Monday, November 12, 2001
[ UH WARRIOR FOOTBALL ]
Warriors in familiar The Hawaii football team has been here before, and it's not fun.
situation
After losing for the first time in
more than a month, Hawaii wants
to put together another win streakASK THE COACH
UH STATISTICSBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comLosing a game in the fourth quarter never is.
On Sept. 29, the Warriors blew a 21-7 halftime lead and lost to Rice 27-24. But UH bounced back from that to win five games in a row.
That streak ended last night, as Boise State ruled the fourth quarter to beat Hawaii 28-21.
This one stung just as bad, if not worse. The Warriors lost their already slim hopes for a bowl game and a share of the Western Athletic Conference championship.
"This is pretty terrible," junior running back Thero Mitchell said. "You know, we were just a couple plays short. Our defense played well and gave us the ball, we just couldn't come up with enough plays at the end. This is a hard loss for us."
Hawaii led 21-20 with time winding down, and had the ball in BSU territory. But a third-and-two halfback option pass by Mike Bass failed, as did Justin Ayat's 52-yard field goal attempt on fourth down. The Broncos took over, drove down the field, and cut out the Warriors' hearts.
Boise only rhymes with poise on paper, but that's exactly what the Broncos showed at the end.
"One of the things about a successful team is they can win in hostile places," BSU coach Dan Hawkins said.
The largest crowd of the year, 40,600, showed up for Hawaii's homecoming despite threatening weather and a non-big-name opponent.
The UH players say they'll be back next week for Miami of Ohio, even if the large crowd isn't.
"Man, this one's going to be stuck in our throats for a while," senior slotback Craig Stutzmann said. "It's not a good feeling. We've just got to regroup and get back on track. We've still got three games left and we've got to play tough."
The defense gave the ball to the offense three times in the second half, with interceptions by Mike Iosua and Kelvin Millhouse, and a fumble forced by Chris Brown and recovered by Hyrum Peters. And Sean Butts batted down a field-goal attempt; the special teams stalwart blocked two kicks and made two more stunning open-field tackles on long Mat McBriar punts.
While the offense took advantage of two of the turnovers to score on a 22-yard pass from Nick Rolovich to Ashley Lelie and a 1-yard TD run by Mitchell, the run-and-shoot just didn't make enough plays. The final offensive play of the game for Hawaii, an incomplete pass from Rolovich to a well-covered (some say too well-covered) Lelie was an example of UH's failures throughout the game -- it was close, but not enough.
"We had our chances, even on the last throw, if we were a little tighter on it," coach June Jones said. "It was something we were hoping we could hit and quite honestly, I thought we hit it."
Whether safety Quintin Mickell hit Lelie before the ball arrived was something Jones chose not to address. He's been warned not to criticize officials.
Jones took lots of heat for the halfback option call, via postgame radio calls and the Internet. But the players haven't lost faith in him.
"I think the play-calling was perfect for the game we were playing," Stutzmann said. "We started off slow and it caught up with us.
"They did what they had to. On the last drive they executed and we didn't."
If anyone has a reason to be upset, it would be a defensive player. But senior defensive end Joe Correia, who has been a part of the ups-and-downs since 1998, believes in the offense-oriented head coach.
"We have the best leader we can have in June Jones," Correia said. "He'll find a way and we'll come back."
The bottom line is the Warriors know this was a game they should have won, like the Rice matchup. That's why anyone who ever competed in anything understands why the loss hurts them so deeply. The biggest question is if they can bounce back like they did after losing to the Owls.
WAC Standings
Saturday
CONFERENCE OVERALL W L PF PA W L PF PA Str La. Tech 6 1 292 216 6 3 356 294 W3 Boise State 5 2 251 178 6 4 329 264 W1 Fresno St. 4 2 229 156 8 2 354 244 W2 Rice 4 2 226 193 7 3 286 281 W1 Hawaii 5 3 277 180 6 3 307 192 L1 San Jose St. 3 3 214 199 3 6 254 324 W1 Nevada 2 4 187 225 2 7 224 339 L1 SMU 2 4 138 216 2 6 155 242 L2 UTEP 1 5 122 251 2 7 187 339 L5 Tulsa 0 6 112 262 1 8 170 344 L8 Fresno State 38, SMU 13
Rice 59, Tulsa 32
San Jose State 64, Nevada 45
Louisiana Tech 53, UTEP 30
Boise State 28, Hawaii 21
Nov. 17
Louisiana Tech at Kansas State
San Jose State at Boise State
SMU at Tulsa
Fresno State at Nevada
UTEP at Rice
Miami (Ohio) at Hawaii, 6:05 p.m.
