HALAWA — Both teams put up more than 500 yards of offense, but it was Colorado State who made it count by pounding Hawaii, 51-21, in Mountain West Conference play Saturday night at HTFCU Field at Aloha Stadium.

After starting the season 2-0, the Rainbow Warriors have now dropped their last three games and are 0-2 to open the conference season.

"We're at a crossroads with our team. Maybe because we had a nice win (in a) bowl game last year, we thought it was just going to happen again. It's not. We have to earn it," Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich said. "I don't know if we play these guys again, if we're good enough to beat them yet. But we're 0-2 in the conference and that's got to change pretty quick here."

"He's right about that, but it doesn't come down to what the coaches say. It comes down to the players and what they do and if they're going to stay true to their word," Hawaii linebacker Jahlani Tavai said. "Right now, it's up to our leaders and those guys who are stepping up in those roles to really step up."

Coming off a physical 28-21 overtime loss to Wyoming a week ago, the Rainbow Warriors' depth in the trenches was put to the test. 

Offensive lineman Chris Posa was a game-time decision while fellow starting linemen Dejon Allen and Fred Ulu-Perry (Saint Louis '15) were held out due to injuries.

The Rainbow Warriors went three-and-out on their first three drives while the Rams came away with points on each of their first five possessions. Hawaii opted to go with six straight pass attempts on the first two drives to open the game.

"That was not the plan come Monday. That became the plan a little bit later in the week when we started realizing who we had available to play this game," Rolovich said, addressing concerns of not running the ball until the 6:34 mark in the first quarter.

"We can still run out of our 10 personnel stuff," he continued, referring to going with a one-running back, four-receivers formation. "We just felt to get the best 11 on the field, we had to play a bit little more 10 personnel. Just the healthy bodies we had."

Tight ends Tui Unga and Dakota Torres (Punahou '14) as well as slotback Kalakaua Timoteo (Mililani '16) were also non-participants in the game.

Down 24-0, Hawaii finally got on the board at the 1:45 mark left in the first half with a 1-yard plunge from running back Diocemy Saint Juste to cap a nine-play, 87-yard drive.

However, the Rams answered right back less than 20 seconds later with a 76-yard pass that was followed up with a four-yard rushing score.

Both teams traded scores the rest of the way to get to the final arithmetic.

Colorado State quarterback Nick Stevens torched Hawaii with 18-of-22 passing for 351 yards and four touchdowns.

His counterpart Dru Brown went 21 for 47 for 362 yards and two touchdowns, one of which went to former Kealakehe WR John Ursua, who finished with seven catches for 74 yards.

Hawaii goes on the road to Reno, Nevada before returning to Aloha Stadium on Oct. 14 for homecoming night against San Jose State.