UH strides toward bowl
POSTED: Monday, November 10, 2008
With a pivotal game less than 24 hours away, Hawaii football coach Greg McMackin loosened the reins a bit.
Rather than lock the team into hours of meetings, McMackin gathered the Warriors to go over a few points of emphasis.
Then he let them go.
“;Usually we have a team meeting. (Friday) night there wasn't anything else to meet about, wasn't anything else to talk about,”; McMackin said.
“;Everybody knew what they had to do.”;
Instead of poring over more game or practice tape, most of the team watched linebacker Viliami Nauahi's profitable appearance on “;Wheel of Fortune”; and McMackin encouraged them to take in the Fresno State-Nevada game on TV that night.
The Warriors rewarded McMackin's confidence by perhaps saving their bowl hopes with a 42-30 win over New Mexico State on Saturday.
In the wake of a stunning loss at Utah State to open the trip, the Warriors regrouped over their week-long stay in El Paso, Texas, their days filled primarily with practice, meetings and study halls.
“;That helped us because it was nothing else but football,”; linebacker Solomon Elimimian said. “;We came into the game knowing this was do-or-die, our season was at stake. We had to win this game ... and we rallied together.”;
The Warriors (5-5, 4-3 Western Athletic Conference) will have a week off to recharge following their 10-day mainland stay before beginning their three-game home stretch on Nov. 22 against Idaho. They need two more wins to qualify for the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Ev e.
Quarterback Greg Alexander led the Warriors to the shootout win with his best performance of the season. The junior has completed 69 percent of his throws since taking over in the second half of UH's win over Nevada three games ago, boosting his numbers with a 26-for-32 performance for 288 yards and two touchdowns against New Mexico State.
He distributed the ball to five receivers, hitting Greg Salas for 91 yards, Kealoha Pilares for 90 and Aaron Bain for 64.
But the zero in the interception column could be the most significant figure of the bunch. Since throwing two picks in the first half of UH's season opener at Florida, Alexander hasn't been intercepted in his last 92 attempts.
“;He's understanding his initial pre-snap read and he's understanding how the offense morphs to the defense,”; UH quarterbacks coach Nick Rolovich said.
“;He's really becoming a leader, becoming more vocal. I think we're in a good spot (at quarterback). Best spot we've been in all year. His decision-making was the biggest thing I saw.”;
McMackin said Inoke Funaki didn't see much action, due in part to a sore hip.
Brent Rausch finished out the game, making his first appearance since the season opener at Florida.
Defensively, the Warriors gave up several big plays to New Mexico State's pass-catch combo of Chase Holbrook and Chris Williams, whose 211 receiving yards were the third most by a UH opponent.
Williams' total trailed only San Diego State's J.R. Tolver (283 in 2002) and Colorado State's Greg Primus (256 in 1991), the bulk of his yards coming on 83- and 84-yard touchdown receptions.
“;We knew Williams is a good player and (Holbrook) threw the ball good and they hit us up the seams,”; McMackin said. “;We cannot give plays like that, especially to an explosive team like (NMSU).”;
But the Warriors defense countered with Ryan Mouton's 91-yard interception return, tied for the third longest in UH history with Robert Lan's return against Air Force in 1988.
“;We had a couple of busts and messed up a couple of coverages,”; Mouton said. “;But other than the big plays I felt like we kept them contained.”;
Stat watch
Some statistics are more telling than others. Time of possession tends to be one of the more deceptive.
Hawaii took control of the game with a 21-point second-quarter outburst despite having the ball for just over 4 minutes in the period. Alexander scored on a quarterback sneak on the first play of the quarter and Mouton ended a lengthy NMSU drive with his touchdown return.
Hawaii had averaged just 6.1 points in the second quarter in its first nine games.
Third-down conversions, a focal point for McMackin, were a strong point for the Warriors as Hawaii went a season-best 75 percent (9-for-12). UH picked up first downs while facing third and 10 or longer three times and Alexander rushed for three more conversions.
