By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Air Force's Kevin Runyon (44) blocks Chad Shrout's punt
Saturday night at Aloha Stadium. Air Force returned Runyon's
block, and another, for a touchdown en route to a
34-27 victory over Hawaii.
UH’s punting, kicking
games take another
step backward
Game statistics below
By Dave Reardon
Special to the Star-BulletinIn the University of Hawaii's season-opening 17-3 victory over Minnesota in August, the special teams were a huge key -- especially the unit led by punter Chad Shrout, which consistently put the Gophers in a hole. But after Saturday's 34-27 loss to Air Force, the punt team was kicking itself over two blocks that were returned for touchdowns.
The Rainbows also gave up huge yardage on its kickoffs, and punt returner Eddie Klaneski dropped a fair catch on a punt return, leading to a Falcon score.
"When you have three of your six (special team) areas break down, that will get you dusted fast," Hawaii coach Fred vonAppen said. "It checks your gag reflex."
The biggest problem was blocked punts. Frank Staine-Pyne recovered the first block -- by Charlie Jackson -- in the Hawaii end zone for Air Force's first score. In the second quarter, Staine-Pyne ran another block -- by Kevin Runyon -- 19 yards for another TD.
Another Hawaii punt was partially blocked by Tim Curry.
"We knew they had problems on special teams," Jackson said. "And that's one of our best aspects. We've done it before."
Many times. The Air Force Academy is known for blocking kicks, almost as much as it is for producing pilots and engineers.
"We're really aggressive in practice," Staine-Pyne said. "Our own punt and field goal teams don't really like us."
The Falcons came into the game with eight blocks (four on punts) this season and 40 in the 1990s.
"We pride ourselves on blocking kicks," said Air Force special teams coach Carlos Mateos, who was a kicker in his Air Force playing days. "We always want to put some pressure on whoever is kicking."
So the Rainbows did their homework. But they studied the wrong book.
"We watched film all week," Anthony Diieso said. "They didn't line up the way they did on film. But that's no excuse."
Diieso plays a key position on the punt team. As an upback between the line of scrimmage and Shrout, he must block players that shoot between the linemen.
"On the first block, they came from the outside," he said. "We adjusted for the next time, but then two guys came through my gap. They came right around me."
Special teams coordinator Doug Semones said the Falcons gave the Rainbows different looks, none of which they had seen on film.
"On the second one, they had a wide alignment, making us expand out, and then they twisted guys up the middle," he said.
Semones said the blocked punts weren't a result of Shrout holding the ball too long, or because he was standing too close to the line of scrimmage. People just weren't being blocked.
"We devote too much practice time to that to be beat like that," Semones said. "They schemed us, showing us something different than what they had done earlier. They're good at what they do, and all it takes is one guy beating one guy."
Shrout still has one of the best punting averages in the nation. But that meant little to him after Saturday's game. The glory of August was long past.
"Every time I looked up there were white jerseys around me," he said.
UH Statistics
Individual statistics
Rushing
Car Yards Avg TD Long Charles Tharp 133 546 4.1 4 55 Calvin Mims 37 184 5.0 1 29 Quincy Jacobs 45 120 2.7 2 15 Avion Weaver 10 18 1.8 0 7 Anthony Diieso 16 10 0.6 0 5 Morrie Roe 9 9 1.0 0 6 Jade Charles 2 6 3.0 0 7 Gary Ellison 1 5 5.0 0 5 Johnny Macon 3 5 1.7 0 7 Lonn Kalama 1 -2 -2.0 0 0 Robert Kemfort 2 -3 -1.5 0 4 Team 1 -7 -7.0 0 -7 Eleu Kane 6 -11 -1.8 0 16 Josh Skinner 49 -33 -0.7 1 13 Tim Carey 41 -115 -2.8 1 18
Att Comp Yards Int TD Dan Robinson 4 2 30 0 0 Tim Carey 112 68 730 5 2 Josh Skinner 151 85 1,035 7 2 Charles Tharp 2 0 0 0 0
