Sunday, October 28, 2001
Warriors’ big upset It began as a 'Dog day afternoon. But, in the end, Warriors owned the night.
started in the trenches
Hawaii grounds Paris Gaines
and Fresno's other runners,
giving up only 68 yardsBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comThe Hawaii football team once again displayed its resiliency Friday, starting slowly in the afternoon heat but coming back from a 14-point second-half deficit to beat No. 18 Fresno State 38-34 at Aloha Stadium.
The nationally televised game was Hawaii's fourth consecutive Western Athletic Conference win, a feat UH (5-2, 4-2 WAC) last accomplished in 1985.
The Warriors were forced to move the game from Saturday night to Friday afternoon because of the WAC's contract with ESPN. Hawaii might have lost a full house, but the 35,074 in attendance were loud enough.
"National TV in front of a rocking crowd," junior linebacker Chris Brown said. "That's the loudest I've heard. And they helped us out."
Hawaii coach June Jones chooses to savor the victory rather than ponder its far-ranging implications. But he did say it was a big one for the program and the state, as it was two years ago.
Beating FSU in double-overtime in 1999 was the key to a magical season, one that culminated in a 9-4 record and bowl game victory. This one could be as pivotal, if Hawaii wins its remaining conference games (at home against San Jose State and Boise State) -- and several other things out of UH's hands come about.
The first one came through yesterday.
Louisiana Tech's 41-38 overtime victory over Rice opened the WAC race even wider. No undefeateds remain, and seven teams with one or two losses still have at least a glimmer of hope for at least a share of the league championship.
Boise State, Louisiana Tech and Rice have one loss each. Hawaii, Fresno State, Southern Methodist and San Jose State have all lost twice.
Louisiana Tech's win was huge for UH, since Rice beat Hawaii and would have the advantage in a tie-breaker situation.
The Warriors still need at least one more Rice loss, as well as another for Louisiana Tech, which UH doesn't play this season.
In a truly ironic twist, that means Hawaii fans become Fresno State fans this week, as FSU hosts Rice.
Warrior fans will also want Boise State to beat Louisiana Tech on Saturday, since Hawaii has an opportunity to beat the Broncos, but not Tech.
Of course, it is all moot if Hawaii doesn't win out. As crazy as it sounds, this week's opponent, 2-5 San Jose State, even has a mathematical shot at a share of the WAC title; it is 2-2 in the conference.
The Warriors need to take the Spartans seriously. San Jose State isn't as good as the team that beat Hawaii 57-48 last year, but yesterday's 63-27 victory over Tulsa indicates the Spartans are still explosive.
UH has done a good job of focusing on the opponents at hand, and the defense has improved each week.
Hawaii's victory Friday will be remembered for all the big plays late in the game. But forget -- just for a moment -- the heroics of Nick Rolovich, Ashley Lelie and Nate Jackson. What made them possible was football at its very simplest: stopping the opposing team from running the ball effectively.
It is true Fresno State amassed 400 yards passing, but keep in mind the Bulldogs are led by David Carr, one of the best quarterbacks in the nation.
The Warriors consistently stonewalled the Bulldogs on first-down running plays. Paris Gaines, who rushed for 130 yards against UH in 1999, didn't live up to his name this time. FSU rushed for 68 yards total. Gaines carried 19 times for 46 yards.
"We knew from the beginning that they've got that big back and they were going to try to pound on us," Brown said. "It was our goal nothing comes through the holes. I think we did a good job."
Obviously, so did Lelie, who finished with three touchdown catches, including the 14-yard game-winner from Rolovich with 13 seconds left.
The leaping grab in the corner of the end zone also gave Lelie the school record for career touchdown receptions with 23, passing Chris Roscoe.
Lelie started out slowly, with no first-quarter catches, as Fresno State paid him special attention. But, as has been the case in other games this season, UH went to other offensive weapons and the defense gradually seemed to forget about Lelie. That is when he is most dangerous.
Drawing single-coverage late in the game, Lelie finished with nine catches for 122 yards, using his speed and jumping ability to his advantage.
As everyone on this team seems to do, Lelie deflected the credit.
"The coaches found the seams. They found out what they were doing. We adjusted our game plan and made plays," Lelie said.
The junior from Radford High School is closing in on Walter Murray's career marks for receptions and yards receiving. He has 165 catches to 178 for Murray, and 2,449 yards to 2,865 for the former Rainbow star.
Another key for UH was winning the turnover battle again.
When Rolovich was intercepted on consecutive passes in the third quarter, it ended a string of eight quarters without a turnover for UH.
But Jackson (fumble recovery, forced fumble) and Laanui Correa (interception, fumble recovery) made UH a plus-one for this game.
More importantly, the turnovers and run defense gave the offense and Rolovich the opportunities they needed.
Of course, 118 yards of Fresno State penalties helped UH, too.
"I'm very upset with our effort tonight," Bulldogs coach Pat Hill said. "Don't take anything away from Hawaii. They did a lot of things to win the game. But we made too many dumb mistakes."
