Hawaii 44, Tulsa 16

HONOLULU (AP) _ Hawaii broke out of its offensive doldrums with quarterback Timmy Chang continuing his record pace. <br/><br/>Chang threw for 378 yards and three touchdowns and moved into second place

Sunday, October 3rd 2004, 3:01 pm

By: News On 6

HONOLULU (AP) _ Hawaii broke out of its offensive doldrums with quarterback Timmy Chang continuing his record pace.

Chang threw for 378 yards and three touchdowns and moved into second place on the NCAA's career passing yardage list as the Warriors defeated Tulsa 44-16 Saturday night.

Chad Owens had eight catches, two for touchdowns, and tied a career high with 182 receiving yards. He also returned a punt for a 66-yard score as the Warriors (1-2, 1-1 Western Athletic Conference) won for the first time this season.

Chang finished the night 22-of-43 passing and hasn't thrown an interception in 159 pass attempts this season.

He needed just 6 yards to pass Philip Rivers' mark of 13,484 yards, and passed the former North Carolina State star with a shovel pass that running back West Keliikipi turned into a 17-yard gain in the Warriors' first offensive series against Tulsa (1-4, 0-1).

Chang said he didn't realize how close he was to No. 2.

``As long as we win games, it feels great,'' he said.

The fifth-year senior from Honolulu is chasing the 13-year-old NCAA mark of 15,031 yards set by Brigham Young's Ty Detmer from 1988-91.

Tulsa, which led the WAC in pass defense, contained Hawaii's wide-open offense in the first half but couldn't keep up as the Warriors offense outscored the Golden Hurricane 31-3 after halftime.

``We didn't do a good job minimizing the big plays in the second half,'' Tulsa coach Steve Kragthorpe said. ``We didn't take advantage of the opportunities that we had.''

Owens broke a 13-13 third-quarter tie with his play on special teams. After fielding a punt at his own 34, Owens juked left, broke a couple tackles, scrambled to the right side and sprinted down the sideline for a 66-yard score.

``I knew it was a critical time in the game, I was just telling myself we need a big play,'' Owens said.

The Warriors went up 27-13 on a 29-yard pass from Chang to Se'e Poumele, and went up by 21 points on a 7-yard pass from Chang to Owens in the fourth quarter.

Michael Brewster's 27-yard run capped off the scoring parade and put an end to Hawaii's lackluster offensive showings this season. Brewster carried eight times for 81 yards.

James Kilian was 21-of-44 passing for 189 yards for Tulsa, but was under heavy pressure all night. He was sacked five times and forced out of the pocket on many plays.

``They did some good things in terms of putting pressure on James and disrupting the passing game,'' Kragthorpe said.

Chang said he felt bad for Kilian, who was taking several big shots from the defense.

``The defense was so persistent, they were just going after him,'' he said.

Hawaii went up 6-0 in the first quarter on two Justin Ayat field goals, the second of which was a booming 56-yarder that tied Jason Elam's school record set in 1992.

After a Tulsa field goal cut Hawaii's lead to 6-3, Owens scored on a 75-yard screen pass play from Chang in the second quarter. Owens caught the ball off his shoelaces, shed a tackler and ran untouched the rest of the way as Hawaii went up 13-3.

The Golden Hurricane responded on their next series with a 1-yard scoring plunge by Kilian, capping a 10-play, 80-yard drive. The drive was highlighted by a 32-yard pass from Kilian to Caleb Blankenship.

Tulsa tied the game at 13 on Brad DeVault's 42-yard field goal with six seconds left in the first half.

Hawaii, which had a total of 34 yards rushing in the first two games, racked up 128 yards on the ground against Tulsa.

The Golden Hurricane were held to 59 yards rushing, led by Uril Parrish's 54 yards.