By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Rainbow faces grew longer as the margin widened
in Hawaii's 35-6 loss to Wyoming Saturday night.
The Cowboy Way
Wyoming's big hosses and
By Paul Arnett
Hawaii's mistakes made for a
lopsided shootin' match
Star-BulletinIt didn't take long for the University of Hawaii Rainbows to realize they aren't ready to rodeo with the likes of the Wyoming Cowboys just yet. Despite having the defending Pacific Division champions third and 10 on the first series of the game, an all-out blitz proved to be a certified disaster as senior quarterback Jeremy Silcox shot a 10-yard pass to running back Mike Jenkins in the flat. He turned it into a 70-yard dagger that took the life out of the largest Aloha Stadium crowd in three years.
Unlike the fans, the Rainbows died slowly in the 35-6 Western Athletic Conference loss -- midway through the third quarter they were only down 21-6 -- but die they did thanks to an opportunistic Cowboys offense and a suffocating defense.
"We knew this game was going to be a measuring stick to see how far we've come since they beat us 66-0 last year," UH head coach Fred vonAppen said yesterday after reviewing the films. "And we're not as far along as we had first hoped.
"We had too many penalties, we gave up too many big plays and when we got into a position to get back into the game in the third quarter, we couldn't execute when we needed to the most. We set the tone early when we gave up that big third-down play on our first series. You can't make mistakes (a blown assignment by linebacker Kamuela Cobb-Adams) against a good team like Wyoming and expect to get away with it."
VonAppen said after tomorrow's film session, the team would put the loss behind it and prepare for its first road trip of the season at Nevada-Las Vegas. The Rainbows haven't won away from the islands since beating UNLV on the last day of September in 1995.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Wyoming corralled Hawaii's offense, which couldn't
put the ball in the end zone.
In those days, the Rebels were still in the Big West Conference. To find the last time Hawaii won a league game on the road, you have to look back to a Halloween afternoon in 1992 when the Rainbows upended Texas-El Paso, 41-21.Hawaii has lost 16 consecutive road league games since then. To avoid a fifth-consecutive 0-2 start in WAC play, the Rainbows must come up with a game plan similar to the one they used last year on the Rebels. One of Hawaii's two wins in 1996 was over UNLV at Aloha Stadium.
"They're probably still trying to figure out how that happened," vonAppen said, then smiled. "Let's face it, we've been woeful on the road. We haven't been able to beat anybody, so it's not going to get any easier.
"Even though we lost this weekend, if I'm right, we still have nine games left this season, so there's plenty of time to make the necessary improvements in order to become a better football team."
To begin with, the offense needs to quit being its own worst enemy. For some reason, the Rainbows have trouble figuring out that seven men must be on the line of scrimmage, you can't move before the ball is snapped and two men can't be in motion simultaneously.
In all, Hawaii was penalized 10 times for 67 yards. It would have been even worse had Wyoming not declined five more. Hawaii had first and 15, or second and more than 10 yards, 10 times.
"It's difficult to sustain drives when you keep making mental mistakes," UH offensive coordinator Wally English said. "This is something we can and must correct in order to be a competitive football team."
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Wyoming safety Brian Lee (45) is congratulated after
he returned an interception for a touchdown, giving the
Cowboys a 14-0 lead in the second quarter.
Pass protection remains a problem. The Cowboys sacked quarterback Tim Carey eight times. He has been sacked 16 times in three games, partly because he holds onto the ball too long, and partly because the Hawaii receivers can't shake free from bump-and-run coverages, despite no safety help over the top."We did better when we were in the shotgun because I had more time to throw," said Carey, who completed 17 of 29 passes for 204 yards. "We're still trying to find ourselves, but we'll get there."
The defense also has some areas that need improvement in time for Saturday night's game at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl. Hawaii gave up 439 total yards to Wyoming, including a 21-yard run by Jenkins, a 24-yard jaunt by Marques Brigham and the 70-yard pass play by Silcox that set the tone early.
"And I'll have nightmares over a half-dozen more for a while," UH defensive coordinator Don Lindsey said. "They had some big old jug butts up front that did a number on us. But we also hurt ourselves in ways we should know better by now.
"Several times we had the play defended, but we didn't make the plays in space. By that I mean, we were sometimes a step away or a step slow that turned routine plays into backbreakers. Take away a half-dozen plays, and we couldn't have done a much better job, even if we lined up and played them 10 more times.
"Unfortunately, those six plays made all the difference in the game from a defensive standpoint. We can come back against UNLV and play better. We just have to look at the mistakes we made this weekend and try to learn from them next weekend."
Notebook
UH Rainbow Warrior
Football Schedulehttp://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
