UH improves on third down
POSTED: Monday, October 27, 2008
In the wake of a stirring win over Nevada, Hawaii football coach Greg McMackin reiterated that he “;could care less about stats.”;
But one he does pay close attention to is third-down conversions.
“;That's one of the stats I am interested in,”; McMackin said.
The Warriors' ability to reverse a season-long trend of trouble on third-down conversions certainly played a role in their dramatic 38-31 Western Athletic Conference win over Nevada on Saturday.
The Warriors converted a season-high 50 percent of their third-down opportunities against the Wolf Pack, going 7-for-14 in the game and converting on six of nine chances in the second half. The defense, meanwhile, held Nevada to 31 percent.
Included in those six was the game's decisive play, a 24-yard touchdown pass from Greg Alexander to Malcolm Lane with 20 seconds left.
Hawaii entered the game last in the WAC and near the bottom of the national rankings at just under 26 percent on third downs. But they were able to sustain drives in the second half in winning a shootout with the WAC's highest-scoring team.
“;You always want to do well on third down,”; UH offensive coordinator Ron Lee said. “;But when you're playing well, a lot of those things fall into place.
“;Definitely, that helps when you stay on the field. It's overall the way we played that did it.”;
The Warriors went 1-for-5 in the first half, the exception coming on the final play of the first quarter when starting quarterback Inoke Funaki scrambled and dove for the marker on a 13-yard gain on third and 12. The drive culminated with a touchdown pass from Funaki to Mike Washington to put the Warriors up 14-7.
Though not as nimble as Funaki, Alexander—who passed for 205 yards in operating the offense for all but one possession in the second half—also escaped the Nevada pass rush to run for two third-down conversions, including a 10-yard scamper on third and 9 to extend UH's game-winning drive.
“;I just want to make a play and get positive yards,”; the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Alexander said. “;I'd rather be throwing though.”;
When he did throw, Alexander was 6-for-7 on third-down plays—although two came up short of the marker—and hit Lane for the winning score on a third and 1.
“;He played me bump-and-run, man,”; Lane said of Nevada cornerback Mike Evans.
“;Any wide receiver loves that—it's a challenge, it's one-on-one.”;
Lane had also been fairly quiet leading up to Saturday's game, with six catches over the previous four games. He matched that total against Nevada and led the Warriors with 178 all-purpose yards, including 115 on kickoff returns.
The effort was part of UH's highest point output of the season. The Warriors had averaged just over seven points in the second half of their games this season. They put up 24 after the break on Saturday, including 14 in the final period after going scoreless in the fourth quarter in the previous five games.
“;One thing I like was the fact that when (the defense) had a chance to win the game we didn't really do it and the offense had our back,”; senior linebacker Solomon Elimimian said. “;That's how you win as a team.”;
Leonard's hurting
UH defensive tackle Josh Leonard is questionable for Saturday's game against Utah State. Leonard, who has started every game this season, suffered a sprained ankle late in the fourth quarter against Nevada and left the stadium on crutches.
“;I'm hoping he can play, but right now it's questionable,”; McMackin said. “;It depends how fast he can recover.”;
Linebacker Adam Leonard played most of the game with a broken finger, but still had nine tackles and is expected to play this week.
Hitting the road
Hawaii embarks on its last and longest road trip of the season this week at 4-4 overall and 3-2 in WAC play, three wins away from securing a bowl berth with five regular-season dates left.
The Warriors depart Thursday to begin a two-game mainland swing starting with Saturday's game at Utah State (1-7, 1-3) in Logan. They'll spend the following week in El Paso, Texas, and close the road schedule at nearby New Mexico State on Nov. 8.
Utah State was on the other end of a last-second thriller over the weekend as a 58-yard field goal as time expired gave Fresno State a 30-28 win over the Aggies.
Special again
The Warriors special teams units turned in one of their most complete all-around performances of the season on Saturday. Lane took over kickoff return duties and ripped off runs of 45 and 47 yards, and Aaron Bain had 25 yards on three punt returns.
Punter Tim Grasso averaged 45.8 yards on six kicks, his net aided by JoPierre Davis, who downed two punts inside the Nevada 5.
