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Monday, October 2, 2000
H-Men ‘grew up’ It's tough to have a smooth transition when you exceed your own expectations.
in second half
Chang gives fans a look
at a positive future by
igniting comeback bidBy Paul Arnett
Star-BulletinUniversity of Hawaii fans would have better understood an 0-3 start last year, just as long as some improvement over the previous 0-12 campaign was made by season's end. That's the downside of changing water into wine on the first try. People want to lift their glasses high again and again, toasting the miracle-worker every step of the way.
Even head coach June Jones just shook his head in wonder at the way everything fell into place in the championship season of 1999. Later, he would say, he'd rather go 9-4 and be a part of the greatest turnaround in NCAA history than finish 4-8, any day. Who wouldn't?
But if you're going to be a showstopper the first time on stage, you'd best save something for the encore. Livin' La Vida Loca does not a career make. Instead of reminding everyone that recruiting classes two and three of the Fred vonAppen era weren't as deep as the first one, Jones decided to accentuate the positive of producing one of the strongest recruiting efforts locally in recent memory.
Freshman quarterback Timmy Chang gave fans a glimpse of the bright tomorrow for the Warriors, but in the present day, Hawaii's one step forward, may lead to two steps back. Call it a correction in the NASDAQ.Whether the fans will accept this start-and-stutter approach, depends on the growth of the team over the next nine games. Right now, the Warriors aren't very disciplined, which often means they don't get the benefit of the doubt.
As a result, Kynan Forney gets called for a personal foul, but Tulsa quarterback Josh Blankenship isn't flagged for delay of game. There's another one of those 14-point swings that seem to follow the Warriors around.
Special teams is another cause for concern. Return man Jamal Garland, who is trying hard to give Hawaii the kind of field position assistant Dennis McKnight would be proud of, is actually burying the Warriors in the shadow of their own goal line by repeatedly taking the ball too deep from the end zone. When does this stop?
Penalties on special teams are also beginning to crop up, as well as game-changing runbacks. Late hits and illegal blocks are exceeding excessive celebration penalties. And that's saying something.There have been too many false starts, dropped passes, interceptions and fumbles. They are keeping the run-and-shoot from realizing its potential. The mistakes also took away from the comeback mounted by Chang.
Jones said his team grew up in the second half. Instead of playing flat, the defense ignited the fuse with two big stands in the third quarter.
For the first time this season, the offense took the cue and scored two touchdowns to put the Warriors right back in it. Most of the fans believed Chang would not go gently into that good night. And they were right, even if the rally failed.
Now, comes the biggest challenge of Chang's young life. Hawaii travels to play No. 14. Texas Christian this weekend.
TCUdefensive end Aaron Schobel is a force to be reckoned with as the University of Nevada will attest. In TCU's first WAC game, the senior lineman led the Horned Frogs on a 15-sack attack.
Chang relied on many short routes to move the ball against Tulsa. As an example, running back Avion Weaver led the Warriors in receptions with nine.
As solid as Gerald Welch's numbers were -- the freshman slotback had eight catches for 75 yards -- it was the fumble that led to a Tulsa touchdown that he will remember the most.
The same goes for Chang. He was more upset with the two interceptions he threw late in the game than he was excited about his first NCAA touchdown pass to Justin Colbert.
The defense must do its part by giving the freshman the short field like it did in the final 30 minutes.
"Right now, we aren't good enough to overcome the mistakes we keep making," Jones said. "We did some positive things, particularly in the second half. We have to build on that. We played better, but not well enough to win. Until we eliminate our mistakes, we're going to struggle on the field."
Things could get worse in a hurry for the University of Hawaii this weekend at No. 16-ranked Texas Christian. Jones: TCU an
outstanding teamBy Paul Arnett
Star-BulletinThe Horned Frogs are not only the marquee program in the Western Athletic Conference, they are on a mission to be an at-large team in this year's Bowl Championship Series.