The day after each Hawaii football game this season the Star-Bulletin asks coach June Jones 10 questions. Here is what Jones had to say after Hawaii's 28-21 loss to Boise State at Aloha Stadium on Saturday. ASK THE COACH
10 questions with University of Hawaii Coach June Jones
There are more games to play
Star-Bulletin: Your team came back well from the tough loss against Rice. Are you confident it can rebound for the final three games?
June Jones: I'm sure we'll bounce back and play hard the last three games. It's a good group of guys.
SB: One of the team goals was to get to a bowl game. That looks like an extremely unlikely possibility now. Do team goals have to be adjusted after this loss?
JJ: The main team goal is to win every week. Everything else is secondary.
SB: Obviously you wanted to win the conference title. But can finishing the conference at 5-3 be considered a success?
JJ: That's relative. We just try to play every game, every snap, without worrying about that kind of thing. But we are looking forward to the BYU game.
SB: You said Boise State might be the best team you played in the conference. Does that bear out after this game?
JJ: Yeah, they're probably as sound as anyone we played. The quarterback is a big difference-maker and the receivers made some big catches in the first half. We helped them out. If they don't return that kickoff for a touchdown, they don't beat us.
SB: Which was bigger for Boise State, field position or time of possession?
JJ: We don't pay much attention to either. It doesn't matter with the offense we run. Here's why time of possession doesn't matter: If they run five running plays and we run five passing plays, which takes up more real time, not game-clock time? The rest time for the defense is exactly the same.
SB: Once again, the offense started slowly. Did Boise State do something defensively that you hadn't seen on tape?
JJ: No, they did exactly what we thought they'd do. It came down to execution, as it usually does.
SB: How much did not having Pisa Tinoisamoa and Travis Laboy on defense hurt?
JJ: I thought we made enough plays on defense. They're a good offensive team and they made some key plays when they had to. The guys who filled in did well.
SB: What factored into the decision for the halfback option pass?
JJ: I said we would run it on third and one or two and that was the situation.
SB: Any regrets about making that call?
JJ: None at all. Anyone who has regrets about it should ask themselves if they regret the call when Chad Kapanui threw an option pass for a touchdown against Fresno.
SB: What kind of team is Miami of Ohio?
JJ: They're big and physical on defense. On offense they're very aggressive and spread you out and throw the ball.
Dave Reardon, Star-Bulletin
[UH STATISTICS]
TEAM STATISTICS
HAWAII OPP FIRST DOWN 209 188 Rushing 56 85 Passing 131 87 Penalty 22 16 RUSHING YARDAGE 761 1,397 Yards gained rushing 1048 1,688 Yards lost rushing 287 291 Rushing attempts 238 388 Average per rush 3.2 3.6 Average per game 84.6 155.2 Touchdowns rushing 12 6 PASSING YARDAGE 3,028 1,972 Att-Comp-Int 416-236-14 309-160-11 Average per pass 7.3 6.4 Average per catch 12.8 12.3 Average per game 336.4 219.1 Touchdowns passing 21 14 TOTAL OFFENSE 3,789 3,369 Total plays 654 697 Average per play 5.8 4.8 Average per game 421.0 374.3 KICKRETURNS: No-Yds 21-547 43-923 PUNTRETURNS: No-Yds 28-297 16-118 INT. RETURNS: No-Yds 11-258 14-406 FUMBLES-LOST 16-5 22-13 PENALTIES-YARDS 70-589 78-653 PUNTS-AVG 36-37.6 54-29.5 TIME OFPOSSESSION/GAME 28:12 31:48 3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS 44/123 58/152 4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS 5/13 7/12
