[ UH FOOTBALL ]
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's West Keliikipi dove over Fresno's Todd Garcia for a second-quarter touchdown Saturday night during the Warriors' 55-28 victory over the Bulldogs at Aloha Stadium.
Fuga stays
grounded
after winUH's veteran defensive tackle
says the Warriors need
to remain hungry
Amid the euphoric chaos of Hawaii's winning locker room at Aloha Stadium on Saturday night, one resident of the corner belonging to the defensive tackles was less than ecstatic.
Yes, a 55-28 romp over rival Fresno State is reason to celebrate. But not for long, according to Lui Fuga, one of the Warriors' most wizened veterans.
According to the UH media guide, Fuga is a fifth-year junior who's been out of Waipahu High School since 1998 (he's trying to get another year of eligibility because of an ankle injury that cost him all of last season). At any rate, Fuga's been around long enough to know that without due diligence, Mr. Hyde (the Warriors team that lost 27-16 at Tulsa the week before) can reappear faster than the 10 hours it takes to get from here to Ruston, La., where the Warriors play Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
Where they stand
Hawaii's rankings in several D I-A categoriesIndividual total offense
Team total offense
Yds Avg Ypg 3. Chang 1,650 5.5 330.0
Team passing offense
Plays Yds Ypg 14. UH 478 2,765 460.8
Att Cmp Yds Ypg 2. UH 341 205 2,171 361.8
"It was an OK job, but we need to step it up more," said Fuga, who had one of Hawaii's season-high five sacks and recovered a fumble. "We gotta stay hungry. We gotta want more."
The rest of the players smiled and joked and atta-boyed. They talked about playing their first complete game of the season, about winning all three phases, about how they can't be beat if they continue to play this well.
Fuga, eye-black glistening, still wore his game face half an hour after it was over.
"I'm disappointed. We gave up 14 unanswered points," he said. "They shouldn't have scored. That's all on us."
Before you say, "Lighten up, Lui," remember that guys like him are important to have around -- and not just because he can plug the middle and make some big plays while Isaac Sopoaga is on the mend. It's the old thing about not getting too high after a victory -- especially when you still need five or six more to meet your goals. Those decrying the Warriors' perceived lack of leadership should be glad he's around.
Here's why Fuga won't stop to smell the roses: While Fresno State was considered a must-win game, all it did was give Hawaii (3-3, 2-1 Western Athletic Conference) the opportunity to play several more must-win games. The late-season clashes with Boise State and Nevada, both 2-0 in the WAC, won't even matter if the Warriors can't get past Louisiana Tech, Texas-El Paso and San Jose State first.
If they do, then they can look back at Fresno State as the turning point.
"Every game is the same. They're all must-wins."
That's what coach June Jones said last week. And it's what he'll say again this week.
The Warriors finally came together as a team -- and just in time -- Saturday against Fresno State. Now the challenge is keeping it together for seven more games.
"We've got to prove that we can win on the road," said Jones, whose team is 0-3 away from Aloha Stadium this year. "We've got three chances left to do it."
No hard feelings: If Fresno State coach Pat Hill has any say, UH's scoring on a 43-yard fake punt pass from Chad Kapanui to David Gilmore with 4:28 left in the game and a 20-point lead won't be added to the lore of perceived disrespect between the two teams.
"That's football. (Jones) knows we were going for the block. I think that's a great play by them. That's a good call when you've got all-out pressure (for a block)," Hill said. "They took a knee down there (at the Fresno State 1 on the last play). They could've scored 60 points if they rammed that one in."
Short yardage: UH won the turnover battle (3-1) for the second time in six games. ... Hawaii has beaten Fresno State three consecutive times. ... UH has won its last six WAC home games and nine of the last 10. The last time it lost a conference game at home was Nov. 10, 2001, when Boise State beat UH 28-21. ... Hawaii quarterback Tim Chang became the 25th player in NCAA history to pass for at least 10,000 career yards. He went without an interception for the fourth time in his 32-game career. With five touchdown passes, Chang improved his career TD to INT ratio to 61-53.