In order to be considered for such a huge bowl payoff, TCU must run the table and do it in such resounding fashion, it may require head coach Dennis Franchione to run up the score against teams deemed not worthy.
These days, the 0-3 Warriors fall into that category. Not only would it not do for TCU to lose this weekend in a regionally broadcast game on the Fox Network, the Horned Frogs can't have a close call, either.
This will be TCU's second conference game of the season. The Frogs are 4-0 overall, having already pummeled the University of Nevada on the road.
UH head coach June Jones looked forward to this meeting over the summer. He figured both the Warriors and TCU would be unbeaten. Right on one count.
For Hawaii, stopping Heisman Trophy candidate LaDainian Tomlinson on offense and controlling all-everything end Aaron Schobel on defense will be two keys to keeping things close.
"Tomlinson is one of the best running backs in the country," UH defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said of TCU's all-time leading rusher. "It doesn't get any easier for us."
UH freshman Timmy Chang solidified his starting job at quarterback in the loss to Tulsa, but he will be faced with an even bigger challenge this weekend against the best defense in the league.
"TCU is an outstanding team," Jones said. "They are a quality opponent in every phase of the game. We'll have to play our best to stay in there with them."
Forget about June Jones for governor. Timmy Chang might be the most popular guy in the state right now. Chang attracts
majority ‘vote’By Dave Reardon
Star-BulletinEven if he isn't, the freshman who is barely old enough to vote is definitely the people's choice for Hawaii quarterback after his starting debut Saturday, despite a 24-14 loss to Tulsa.
Chang even sounds a bit like someone running for office.
"I can hear the whole state behind my back. That's the reason why I stayed home," he said afterward of the fan support at Aloha Stadium. "Coach Jones gave me the opportunity to be here and be with this fine state and these fine people."
The most popular leaders are the ones who get in and do the dirty work once in awhile.
Chang showed his willingness when he de-cleated unaware Tulsa nose guard Sam Rayburn in the first quarter.
It didn't save the game, and it didn't sway momentum right away. It didn't even have much impact on the play of which it was part.
But his teammates noticed, and it's the kind of thing that can make an intangible, but strong, impact.
"Stuff like that really gets a team going, makes us want to go out and play harder for him," UH junior offensive lineman Manly Kanoa said. "Timmy's a competitor. We knew if we gave him some time he'd go out and win the game for us. But a couple things went wrong and we shot ourselves in the foot again."
Chang completed 31-of-48 passes for 313 yards, including a 29-yard scoring pass to Justin Colbert.
But he also threw two interceptions.
"You can throw for eight touchdowns, or eight interceptions," he said. "None of it matters if you don't win the game," Chang said.
Not that he was totally down afterward. He knows there are better days ahead, even if that doesn't include Saturday's game at powerful TCU.
"We'll go back to the drawing board and see what we can do better," Chang said.
It's obvious now that the Warriors are going through a rebuilding phase. Several freshmen in addition to Chang saw significant playing time last night -- slotback Gerald Welch, defensive lineman Houston Ala and defensive back Hyrum Peters.
"We're learning and we're growing with those guys, but I said that the young kids would be playing if they're good enough to help us win, and the ones that are are playing," Jones said. "Obviously, every game they play, they're going to play a little better, get a little older."
Welch, Chang's high school classmate at St. Louis, replaced injured Craig Stutzmann and caught eight passes for 75 yards in his debut. But he also had three drops and a fumble.
"I lost concentration. I've got to go out there and practice, play the whole 60 minutes and I lost concentration," Welch said. "I just want to go back to practice and get better so I don't make mistakes again."
