By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
Lost in the midst of the Cam Newton scandal at Auburn and the beatdown TCU laid on Utah last weekend is the fact that Hawaii absolutely dominated a pretty good team as well.
Hawaii came to the blue turf with a 7-2 record and a 5-0 league mark, averaging a shade over 39 points per game. What makes that even more impressive is the fact that Jeremiah Masoli was supposed to be their starting quarterback. For those who don't remember, Masoli was kicked off the team after getting caught stealing, graduated, then moved on to Ole Miss.
The Warriors were smothered by the Broncos and scored just seven points the entire game. They were shut out in the first half for the first time all season and had 196 yards of total offense.
With guys like Kellen Moore, Austin Pettis and Titus Young making the headlines by putting up somewhere around 50 points everytime they hit the field, it's easy to overlook the defense, but they are second in the nation in scoring defense behind TCU, second in run defense, ninth in pass defense and second in total defense behind the Horned Frogs.
The last big test for the defense and a chance to make a final statement for the BCS comes two weeks from now against No. 25 Nevada. Hawaii did hold them to 21 in the Wolfpack's only loss of the season, but Nevada is fourth in the nation in scoring with 42 points per contest. Will shutting down that team be enough to vault the Broncos over at least two other teams in the BCS standings? Most likely they'll still need some help.
Chris Maza is the owner of his own blog, Maza's Musings, and makes weekly contributions to Fan Fanatic Sports. Check out Maza's Musings for more sports insight and also, be sure to follow him on Twitter @Mazasmusings and 'like' him on Facebook.