10 questions with Hawaii Coach June Jones
The day after each Hawaii football game the Star-Bulletin will ask coach June Jones 10 questions. Here is what Jones had to say after Hawaii's 38-34 victory over Fresno State. Big win in bag, but
Jones wants 5 moreStar-Bulletin: What does this win mean, not only for the season, but for the future of the program, especially considering it was on national TV?
June Jones: It's only one game. If we don't take care of business the rest of the way it means nothing. But it's a positive that a lot of people got to see what we're about.
SB: Can you compare this with the 1999 victory over Fresno State? Is this the same kind of UH team as that year?
JJ: Both wins were very big for the school. This one is probably bigger for the state because we're all going through some rough things right now. Everybody's proud of what happened and what the kids did. I know it makes me feel good. When I came here, I knew this team is not just the school's team, but the whole state's team. I think it will give everybody a pick-up, at least for 48 hours.
SB: Should anyone be surprised that Nate Jackson played and made a big impact?
JJ: I wasn't surprised. I knew he would play. We didn't start him because he missed practice. But when the game starts the pain goes away. He played with a broken foot all last year.
SB: How helpful was the loud, sizable home crowd?
JJ: The fans were definitely a factor in the game. They affected their snap count, created a lot of penalties.
SB: The game seemed to take a pretty big injury toll; Nick Rolovich's shoulder, Tafiti Uso's shoulder, Abraham Elimimian's ankle, Robert Grant's hamstring and Gary Wright's concussion. Does it look like anyone's going to be out longterm?
JJ: We're not going to worry about that until Thursday. Every week everyone's hurting. We'll see who is available. Tafiti may be the only one out. We'll see how Abe is.
SB: Do the guys get a couple of days off now?
JJ: Yes, Saturday and Sunday off, back to the normal schedule Monday.
SB: Is it safe to say now that Nick Rolovich is your starting quarterback?
JJ: Yeah, he'll play.
SB: Are you doing any WAC scoreboard watching?
JJ: The only thing we can care about is our next game.
SB: What do you look for against San Jose State?
JJ: I know they score a lot of points and it will be a tough game.
SB: Any pick to win the World Series?
JJ: I was rooting for Atlanta until they dropped out, my interest fell off after that. I've gone to Braves games since 1977. That's the team I've followed because I was with the Falcons.
Dave Reardon, Star-Bulletin
[UH statistics]
TEAM STATISTICS
HAWAII OPP FIRST DOWN 170 143 Rushing 44 66 Passing 108 63 Penalty 18 14 RUSHING YARDAGE 596 1,086 Yards gained rushing 844 1,282 Yards lost rushing 248 196 Rushing attempts 198 299 Average per rush 3.0 3.6 Average per game 85.1 155.1 Touchdowns rushing 9 3 PASSING YARDAGE 2,452 1,510 Att-Comp-Int 332-194-12 230-118-6 Average per pass 7.4 6.6 Average per catch 12.6 12.8 Average per game 350.3 215.7 Touchdowns passing 18 13 TOTAL OFFENSE 3,048 2,596 Total plays 530 529 Average per play 5.8 4.9 Average per game 435.4 370.9 KICKRETURNS: No-Yds 18-476 33-637 PUNTRETURNS: No-Yds 22-201 12-112 INT. RETURNS: No-Yds 6-239 12-333 FUMBLES-LOST 11-2 19-12 PENALTIES-YARDS 59-499 59-505 PUNTS-AVG 30-39.3 43-36.0 TIME OFPOSSESSION/GAME 29:39 30:21 3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS 36/97 44/116 4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS 4/11 3/8
Rushing