Rushing
G Att Net Avg TD Long Bass 9 89 483 5.1 2 34 Mitchell 9 53 258 4.5 8 23 Owens 7 3 51 17.0 1 33 Stutzmann 9 5 26 5.2 0 11 Misipeka 2 2 11 5.5 0 8 Herbert 5 1 7 7.0 0 7 Withy-Allen 2 2 7 3.5 0 4 Ala 5 5 6 1.2 0 6 Kauka 9 3 5 1.7 0 5 Galeai 2 3 5 1.7 0 5 Harris 9 1 0 0.0 0 0 Team 7 2 -3 -1.5 0 0 Kapanui 6 1 -4 -4.0 0 -4 McBriar 9 1 -9 -9.0 0 -9 Flint 7 7 -18 -2.6 0 3 Rolovich 7 39 -21 -0.5 0 18 Chang 3 9 -51 -5.7 0 0 Total 9 388 1397 3.6 12 34
Passing
G Att Comp Int Yds TD Long Rolovich 7 254 144 7 1,813 14 49 Chang 3 140 83 6 1,100 6 52 Flint 7 20 8 1 112 0 45 Kapanui 6 1 1 0 3 1 3 Bass 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 Total 9 416 236 14 3,028 21 52
Receiving
G Rec Yds Avg TD Long Lelie 9 61 955 15.7 11 49 Harris 9 42 500 11.9 2 35 Colbert 9 41 582 14.2 2 52 Stutzmann 9 40 482 12.1 2 30 Bass 9 25 183 7.3 1 27 Mitchell 9 11 100 9.1 0 22 Uso 5 8 119 14.9 2 45 Owens 7 4 41 10.2 1 17 Gossett 5 2 56 28.0 0 45 Welch 3 1 9 9.0 0 9 Rolovich 7 1 1 1.0 0 1 Total 9 236 3,028 12.8 21 52
Total Offense
G Plays Rush Pass Tot Avg Rolovich 7 293 -21 1,813 1,792 256.0 Chang 3 149 -51 1,100 1,049 349.7 Bass 9 97 502 0 502 55.8 Mitchell 9 57 252 0 252 28.0 Flint 7 27 -18 112 94 13.4 Owens 7 3 51 0 51 7.3 Stutzmann 9 5 26 0 26 2.9 Misipeka 2 2 11 0 11 5.5 Withy-Allen 2 2 7 0 7 3.5 Herbert 5 1 7 0 7 1.4 Ala 5 5 6 0 6 1.2 Galeai 2 3 5 0 5 2.5 Kauka 9 3 5 0 5 0.6 Kapanui 6 2 -4 3 -1 -0.2 Team 8 3 -8 0 -8 -1.0 McBriar 9 1 -9 0 -9 -1.0 Total 9 654 761 3,028 3,789 421.0
Scoring
TD FG 1XP 2XP Tot Ayat 0 16-25 33-34 0 81 Lelie 11 0-0 0-0 0 66 Mitchell 9 0-0 0-0 1 56 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 Stutzmann 2 0-0 0-0 0 12 Colbert 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 Wright 1 0-0 0-0 0 6 Total 37 16-25 33-34 1 307
Punting
No. Yds Avg Long McBriar 35 1,473 42.1 69 Team 1 0 0.0 0 Total 36 1,473 40.9 69
Punt Returns
No. Yds Avg TD Long Herbert 12 106 8.8 0 28 Owens 11 118 10.7 0 59 Jackson 3 16 5.3 0 8 Grant 2 19 9.5 0 0 Bhonapha 0 38 0.0 1 38 Total 28 297 10.6 1 59
Kick Returns
No. Yds Avg TD Long Tate 8 239 29.9 0 80 Owens 6 174 29.0 0 65 Colbert 3 86 28.7 0 40 Mitchell 2 33 16.5 0 17 Kauka 2 15 7.5 0 12 Total 21 547 26.0 0 80
Interceptions
No. Yds Avg Td Long Millhouse 4 43 10.8 1 39 Grant 2 53 26.5 1 27 Mike Iosua 1 15 15.0 0 15 Correa 1 46 46.0 0 46 Wright 1 90 90.0 1 90 Elimimian 1 11 11.0 0 11 Espiau 1 0 0.0 0 0 Total 11 258 23.5 3 90
Tackles
G UT AT Tot Brown 9 56 30 86 Tinoisamoa 8 61 15 76 Espiau 9 51 18 69 N.Jackson 9 41 19 60 Laboy 7 30 18 48 Peters 7 40 6 46 Grant 9 24 20 44 Wright 8 25 17 42 Correa 9 26 12 38 Samuseva 9 21 12 33 Iosua 8 17 14 31 Alapa 7 17 13 30 Millhouse 9 18 11 29 Correia 8 15 12 27 Hoohuli 9 14 8 22 Elimimian 8 15 4 19 Butts 9 16 3 19 H. Ala 9 15 4 19 K. Jackson 9 11 6 17 Clowers 9 5 6 11 Bhonapha 7 5 3 8 Morgan 7 5 2 7 Kapanui 6 6 0 6 Hunter 8 4 2 6 Liana 6 4 2 6 Cravalho 7 4 1 5 Riccardi 6 4 0 4 Williams 7 1 3 4 Tafuna 4 1 2 3 Mitchell 9 3 0 3 Ayat 9 3 0 3 Wills 2 3 0 3 Kauka 9 2 0 2 Manuma 2 2 0 2 Harley 1 2 0 2 Stutzmann 9 2 0 2 Noa 6 1 1 2 Fuata 7 1 0 1 P.L. Harley 2 1 0 1 Wright 5 1 0 1 Faaliliu 6 1 0 1 T. Ala 5 1 0 1 Withy-Allen 2 1 0 1 Misipeka 2 0 1 1 Berryman 2 1 0 1 Moenoa 7 1 0 1 Harris 9 1 0 1 Rolovich 7 1 0 1 Chang 3 1 0 1 Lelie 9 1 0 1 Andrews 3 0 0 0 Total 9 582 265 847
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii