WARRIOR FOOTBALL
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Oregon State linebacker Derrick Doggett had one of the Beavers' six sacks of UH quarterback Colt Brennan.
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Beavers prove something to themselves
Oregon State coach Mike Riley was as relaxed as a pro golfer ready to tee off after the Beavers' 35-32 upset of No. 24 Hawaii in a pressure-packed football game at Aloha Stadium.
Not every coach smiles as broadly as Riley did after playing the Warriors here. In fact, most coaches don't smile at all, and that's because all season no other team could beat UH on its home turf.
It was a huge victory for the Beavers, who struggled early in the season, but are now poised to finish with 10 wins.
Oregon State offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh may have summed up the feel-good attitude best.
"It shows how much we've improved, because when we were 2-3, they all (Beavers fans) wanted us fired," said Cavanaugh, a former UH assistant. "It was a great football game on both sides. I knew it would be a battle all night."
Cavanaugh stopped short of saying his team won the war on the line, but the numbers tell the story. The Beavers' offensive line -- which included former Kahuku standout Jeremy Perry at left guard -- gave time to quarterback Matt Moore (11-for-17 for 245 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions) and blew open holes for Yvenson Bernard (20 carries, 108 yards). They also -- for the most part -- neutralized the Warriors' big-name defenders the same way Purdue did in a loss to UH last week.
On the other side of the coin, the Beavers' defensive line -- which included Roosevelt alumnus Naymon Frank at end -- went wild for six sacks, including three by Dorian Smith. That number is off the charts compared to UH's usual excellent protection of Colt Brennan, their Heisman Trophy-candidate quarterback.
Strong safety Sabby Piscitelli made two key interceptions of Brennan to boost his career total of picks to 15.
"Sabby's been big for us," Riley said. "He's a very good player, a self-made player, lifting the weights and doing all the extra stuff."
Piscitelli wouldn't mind seeing Brennan go to New York and win the Heisman, even though that outcome is doubtful since Troy Smith of Ohio State appears to have a lock on it.
"I hope so (that Brennan wins the Heisman)," Piscitelli said. "That would be good for me. He's a great quarterback. We knew our secondary had to limit him."
During the hard-hitting game, Piscitelli had some shouting matches with several Warriors.
"It was good, friendly fire," he said. "There was some bad things said and some good things said. That's just athletes being competitive."
Moore has now gone 161 straight passes without an interception, and he proved that gaudy numbers don't always translate to winning football. Brennan, for instance, went 37-for-50 for 401 yards.
When asked if he thought he outplayed Brennan, Moore said, "To me, that doesn't mean anything. He's obviously a stud. My job was to keep our offense flowing and keep their offense off the field."
Beavers free safety Al Afalava, another Kahuku graduate, loved being back in Hawaii.
"I'm used to people cheering for me at Aloha Stadium, but they booed me and that was hard," Afalava said. "But this is the loudest crowd I've seen here at Aloha Stadium and it's one of the loudest at any stadium I've seen. Coach Riley always tells us to finish and we finished. We wasn't playing in the first half and in the second half we got motivated and all psyched up."
"We stayed on top of it," added Frank, who couldn't wait to go visit his family and eat after the game. "They had a high-powered offense, but we stepped up with defensive pressure on every play."
Perry, who was part of the Beavers' pile-moving unit, hurt his knee and had to be helped off the field in the fourth quarter. Riley didn't know the exact injury or the extent of it.
Piscitelli is looking ahead to the Sun Bowl when Oregon State (9-4) plays an opponent to be named later.
"This is turning into a big year for us," he said. "We want to finish strong, with 10 wins."