“;We never had field position,”; Nevada coach Chris Ault said. “;It's very difficult to win the game playing from inside the 5.”;
Team Statistics
| Hawaii | OPP |
|
| FIRST DOWNS | 141 | 160 |
| Rushing | 47 | 74 |
| Passing | 78 | 71 |
| Penalty | 16 | 15 |
| RUSHING YARDAGE | 828 | 1,465 |
| Yards gained rushing | 1,077 | 1,693 |
| Yards lost rushing | 249 | 228 |
| Rushing attempts | 243 | 310 |
| Average per rush | 3.4 | 4.7 |
| Average per game | 103.5 | 183.1 |
| Touchdowns rushing | 8 | 15 |
| PASSING YARDAGE | 1,780 | 1,604 |
| Att-Comp-Int | 269-152-19 | 245-134-7 |
| Average per pass | 6.6 | 6.5 |
| Average per catch | 11.7 | 12.0 |
| Average per game | 222.5 | 200.5 |
| Touchdowns passing | 11 | 12 |
| TOTAL OFFENSE | 2,608 | 3,069 |
| Total plays | 512 | 555 |
| Average per game | 326.0 | 383.6 |
| KICK RETURNS: No-Yds | 43-852 | 29-642 |
| PUNT RETURNS: No-Yds | 15-21 | 17-213 |
| INT. RETURNS: No-Yds | 7-61 | 19-202 |
| FUMBLES-LOST | 17-7 | 17-9 |
| PENALTIES-YARDS | 69-615 | 60-484 |
| PUNTS-Yards | 42-1,643 | 35-1,523 |
| TIME OF POSSESION/GAME | 30:58 | 29:02 |
| 3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS | 30/103 | 40/119 |
| 4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS | 4/8 | 10/17 |
| RUSHING |
||||||
| G | Att | Net | Avg | TD | Long |
|
| Pilares | 7 | 45 | 236 | 5.2 | 4 | 34 |
| Libre | 7 | 52 | 214 | 4.1 | 1 | 16 |
| Funaki | 8 | 68 | 192 | 2.8 | 1 | 33 |
| Wright-Jackson | 8 | 26 | 97 | 3.7 | 1 | 16 |
| Rego | 8 | 14 | 76 | 5.4 | 0 | 19 |
| Farmer | 5 | 5 | 30 | 6.0 | 1 | 9 |
| Washington | 8 | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 0 | 12 |
| Alexander | 3 | 19 | 6 | 0.3 | 0 | 13 |
| Mouton | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rausch | 1 | 1 | -4 | -4.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peoples | 4 | 2 | -5 | -2.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Graunke | 4 | 5 | -20 | -4.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | 8 | 243 | 828 | 3.4 | 8 | 34 |
| PASSING |
|||||||
| G | Att | Comp | Int | Yds | TD | Long |
|
| Funaki | 8 | 157 | 89 | 12 | 1,072 | 6 | 53 |
| Graunke | 4 | 58 | 30 | 4 | 388 | 3 | 42 |
| Alexander | 3 | 47 | 31 | 2 | 306 | 2 | 29 |
| Rausch | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 9 |
| Total | 8 | 245 | 134 | 7 | 1,604 | 12 | 77 |
| RECEIVING |
||||||
| G | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|
| Washington | 8 | 37 | 400 | 10.8 | 3 | 39 |
| Salas | 8 | 27 | 416 | 15.4 | 2 | 41 |
| Bain | 8 | 23 | 227 | 9.9 | 2 | 33 |
| Lane | 8 | 16 | 279 | 17.4 | 3 | 53 |
| Pilares | 7 | 16 | 140 | 8.8 | 1 | 23 |
| Wright-Jackson | 8 | 10 | 70 | 7.0 | 0 | 20 |
| Libre | 7 | 7 | 36 | 5.1 | 0 | 16 |
| Mouton | 8 | 5 | 58 | 11.6 | 0 | 18 |
| Medeiros | 6 | 5 | 47 | 9.4 | 0 | 24 |
| Pollard | 5 | 3 | 59 | 19.7 | 0 | 29 |
| Taylor | 4 | 2 | 38 | 19.0 | 0 | 26 |
| Farmer | 5 | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 10 |
| Total | 8 | 152 | 1,780 | 11.7 | 11 | 53 |
| TOTAl OFFENSE |
|||||||||||||
| G | Plays | Rush | Pass | Tot | Avg |
||||||||
| Funaki | 8 | 225 | 192 | 1,072 | 1,264 | 158.0 |
|||||||
| Graunke | 4 | 63 | -20 | 388 | 368 | 92.0 |
|||||||
| Alexander | 3 | 66 | 6 | 306 | 312 | 104.0 |
|||||||
| Pilares | 7 | 45 | 236 | 0 | 236 | 33.7 |
|||||||
| Libre | 7 | 52 | 214 | 0 | 214 | 30.6 |
|||||||
| Wright-Jackson | 8 | 26 | 97 | 0 | 97 | 12.1 | Rego | 8 | 14 | 76 | 0 | 76 | 9.5 |
| Farmer | 5 | 5 | 30 | 0 | 30 | 6.0 |
|||||||
| Rausch | 1 | 8 | -4 | 14 | 10 | 10.0 |
|||||||
| Washington | 8 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 1.1 |
|||||||
| Peoples | 4 | 2 | -5 | 0 | -5 | -1.2 | |||||||
| Total | 8 | 512 | 828 | 1,780 | 2,608 | 326.0 |
| SCORING |
|||||
| TD | FG | 1XP | 2XP | Tot |
|
| Kelly | 0 | 8 | 19 | 0 | 43 |
| Pilares | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| Washington | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 |
