Monday, November 30, 1998
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii's Dwight Carter is sandwiched by three
Michigan defenders during Saturday night's game at Aloha Stadium.
VonAppen’s
future uncertain
An 0-12 finish in '98
didn't help his causeBy Paul Arnett vonAppen fired
Star-BulletinLate Saturday night, after Michigan assured Hawaii of an NCAA record-tying 0-12 season, Fred vonAppen and his wife, Thea, left Aloha Stadium for perhaps the final time.
Both believe the third-year head coach deserves to play out the final two years of his contract, which was extended by Hawaii president Ken Mortimer and athletic director Hugh Yoshida last spring. But some conditions have to be met.
"We have to agree on what direction this program is going to take," vonAppen said. "I want to know what they think and for them to know what I think, and then we'll take it from there."
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Chris McNally, Brian Wurdinger and Troy Goodwin
supported the Rainbows to the bitter end.
Rumors already were swirling that vonAppen's say might not count for much, that Mortimer and Yoshida would be forced to pull the plug to keep fans from losing complete interest in a team that holds the nation's longest losing streak (18 games).It is the second time in three years the administration has bought out a head football coach's contract.
Yoshida and Mortimer concluded in 1995 that current Arizona assistant Bob Wagner should be fired due to dwindling attendance. The cost of buying out Wagner's contract was about $200,000. VonAppen's buyout would be closer to $250,000.
Mortimer and Yoshida watched the Senior Walk after the Wolverines secured a 48-17 victory over the Rainbows. Traditionally, seniors walk around the rim of Aloha Stadium to say their goodbyes. VonAppen lost 19 players to graduation this season.
"I want to make this clear that coach vonAppen called this meeting," Mortimer said at the Senior Walk. "I was in Korea at the time when the (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) newspaper article came out that coach vonAppen wanted this meeting.
"I think it's a good thing. I believe we need to review what has happened and then move on from there. I'm not sure what's going to happen, if anything, but we need to address all the speculation."
Mortimer smiled and shook the hand of every coach he saw. In particular, he thanked UH offensive coordinator Don Lindsey and vonAppen for their efforts.
"It was nice the president came down to lend his support," vonAppen said. "I certainly appreciated his being here. As for what's going to happen, I don't know. A lot will probably depend on (today's) discussion. I'm sure it will be a frank one."
Yoshida didn't comment after the game, but his face wore the grimmest of expressions. Because he hired vonAppen and because he recommended that vonAppen's contract be extended for two seasons, it's possible his fate also is uncertain.
Lack of attendance may be the most telling statistic. Hawaii distributed 234,193 tickets this season for an average of 29,274 a game. That's about a 15 percent drop from last year when the Rainbow averaged 33,441 tickets distributed a game, and the total is the lowest since Hawaii joined the Western Athletic Conference.
More alarming still is the six-year slide since Yoshida took over as athletic director. During Hawaii's 1992 WAC championship season, the Rainbows averaged 44,432 a game. That 35 percent drop-off is the real eye-opener in the formula, and why Hawaii faces a potential $1 million deficit this year.
"There are a lot of reasons why attendance falls," vonAppen said. "And not all of it is just winning and losing. We have to try to market ourselves better and offer better season-ticket packages. We've made some progress, but we still have a long way to go."
If vonAppen is allowed to stay, it's likely he'll have to make some serious changes to his staff. VonAppen has said that if anyone is fired, it will be through him.
"I'm not going to be told who I keep and who I let go," vonAppen said. "Personnel decisions begin and end with me."
Although some say veteran defensive coordinator Don Lindsey was an bad fit at offensive coordinator, a change there would give UH its sixth offensive coordinator in as many seasons.
"I'm not sure what's going to happen and I'm not going to worry about it," Lindsey said after Saturday's game. "Right now those decisions are in higher hands."
Problem areas this year included the defensive line, secondary and offensive line. Hawaii didn't put a lot of pressure on the quarterback, which exposed weaknesses in an inexperienced and injury-prone secondary.
Hawaii lost its last four games of the season by a combined score of 191-67. That's an average of 48-17 and similar to the Rainbows' collapse in vonAppen's first season.
That year, Hawaii lost its last four games to Air Force, San Jose State, Brigham Young and Wisconsin by an average score of 44-12. This lack of improvement could work against vonAppen during today's meeting.
Under Lindsey, Hawaii's offense finished better than it started. The Rainbow offense scored a meager 20 points in its first four games and 67 in the last four.