Hawaii Statistics
TEAM STATISTICS
HAWAII OPP FIRST DOWN 145 109 Rushing 33 51 Passing 99 49 Penalty 13 9 RUSHING YARDAGE 594 1013 Yards gained rushing 768 1187 Yards lost rushing 174 174 Rushing attempts 137 238 Average per rush 4.3 4.3 Average per game 99.0 168.8 Touchdowns rushing 8 11 PASSING YARDAGE 2171 1127 Att-Comp-Int 341-205-10 165-91-5 Average per pass 6.4 6.8 Average per catch 10.6 12.4 Average per game 361.8 187.8 Touchdowns passing 17 8 TOTAL OFFENSE 2765 2140 Total plays 478 403 Average per play 5.8 5.3 Average per game 460.8 356.7 KICKRETURNS: No-Yds 28-632 16-365 PUNTRETURNS: No-Yds 21-183 10-99 INT. RETURNS: No-Yds 5-4 10-88 FUMBLES-LOST 12-7 13-7 PENALTIES-YARDS 44-393 41-352 PUNTS-AVG 31-40.0 42-42.4 TIME OFPOSSESSION/GAME 30:17 29:36 3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS 32/90 28/85 4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS 6/12 2/3 RUSHING
G Att Net Avg TD Long West 6 26 175 6.7 2 25 Keliikipi 6 25 166 6.6 4 28 Bass 5 28 158 5.6 1 18 Brewster 6 12 89 7.4 0 17 Dickerson 6 3 25 8.3 0 24 Poumele* 6 7 24 3.4 1 7 Owens 4 1 7 7.0 0 7 Rhode 1 1 5 5.0 0 5 Whieldon 6 11 0 0.0 0 8 Milne 6 1 -8 -8.0 0 0 Chang 5 19 -9 -0.5 0 12 TEAM 4 3 -38 -12.7 0 0 Total 6 137 594 4.3 8 28 PASSING
G Att Comp Int Yds TD Long Chang 5 280 172 6 1659 11 54 Whieldon 6 56 31 3 469 5 54 Poumele 6 2 1 1 0 0 0 Kapanui 6 2 1 0 43 1 43 Rhode 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Total 6 341 205 10 2171 17 54 RECEIVING
G Rec Yds Avg TD Long Owens 4 30 317 10.6 5 30 Cockheran 4 28 428 15.3 4 54 Komine 6 28 278 9.9 2 38 Welch 5 22 245 11.1 3 31 Rivers 5 19 165 8.7 1 31 Brewster 6 15 98 6.5 1 26 Keliikipi 6 14 97 6.9 0 13 West 6 12 88 7.3 0 25 Poumele 6 7 111 15.9 0 27 Bass 5 7 67 9.6 0 27 Dickerson 6 7 50 7.1 0 19 Herbert 5 4 62 15.5 0 31 Miyashiro 4 4 31 7.8 0 14 Inferrera 1 3 19 6.3 0 8 Ilaoa 1 2 51 25.5 0 41 Stennis 3 2 21 10.5 0 23 Gilmore 6 1 43 43.0 1 43 Total 6 205 2171 10.6 17 54 TOTAL OFFENSE
G Plays Rush Pass Tot Avg Chang 5 299 -9 1659 1650 330.0 Whieldon 6 67 0 469 469 78.2 West 6 26 175 0 175 29.2 Keliikipi 6 25 166 0 166 27.7 Bass 5 28 158 0 158 31.6 Brewster 6 12 89 0 89 14.8 Kapanui 6 2 0 43 43 7.2 Dickerson 6 3 25 0 25 4.2 Poumele 6 9 24 0 24 4.0 Owens 4 1 7 0 7 2.3 Rhode 1 2 5 0 5 5.0 Milne 6 1 -8 0 -8 -1.6 TEAM 4 3 -38 0 -38 -9.5 Total 6 478 594 2171 2765 460.8 SCORING