G Att Net Avg TD Long Bass 7 85 446 5.2 2 34 Mitchell 7 49 189 3.9 6 23 Owens 5 3 51 17.0 1 33 Stutzmann 7 4 23 5.8 0 11 Withy-Allen 2 2 7 3.5 0 4 Herbert 5 1 7 7.0 0 7 Ala 3 4 7 1.8 0 6 Kauka 7 1 0 0.0 0 0 Harris 7 1 0 0.0 0 0 Team 7 2 -3 -1.5 0 0 Kapanui 4 1 -4 -4.0 0 -4 McBriar 7 1 -9 -9.0 0 -9 Flint 5 7 -18 -2.6 0 3 Rolovich 5 28 -49 -1.8 0 18 Chang 3 9 -51 -5.7 0 0 Total 7 198 596 3.0 9 34
Passing
G Att Comp Int Yds TD Long Rolovich 5 174 103 5 1,248 11 45 Chang 3 140 83 6 1,100 6 52 Flint 5 17 7 1 101 0 45 Kapanui 4 1 1 0 3 1 3 Total 7 332 194 12 2,452 18 52
Receiving
G Rec Yds Avg TD Long Lelie 7 55 821 14.9 10 49 Stutzmann 7 33 404 12.2 1 30 Colbert 7 32 437 13.7 1 52 Harris 7 26 306 11.8 2 30 Bass 7 23 180 7.8 1 27 Mitchell 7 10 89 8.9 0 22 Uso 5 8 119 14.9 2 45 Owens 5 4 41 10.2 1 17 Gossett 3 1 45 45.0 0 45 Welch 2 1 9 9.0 0 9 Rolovich 5 1 1 1.0 0 1 Total 7 194 2,452 12.6 18 52
Total Offense
G Plays Rush Pass Tot Avg Rolovich 5 202 -49 1,248 1,199 239.8 Chang 3 149 -51 1,100 1,049 349.7 Bass 7 85 446 0 446 63.7 Mitchell 2 49 189 0 189 27.0 Flint 5 24 -18 101 83 16.6 Total 7 530 596 2,452 3,048 435.4
Scoring
TD FG 1XP 2XP Tot Ayat 0 11-17 29-30 0 62 Lelie 10 0-0 0-0 0 60 Mitchell 6 0-0 0-0 2 38 Bass 3 0-0 0-0 0 18 Harris 2 0-0 0-0 0 12 Uso 2 0-0 0-0 0 12 Owens 2 0-0 0-0 0 12 Millhouse 1 0-0 0-0 0 6 Bhonapha 1 0-0 0-0 0 6 Grant 1 0-0 0-0 0 6 Colbert 1 0-0 0-0 0 6 Stutzmann 1 0-0 0-0 0 6 Wright 1 0-0 0-0 0 6 Total 31 11-17 29-30 2 252
Punting
No. Yds Avg Long McBriar 30 1,178 39.3 69 Total 30 1,178 39.3 69
Punt Returns
No. Yds Avg TD Long Herbert 12 106 8.8 0 28 Owens 6 30 5.0 0 10 Grant 2 19 9.5 0 0 Jackson 2 8 4.0 0 7 Bhonapha 0 38 0.0 1 38 Total 22 201 9.1 1 22
Kick Returns
No. Yds Avg TD Long Tate 8 239 29.9 0 80 Colbert 3 86 28.7 0 40 Owens 3 103 34.3 0 65 Kauka 2 15 7.5 0 12 Mitchell 2 33 16.5 0 17 Total 18 476 26.4 0 80
Interceptions
No. Yds Avg Td Long Grant 2 53 26.5 1 27 Correa 1 46 46.0 0 46 Wright 1 90 90.0 1 90 Elimimian 1 11 11.0 0 11 Millhouse 1 39 39.0 1 39 Total 6 239 39.8 3 90
TACKLES
G UT AT Tot Tinoisamoa 7 60 13 73 Brown 7 45 17 62 Espiau 7 36 13 49 N.Jackson 7 27 11 38 Laboy 6 21 16 37 Peters 5 31 5 36 Grant 7 22 13 35 Correa 7 17 7 24 Samuseva 7 15 8 23 Wright 6 18 5 23 Iosua 6 12 10 22 Elimimian 7 16 3 19 Millhouse 7 13 4 17 Hoohuli 7 11 6 17 H. Ala 7 14 2 16 Butts 7 12 3 15 K. Jackson 7 10 4 14 Alapa 5 6 6 12 Correia 6 7 5 12 Clowers 7 5 4 9 Bhonapha 5 4 3 7 Liana 5 4 2 6 Morgan 5 3 2 5 Cravalho 5 4 0 4 Riccardi 4 4 0 4 Hunter 6 3 1 4 Williams 5 1 3 4 Ayat 7 3 0 3 Mitchell 7 3 0 3 Wills 2 3 0 3 Tafuna 3 1 2 3 Kapanui 4 3 0 3 Harley 1 2 0 2 Manuma 2 2 0 2 Noa 4 1 1 2 Stutzmann 7 2 0 2 Chang 3 1 0 1 Berryman 2 1 0 1 Faaliliu 5 1 0 1 Withy-Allen 2 1 0 1 Kauka 7 1 0 1 Moenoa 7 1 0 1 Fuata 7 1 0 1 Harris 7 1 0 1 Lelie 7 1 0 1
WAC Standings
WAC All games W L % W L % Boise State 4 1 .800 5 3 .625 La. Tech 4 1 .800 4 3 .571 Rice 3 1 .750 6 2 .750 Hawaii 4 2 .667 5 2 .714 Fresno State 2 2 .500 6 2 .750 SMU 2 2 .500 2 4 .333 San Jose St. 2 2 .500 2 5 .286 Nevada 1 3 .250 1 6 .143 UTEP 1 4 .200 2 6 .250 Tulsa 0 5 .000 1 6 .143 Friday
Hawaii 38, Fresno State 34
Yesterday
Boise St. 49, Nevada 7
Louisiana Tech 41, Rice 38 (OT)
Southern Methodist 40, Texas-El Paso 14
San Jose State 63, Tulsa 27Remaining conference games for teams with chance at championship:
Boise State: At Louisiana Tech, at Hawaii, San Jose State
Fresno State: Rice, at SMU, at Nevada, San Jose State
Hawaii: San Jose State, Boise State
Louisiana Tech: Boise State, at UTEP, at Tulsa
Rice: At Fresno State, Tulsa, UTEP, at SMU
San Jose State: At Hawaii, Nevada, at Boise State, at Fresno State
Southern Methodist: At Nevada, Fresno State, at Tulsa, Rice
UH Athletics