During the opening four matchups, the Rainbows averaged only 243 yards a game. That number rose to 334 yards a game in the last four. Unfortunately for Hawaii, it didn't mean much.
The Hawaii medical staff will wind up performing 15 major surgeries when the last knife is put down. Lots of
mending to doTight end Zeff Ah Quin began the long parade to the doctor's office with reconstructive knee surgery in July to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament. The senior had hoped to be back in the starting lineup for the last two games, but the knee didn't respond.
"That's probably the saddest story for our seniors," UH head coach Fred vonAppen said. "He thought he could come back and play, but it became painfully obvious that he couldn't. That's the reason he didn't take part in tonight's Senior Walk."
Defensive lineman Ben Bright will have his knee scoped and is questionable for the Hula Bowl. Trainers are hopeful he can make it back. Other players scheduled for knee surgery are linebacker Jeff Ulbrich, offensive lineman Aaron Leverenz and free safety Daniel Ho-Ching.
The staff already has performed knee surgeries on linebacker Steve Dietschy, running back Calvin Mims and offensive lineman Chris Hogge. And he isn't the last offensive lineman scheduled for surgery. Tackle Kynan Forney will have surgery on both shoulders, and may not be ready for spring.
Leverenz also is having shoulder surgery as is offensive guard Chuck Thompson, wide receiver Ashley Lelie and cornerback James Polk.
Nose tackle Tony Tuioti will have surgery to repair a ruptured disc in his back. The injury has plagued him all season. Senior cornerback Donnell Williams needs surgery to repair a thumb and linebacker Yaphet Warren, who was injured in a moped accident, had successful surgery on his ankle and will be able to play next season.
"They thought I wasn't going to make it back, but I am," Warren said after the loss to Michigan. He will remain on crutches for another month and is hopeful to be up and ready for spring ball.
The only other player listed as questionable for spring is Ulbrich.
Baseball for Polk
Cornerback James Polk needs shoulder surgery before he can play football next season, but has opted to wait until it's absolutely necessary.
That's because the sophomore from Everman, Texas, wants to play baseball for the Rainbows next spring.
"He has been cleared to play baseball, but if the shoulder causes him problems, then we'll go ahead and have the surgery," UH team doctor Andrew Nichols said. "(UH head coach) Fred (vonAppen) has said it was all right if he misses spring football."
Polk played baseball at Ranger (Texas) Junior College last year. He led the league in stolen bases with 37 and has already been cleared to try out for the UH baseball team by head coach Les Murakami.
Tough combo
"I thought I was going to score, but the guy (safety Tommy Hendricks) had a little more speed and caught me," Carter said.
The 67-yard completion stunned the Michigan faithful, who were about 7,000 strong at Aloha Stadium. Carter also caught a pass just outside the goal line on a third-down play that forced Shrout's field-goal attempt. It gave Hawaii a brief 3-0 lead in an eventual 48-17 season-ending loss.
Carter caught eight passes for 154 yards, but didn't catch senior Wesley Morris for the team lead. Morris caught nine passes for 124 yards to finish with 51 receptions for 692 yards and four touchdowns. Carter had 40 catches for 567 yards and three scores.
Tharp benched
Instead, backup tailbacks Afatia Thompson and Jauron Pigg garnered the majority of playing time. Thompson led the Rainbows in rushing with 25 yards on five carries. Pigg had 9 yards on four carries and scored the first touchdown of his Division I career. Hawaii rushed for only 73 yards.
Having fun
"I had a lot of fun out there," said Robinson, who wound up completing 163 of 354 passes for 2,155 yards and 11 touchdowns. "My line did a good job of protecting me. I missed a few and we dropped a few, or it might have been even better."