TD FG 1XP 2XP Tot Ayat 0 9 21 0 48 Owens 5 0 0 0 30 Cockheran 4 0 0 0 24 Keliikipi 4 0 0 0 24 Welch 3 0 0 0 18 Komine 2 0 0 0 12 West 2 0 0 0 12 Rivers 1 0 0 0 6 Bass 1 0 0 0 6 Dickerson 1 0 0 0 6 Poumele 1 0 0 0 6 Brewster 1 0 0 0 6 Gilmore 1 0 0 0 6 Whieldon 0 0 0 1 2 Total 26 9 21 1 206 PUNTING
No. Yds Avg Long Milne 29 1167 40.2 55 Wright 2 73 36.5 40 Total 31 1240 40.0 55 PUNT RETURNS
No. Yds Avg TD Long Herbert 10 83 8.3 0 13 Owens 6 68 11.3 0 24 Bass 3 23 7.7 0 19 Brewster 2 9 4.5 0 7 Total 21 183 8.7 0 24 KICK RETURNS
No. Yds Avg TD Long Dickerson 17 408 24.0 1 100 Brewster 4 64 16.0 0 24 West 3 90 30.0 0 48 Moe 2 32 16.0 0 16 Owens 1 25 25.0 0 25 Blackburn 1 13 13.0 0 13 Total 28 632 22.6 1 100 INTERCEPTIONS
No. Yds Avg Td Long Peters, H. 1 4 4.0 0 4 Fuga 1 0 0.0 0 0 Millhouse 1 0 0.0 0 0 Elimimian 1 0 0.0 0 0 Gilmore 1 0 0.0 0 0 Total 5 4 0.8 0 4 FUMBLES
FF FR Yds Fuga 0 2 0 Alapa 1 1 0 Kalikimoku 1 0 0 Sopoaga 1 0 0 Millhouse 1 0 0 Laboy 0 1 0 L. Peters 0 1 0 Gilmore 0 1 0 Wright 0 1 0 Manners 0 1 0 Total 4 8 0 BLOCKED KICKS
Blks Elimimian 1 Akpan 1 Total 2 SACKS
No. Yds Laboy 6 54 Maafala 2 11 Kalilimoku 2 6 Sopoaga 1 8 Curnan 1 7 Gilmore 1 5 Fuga 1 2 Alapa 1 1 Total 15 94 TACKLES
G UT AT Tot Curnan 6 30 21 51 Kalilimoku 6 24 22 46 LaBoy 6 27 10 37 Peters, H. 6 26 9 35 Peters, L. 6 18 12 30 Elimimian 6 21 9 30 Alapa 5 16 6 22 Ala 6 13 8 21 Sopoaga 4 8 9 17 Millhouse 6 13 2 15 Samuseva 6 7 8 15 Gilmore 6 11 2 13 Kapanui 6 11 2 13 Manutai 6 8 2 10 Fuga 5 5 4 9 Maafala 5 5 2 7 Wright 6 4 2 6 Jackson 5 4 2 6 Moe 6 4 2 6 Purcell 3 4 2 6 Aguiar 5 3 2 5 Broadway 6 2 2 4 Noa 6 1 2 3 Faavae 4 0 3 3 Harley 5 1 1 2 Hogan 5 2 0 2 Hollingsworth 1 1 0 1 Kamakawiwoole 5 1 0 1 Patton 3 1 0 1 Blackburn 5 1 0 1 Rhode 1 1 0 1 Stennis 3 1 0 1 Komine 6 1 0 1 Ayat 6 1 0 1 Satele 6 1 0 1 Poumele 6 1 0 1 Whieldon 6 1 0 1 Keliikipi 6 1 0 1 Cockheran 4 1 0 1 Latusela 3 1 0 1 Hoohuli 1 1 0 1 Alama-Francis 2 1 0 1 Manners 5 0 1 1 Flanagan 1 0 1 1 Total 6 284 148 432