| Lane | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Salas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Bain | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Mouton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Funaki | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Wright-Jackson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Libre | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Farmer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Fonoti | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Graunke | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 21 | 8 | 19 | 1 | 171 |
| PUNTING |
||||
| No. | Yds | Avg | Long |
|
| Grasso | 41 | 1,642 | 40.0 | 55 |
| TEAM | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 |
| Total | 42 | 1,643 | 39.1 | 55 |
| PUNT RETURNS |
|||||
| No. | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|
| Washington | 12 | -4 | -0.3 | 0 | 3 |
| Bain | 3 | 25 | 8.3 | 0 | 12 |
| Total | 15 | 21 | 1.4 | 0 | 12 |
| KICK RETURNS |
|||||
| No. | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|
| Mouton | 24 | 514 | 21.4 | 1 | 90 |
| Taylor | 9 | 134 | 14.9 | 0 | 30 |
| Lane | 8 | 187 | 23.4 | 0 | 47 |
| Allen-Jones | 1 | -2 | -2.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Farmer | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 0 | 19 |
| Total | 43 | 852 | 19.8 | 1 | 90 |
| TACKLES |
||||
| G | UT | AT | Tot |
|
| Elimimian | 8 | 31 | 29 | 60 |
| Veikune | 8 | 31 | 15 | 46 |
| Dowling | 8 | 26 | 15 | 41 |
| Satele | 8 | 25 | 16 | 41 |
| Leonard, A. | 7 | 22 | 16 | 38 |
| Fonoti | 8 | 21 | 16 | 37 |
| Robinson | 8 | 21 | 14 | 35 |
| Roberts | 8 | 28 | 6 | 34 |
| Monteilh | 8 | 17 | 13 | 30 |
| Mouton | 8 | 21 | 7 | 28 |
| Leonard, J. | 8 | 16 | 11 | 27 |
| Watson | 8 | 10 | 9 | 19 |
| Thomas | 8 | 10 | 9 | 19 |
| Kiesel-Kauhane | 8 | 11 | 7 | 18 |
| Allen-Jones | 8 | 8 | 4 | 12 |
| Silva | 8 | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| Tufaga | 8 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Rego | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Smith | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Davis | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Kafentzis | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Laeli | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Ahmad | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Ingram | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Porlas | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Lolotai | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Meatoga | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Purcell | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Washington | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Clore | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Bryant | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Savaiigaea | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Wong | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Watson | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Funaki | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Salas | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Kelly | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Torres | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Maka | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Libre | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kia | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 8 | 347 | 207 | 554 |
MISC.
Sacks (No.-Yds): Veikune 2-17, Satele 1-16, Fonoti 1-13, Elimimi.an 1.5-9, Leonard 1-8, Robinson 1-8, Mouton 1-7, Allen-Jones 1-7, Dowling 1-3, Kiesel-Kauhane 0.5-1. Total: 11-89.
Interceptions (No.-Yds.): Monteilh 3-13, Thomas 1-24, Bryant 1-11, Roberts 1-9, Satele 1-4. Total: 7-61.
Fumbles (Forced-Recovered): Fonoti 2-13, Dowling 1-7, Thomas 1-0, Kiesel-Kauhane 1-0, Tufaga 1-0, Rego 1-0, Elimimian 1-0, Roberts 1-0. Total: 9-20.
Blocked kicks: Watson, Mahaley. Total: 2.