By Paul Arnett, Star-Bulletin
Conference Standings
Pacific Division
W L Pct. W L Pct. Brigham Young 7 1 .875 9 3 .750 San Diego State 7 1 .875 7 4 .636 Utah 5 3 .625 7 4 .636 Fresno State 5 3 .625 5 6 .455 San Jose State 3 5 .375 4 8 .333 Texas-El Paso 3 5 .375 3 8 .273 New Mexico 1 7 .125 3 9 .250 Hawaii 0 8 .000 0 12 .000Mountain Division
W L Pct. W L Pct. Air Force 7 1 .875 10 1 .909 Wyoming 6 2 .750 8 3 .727 Colorado State 5 3 .625 8 4 .667 Rice 5 3 .625 5 6 .455 Texas Christian 4 4 .500 6 5 .545 Southern Methodist 4 4 .500 5 7 .417 Tulsa 2 6 .250 4 7 .364 Nevada-Las Vegas 0 8 .000 0 11 .000WAC Championship: BYU vs. Air Force, 8 a.m. Saturday's game
Michigan -- 48 Last Saturday's result
Hawaii -- 17
UH season statistics
Individual Statistics/
The LeadersRushing
Car Yards Avg. TD Long Charles Tharp 146 679 4.7 2 58 Avion Weaver 36 162 4.5 0 19 Derek Zoller 43 140 3.3 1 12 Bronson Liana 41 80 2.0 0 14 Fred Lau 12 72 6.0 0 23 Calvin Mims 20 70 3.5 0 19 Robert Grant 17 63 3.7 0 13 Afatia Thompson 14 48 3.4 0 12 Jauron Pigg 6 10 1.7 1 5 Eleu Kane 1 6 6.0 0 6 Ricky Lumford 2 6 3.0 0 4 Anthony DiIeso 1 4 4.0 0 4 James Polk 1 1 1.0 0 1 Josh Skinner 8 -1 -0.1 0 5 Dan Robinson 84 -27 -0.3 2 15
Att Comp Yards Int TD Dan Robinson 354 163 2,155 12 11 Bronson Liana 19 5 37 2 0 Josh Skinner 9 1 19 1 0 Charles Tharp 1 0 0 0 0
Rec Yards TD Long Wesley Morris 51 692 4 52 Dwight Carter 40 567 3 69 Eleu Kane 19 385 2 55 Charles Tharp 19 153 1 52 Davey deLaura 11 130 0 39 Craig Stutzman 6 74 0 28 Afatia Thompson 4 12 0 5 Robert Kemfort 3 49 0 26 Calvin Mims 3 33 0 19 Mike Iosua 3 31 0 19 Derek Zoller 3 31 1 23 Jimmy McClain 3 20 0 9 Avion Weaver 1 17 0 17 Robert Grant 1 9 0 9 Nassor Anderson 1 4 0 4 Fred Lau 1 4 0 4
TD XP 2XP SAF FG Pts Chad Shrout 0 10-15 0 0 7-15 31 Wesley Morris 4 0 0 0 0 24 Charles Tharp 3 0 0 0 0 18 Dwight Carter 3 0 0 0 0 18 Derek Zoller 2 0 0 0 0 12 Eleu Kane 2 0 0 0 0 12 Dan Robinson 2 0 0 0 0 12 Kamuela Cobb-Adams 1 0 0 0 0 6 Jauron Pigg 1 0 0 0 0 6 Chris Pinkney 0 0 1 0 0 2 Calvin Mims 0 0 1 0 0 2
No. Yards Avg. Long Chad Shrout 82 3,173 38.7 62
Punts Kickoffs No. Yds. Lg No. Yds. Lg Daniel Ho-Ching 3 54 42 0 0 0 Charles Tharp 17 153 22 3 46 20 James Polk 2 17 10 0 0 0 Eleu Kane 5 32 21 9 168 28 Dwight Carter 6 30 14 3 64 23 Wesley Morris 0 0 0 21 476 65 Robert Grant 0 0 0 15 287 44 Robert Kemfort 0 0 0 2 11 8
Una Ast Total Loss Sack Anthony Smith 66 37 103 0 0 Matt Paul 55 45 100 4 0 Tony Tuioti 41 25 66 3 1 Phil Austin 40 12 52 2 1 Joaquin Avila 28 23 51 2 0 Quincy LeJay 37 14 51 0 0 Stephen Gonzales 21 23 44 1 1 Mark Mollner 23 20 43 2 2 Kamuela Cobb-Adams 23 20 43 3 1 Donnell Williams 27 16 43 0 0 Jeff Ulbrich 28 13 41 4 1 Ben Bright 23 15 38 4 2 Miles Garner 24 11 35 5 0 Houdini Jackson 20 13 33 2 3 Olen Rosehill 24 5 29 3 2 Daniel Ho-Ching 19 8 27 1 0 Jovon Jiles 21 4 25 0 0 Joseph Correia 12 12 24 2 0 Nate Jackson 18 5 23 1 1 James Polk 12 9 21 0 0 Matt Elam 15 5 20 2 1 Chris Garnier 14 4 18 0 0 Damien Arafiles 12 3 15 1 0 Yaphet Warren 11 4 15 2 0 Celnell Bobbitt 10 2 12 1 1 Bobby Morgan 6 1 7 1 0 Bo Espinoza 4 2 6 1 1
