Honolulu—The University of Colorado Buffaloes will take on the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in Thursday’s season opener.

Colorado is coming off of yet another disappointing season where they posted a record of 2-10 and a last place finish in the Pac-12. Hawaii also enters the game with a less than stellar performance in the 2014 season, but did prove to be better than the Buffs. The Rainbow Warriors scrapped through the season and finished 4-9, eighth in the Mountain West Conference.

The last time these two teams met was last season at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado. The Buffs defeated the Rainbow Warriors 21-12 for their second and final win of the season. Quarterback Sefo Liufau and Wide receiver Nelson Spruce lead the Buffaloes offensive attack that afternoon. Liufau threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns as Spruce set a Colorado record with 13 receptions in a single game against Hawaii for 172 yards and a touchdown.

Colorado will have to rely on both Liufau and Spruce in the opener on Thursday night. Liufau, who is entering is junior year, is coming off a monster first year in which he set many school records for the Buffs, but was unable to translate any performance into wins. Although Colorado lost two games in double overtime and two by less than five points, Liufau proved to the Buffalo faithful that he has what it takes to drag the less than impressive program out of the cellar of the Pac-12. He will have an outstanding target in Spruce to throw to out wide. Spruce, who has been named to the Biletnikoff award watch list as the nation’s best receiver, enters his senior season with many records under his belt as well. He is a tremendous inside slot receiver with a tremendous pair of hands who has the capability of catching passes in tight situations, but also the threat to take the top off the defense.

Accompanied by running backs Christian Powell and Michael Adkins II, the Buffs offense under Mike MacIntyre will be extremely potent. Colorado ran the ball for just over 2,100 yards on 450 attempts. Between the Powell and Adkins, they accounted for just 870 yards and seven touchdowns. Clearly MacIntyre is more comfortable putting the ball into the hands of Liufau, but in order to take a load off of the junior Powell and Adkins will be extremely important not only in Thursdays game, but also as the season moves on.

The University of Colorado Buffaloes and the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors square off for their season openers in Honolulu on Thursday, September 3rd. Kick-off is scheduled for 1:00 a.m. EST and can be seen on the CBS Sports Network. 

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About the author
Casey Splane
My name is Casey Splane and I am a college baseball player at Benedictine College studying journalism and sports broadcasting.