die.
  7. mgb
    4. Posted by mgb Sun Sep 13 1:26am EDT

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    Tell you what, this looks like a pretty decent team once they stop waiting til halftime to get it together, and stop turning the damn ball over!

    Now as for you, dead puppies: scoring a joke last play TD against LSU to make it look closer than it was and beating up Idaho (when have they won more than five games lately?) doesn't mean you're back. I know that won't stop you from beating your chest if you lose to SC by only a FG again, but the sad fact of the matter is we've still won three times as many games as you have since Nov 2007 (and two head to head). Keep talking, you'll be 2-8 headed into the AC.
  8. Terri R
    3. Posted by Terri R Sun Sep 13 1:19am EDT

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    Wow, Washington State is making us forget about Colt Brennan REAL fast! 35-6 at half? Alexander shared time with 2 other QB's for over half of last season and did not start until the 7th game. 453 yards passing and way over 600 yards total offense? Either Hawaii is way better than I hoped or the Cougars are really bad. Since Hawaii had to come from behind in the last minute to beat CENTRAL ARKANSAS last week, the latter is probably true. There's hope Cougar fans, SMU is next on the schedule, but they are already 2-0 with a nice, underdog win at UAB.

    Good luck. Hope you do not go win less like the Huskies did last year. Time for a new coach? Ryan Leaf is looking for work.
  9. David H
    2. Posted by David H Sun Sep 13 12:59am EDT

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    at least they weren't outgained by IDAHO though right dawgmeat?
  10. Dawgmeat
    1. Posted by Dawgmeat Sun Sep 13 12:41am EDT

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    hahahahah ..... Kitty Cats SUCK !!!!!!!!!!
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Top Performers

 Top Performers
 Hawaii
G. Alexander G. Alexander, QB
26-36, 453 yds
3 TDs
 Washington St.
J. Montgomery J. Montgomery, RB
17 Rush, 118 yds
1 TD

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