Rec Yards Avg TD Long Charles Tharp 31 346 11.2 1 29 Lonn Kalama 28 272 9.7 0 23 Johnny Macon 20 272 13.6 1 24 Gary Ellison 16 245 15.3 2 37 Calvin Mims 16 167 10.4 0 58 Eleu Kane 14 128 9.1 0 17 Wesley Morris 11 206 18.7 0 42 John Kirby 8 99 12.4 0 21 Morrie Roe 2 8 4.0 0 12 Robert Kemfort 2 23 11.5 0 18 Quincy Jacobs 2 8 4.0 0 4 Ryan Battin 2 7 3.5 0 8 Jade Charles 1 10 10.0 0 10 Anthony Diieso 1 5 5.0 0 5
TD 1xp 2xp FG Pts Eric Hannum 0 13 0 10 43 Charles Tharp 5 0 0 0 30 Gary Ellison 2 0 0 0 12 Quincy Jacobs 2 0 0 0 12 Sam Collins 1 0 0 0 6 Calvin Mims 1 0 0 0 6 Josh Skinner 1 0 0 0 6 Chris Shinnick 1 0 0 0 6 Tim Carey 1 0 0 0 6 Johnny Macon 1 0 0 0 6
No. Yards Avg Blk Long Chad Shrout 52 2,433 46.8 4 71 Tim Carey 4 123 30.8 0 37 Josh Skinner 2 44 22.0 0 29 Team 4 21 5.3 0 21
No. Yards Avg TD Long Eddie Klaneski 24 158 6.6 0 32
No. Yards Avg TD Long Eleu Kane 11 283 25.7 0 46 Charles Tharp 8 192 24.0 0 35 Quincy Jacobs 1 19 19.0 0 19 Robert Kemfort 7 111 15.9 0 23 Wesley Morris 1 8 8.0 0 8 Team 1 5 5.0 0 5
No. Yards Avg TD Long Eddie Klaneski 2 0 0.0 0 0 Joaquin Avila 1 8 8.0 0 8 Ron Wood 1 8 8.0 0 8 Brian Chapman 1 4 4.0 0 4 Al Hunter 1 1 1.0 0 1 D Williams 1 0 0.0 0 0 Chris Shinnick 1 0 0.0 0 0
Una Ast Total Loss Sack Eddie Klaneski 59 40 99 1 0 Chris Shinnick 57 41 98 0 1 Doug Rosevold 69 19 88 7 1 Brian Chapman 26 12 38 3 5 K Cobb-Adams 27 6 33 0 6 Matt Paul 21 11 32 0 1 Ron Wood 20 10 30 3 1 Sam Collins 12 15 27 0 1 Kekoa Kilcoyne 19 6 25 0 0 Bob Pigott 18 6 24 2 4 Tony Tuioti 13 11 24 1 0 Ben Bright 15 8 23 1 3 D Williams 15 8 23 0 0 Mark Jenkins 14 9 23 1 0 Al Hunter 18 4 22 0 0 Rinda Brooks 12 9 21 2 1 Ellie Kapihe 13 5 18 3 0 Miles Garner 11 6 17 0 0 Blase Austin 10 7 17 0 0 S Gonzales 10 4 14 4 1 C Bobbitt 11 1 12 0 0 Punahou Aina 7 4 11 2 1 Matt Elam 9 1 10 2 2 Joaquin Avila 5 4 9 0 0 B Santamaria 6 2 8 0 0 Olen Rosehill 4 2 6 0 0 Rufus Ayeni 4 2 6 1 0 R Robinson 6 0 6 0 0 Mark Mollner 1 2 3 0 0 Wesley Morris 3 0 3 0 0 Chad Shrout 2 0 2 0 0 Larry Slade 2 0 2 0 0 Anthony Diieso 2 0 2 0 0 Tim Carey 1 1 2 0 0 Johnny Macon 2 0 2 0 0 Gary Ellison 1 0 1 0 0 Kaulana Noa 1 0 1 0 0 Tyler Tanigawa 1 0 1 0 0 Charles Tharp 1 0 1 0 0 Calvin Mims 1 0 1 0 0 Quincy Jacobs 0 1 1 0 0 Fred Lau 0 1 1 0 0 Gery Graham 0 0 1 0 0Team statistics
UH OPPFirst downs 146 157 Rush 48 79 Pass 85 65 Penalty 13 13Rushing
Attempts 356 364 Net yards 732 1,305 Yards per game 81.3 145.0Passing
Comp-att-inter 155-269-12 126-252-8 Net yards 1,795 1,520 Yards per game 199.4 168.9Total offense
Plays-yards 625-2,527 616-2,825 Yards per game 280.8 313.9 Points scored-average 133-14.8 224-24.9Punts
Number 62 51 Yards 2,621 2,115 Average 42.3 41.5Fumbles
Number-lost 21-9 22-10Penalties
Number-yards 60-507 57-458Sacks made
Number-yards lost 25-147 40-268Conversions
Third down 39-145 52-127WAC Standings
WAC Overall Team W L Pct. PF PA W L Pct. PF PA Colorado State 5 1 .833 221 78 7 2 .778 322 146 Air Force 5 2 .714 187 126 8 2 .800 226 146 Fresno State 4 1 .800 162 98 5 4 .556 272 220 Wyoming 3 2 .600 126 69 6 4 .600 273 166 San Diego St 2 3 .400 86 121 3 6 .333 172 255 San Jose State 2 3 .400 77 167 2 6 .250 111 277 Nevada-LV 2 4 .333 134 170 3 6 .333 210 242 Hawaii 1 6 .143 81 200 3 6 .333 133 224
WAC Overall Team W L Pct. PF PA W L Pct. PF PA New Mexico 4 2 .667 169 116 7 2 .669 288 172 Brigham Young 3 2 .600 84 70 5 3 .625 159 157 Rice 3 2 .600 122 126 5 3 .625 223 222 Southern Meth 3 2 .600 97 79 4 4 .500 159 157 Utah 3 3 .500 148 99 4 5 .444 202 172 Texas-El Paso 2 3 .400 77 125 3 5 .375 111 235 Tulsa 2 3 .400 104 154 2 6 .250 165 284 Texas Christ 0 5 .000 79 157 0 8 .000 115 245
Air Foce 34, Hawaii 27
Tulsa 21, Utah 13
SMU 24, Rice 6
Wyoming 41, San Diego State 17
New Mexico 40, Texas Christian 10
Colorado State 45, Nevada-Las Vegas 19
Fresno State 53, San Jose State 12
Texas-El Paso 14, Brigham Young 3
Army at Air Force, 9 a.m.
Fresno State at Colorado State 9 a.m.
Tulsa at Brigham Young 9 a.m.
Nevada-Las Vegas at Wyoming, 10 a.m.
Texas-El Paso at Southern Methodist 11 a.m.
Texas Christian at Rice 11 a.m.
San Jose State at San Diego State, 4:05 p.m.
Idle: Hawaii, New Mexico, Utah
Sports Notebook
UH Football Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