Conference standings
Overall Conference W L T PCT. W L T PCT. PF PA Texas-El Paso 3 2 0 .600 2 0 0 1.000 76 27 Tulsa 3 2 0 .600 2 0 0 1.000 47 30 Texas Christian 4 0 0 1.000 1 0 0 1.000 41 10 San Jose St. 3 2 0 .600 1 0 0 1.000 29 16 Fresno St. 1 2 0 .333 0 0 0 .000 0 0 Nevada 1 3 0 .250 0 1 0 .000 10 41 Southern Methodist 1 4 0 .200 0 1 0 .000 20 37 Rice 1 4 0 .200 0 2 0 .000 32 52 Hawaii 0 3 0 .000 0 2 0 .000 21 63 Last week's results
Tulsa 24, Hawaii 14
TCU 24, Navy 0
San Jose St. 29, Rice 16
Colorado St. 45, Nevada 14
Houston 17, SMU 15
UTEP 41, New Mexico St. 31Coming up Thursday
Fresno St. at Rice
Coming up Saturday
Hawaii at TCU
UTEP at Tulsa
San Jose St. at SMU
Nevada at UNLV
Season statistics
TEAM
Hawaii Opp FIRST DOWNS 58 55 Rushing 12 24 Passing 43 24 Penalty 3 7 RUSHING YARDAGE 137 434 Yards gained rushing 247 487 Yards lost rushing 110 53 Rushing Attempts 63 136 Average Per Rush 2.2 3.2 Average Per Game 45.7 144.7 TD’s Rushing 1 4 PASSING YARDAGE 891 645 Att-Comp-Int 155-74-6 83-46-2 Average Per Pass 5.7 7.8 Average Per Catch 12.0 14.0 Average Per Game 297.0 215.0 TDs Passing 3 6 TOTAL OFFENSE 1028 1079 Total Plays 218 219 Average Per Play 4.7 4.9 Average Per Game 342.7 359.7 KICK RETURNS No.-Yards 16-301 6-93 PUNT RETURNS No.-Yards 6-45 9-88 INT RETURNS No.-Yards 2-6 6-86 FUMBLES-LOST 9-4 7-4 PENALTIES-YARDS 39-287 20-173 PUNTS-AVG 19-36.6 13-41.7 TIME OF POSS. 26:19 33:41 3RD DOWN CONV. 16/49 25/54 4TH DOWN CONV. 3/10 1/3
INDIVIDUAL
RUSHING Att. Yds. TD Long Weaver 26 105 1 15 Thompson 21 90 0 18 Rolovich 6 14 0 18 Tinoisamoa 1 0 0 0 Stutzmann 1 -2 0 0 Berryman 1 -11 0 0 Harris 1 -11 0 0 Chang 5 -22 0 0 Liana 1 -26 0 0 PASSING Att. Comp. Int. Yds. TD Rolovich 85 34 2 448 2 Chang 70 40 4 413 1 RECEIVING No. Yds. TD Long Lelie 17 210 2 25 Colbert 15 234 1 74 Weaver 13 122 0 14 Harris 12 133 0 26 Stutzmann 8 100 0 31 Welch 8 75 0 14 Thompson 1 17 0 17 PUNTING No. Yds. Avg. Long Berryman 14 528 37.7 65 McBriar 5 168 33.6 38 TACKLES UT AT TT Brooks 22 9 31 Espiau 20 10 30 Smith 12 8 20 Armstrong 14 4 18 Kemfort 7 10 17 Iosua 8 8 16 Tucker 15 0 15 Miller 7 3 10 Garner 6 4 10 Brown 8 1 9 Correa 6 3 9 Jackson 5 2 7 Sims 6 1 7 Fuga 5 2 7 Ala 5 1 6 Tinoisamoa 3 1 4 Alapa 3 1 4 Fenderson 3 0 3 Correia 1 2 3 Gilmore 1 1 2 Avila 2 0 2 Dietschy 2 0 2 Peters 1 1 2 Williams 1 0 1 Riccardi 1 0 1 Welch 1 0 1 Grant 1 0 1 Thompson 1 0 1 Samuseva 1 0 1 Berryman 1 0 1 Clowers 0 1 1
2000 UH Football Special
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