“;Coach is always preaching third-down conversion, it's one of the biggest stats that actually matters in a football game,”; Alexander said. “;When we convert third downs it takes a lot out of the wind out of the defense.”;
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOOTBALL STATISTICS
Team Statistics
| Hawaii | OPP |
|
| FIRST DOWNS | 186 | 192 |
| Rushing | 66 | 82 |
| Passing | 103 | 93 |
| Penalty | 17 | 17 |
| RUSHING YARDAGE | 1,113 | 1,616 |
| Yards gained rushing | 1,411 | 1,923 |
| Yards lost rushing | 298 | 307 |
| Rushing attempts | 307 | 371 |
| Average per rush | 3.6 | 4.4 |
| Average per game | 111.3 | 161.6 |
| Touchdowns rushing | 12 | 16 |
| PASSING YARDAGE | 2,316 | 2,221 |
| Att-Comp-Int | 341-198-19 | 303-172-10 |
| Average per pass | 6.8 | 7.3 |
| Average per catch | 11.7 | 12.9 |
| Average per game | 231.6 | 221.1 |
| Touchdowns passing | 14 | 18 |
| TOTAL OFFENSE | 3,429 | 3,837 |
| Total plays | 648 | 674 |
| Average per game | 342.9 | 383.7 |
| KICK RETURNS: No-Yds | 52-1,047 | 34-775 |
| PUNT RETURNS: No-Yds | 20-33 | 19-241 |
| INT. RETURNS: No-Yds | 10-189 | 19-202 |
| FUMBLES-LOST | 24-12 | 22-11 |
| PENALTIES-YARDS | 89-776 | 64-524 |
| PUNTS-Yards | 48-1,880 | 43-1,864 |
| TIME OF POSSESION/GAME | 31:09 | 28:51 |
| 3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS | 45/128 | 51/148 |
| 4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS | 4/10 | 14/22 |
Rushing
| G | Att | Net | Avg | TD | Long |
|
| Libre | 9 | 72 | 361 | 5 | 3 | 48 |
| Pilares | 8 | 49 | 255 | 5.2 | 4 | 34 |
| Funaki | 10 | 73 | 200 | 2.7 | 1 | 33 |
| Wright-Jackson | 9 | 27 | 101 | 3.7 | 1 | 16 |
| Alexander | 5 | 41 | 100 | 2.4 | 2 | 16 |
| Rego | 10 | 15 | 77 | 5.1 | 0 | 19 |
| Farmer | 7 | 11 | 49 | 4.5 | 1 | 9 |
| Washington | 10 | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 0 | 12 |
| Mouton | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rausch | 2 | 1 | -4 | -4 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM | 6 | 5 | -6 | -1.2 | 0 | 0 |
| Peoples | 6 | 4 | -9 | -2.2 | 0 | 2 |
| Graunke | 4 | 5 | -20 | -4.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | 10 | 307 | 1,113 | 3.6 | 12 | 48 |
Passing
| G | Att | Comp | Int | Yds | TD | Long |
|
| Funaki | 10 | 168 | 95 | 12 | 1,119 | 6 | 53 |
| Alexander | 5 | 106 | 70 | 2 | 780 | 5 | 34 |
| Graunke | 4 | 58 | 30 | 4 | 388 | 3 | 42 |
| Rausch | 2 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 29 | 0 | 15 |
| Total | 10 | 341 | 198 | 19 | 2,316 | 14 | 53 |
Receiving
| G | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
||
| Washington | 10 | 41 | 474 | 11.6 | 4 | 39 |
|
| Salas | 10 | 40 | 578 | 14.4 | 2 | 41 | |
| Bain | 10 | 30 | 324 | 10.8 | 3 | 33 | |
| Pilares | 8 | 26 | 230 | 8.8 | 2 | 23 |
|
| Lane | 10 | 24 | 374 | 15.6 | 3 | 53 |
|
| Wright-Jackson | 9 | 10 | 70 | 7 | 0 | 20 |
|
| Mouton | 10 | 8 | 71 | 8.9 | 0 | 18 | |
| Libre | 9 | 8 | 41 | 5.1 | 0 | 16 |
|
| Medeiros | 7 | 5 | 47 | 9.4 | 0 | 24 |
|
| Pollard | 6 | 3 | 59 | 19.7 | 0 | 29 |
|
| Taylor | 3 | 2 | 38 | 19 | 0 | 26 |
|
| Farmer | 7 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
|
| Total | 10 | 198 | 2,316 | 11.7 | 14 | 53 |
Total Offense
| G | Plays | Rush | Pass | Tot | Avg |
||
| Funaki | 10 | 241 | 200 | 1,119 | 1,319 | 131.9 |
|
| Alexander | 5 | 147 | 100 | 780 | 880 | 176.0 |
|
| Graunke | 4 | 63 | -20 | 388 | 368 | 92.0 |
|
| Libre | 9 | 72 | 361 | 0 | 361 | 40.1 |
|
| Pilares | 8 | 49 | 255 | 0 | 255 | 31.9 |
|
| Wright-Jackson | 9 | 27 | 101 | 0 | 101 | 11.2 |
|
| Rego | 10 | 15 | 77 | 0 | 77 | 7.7 |
|
| Farmer | 7 | 11 | 49 | 0 | 49 | 7.0 |
|
| Rausch | 2 | 10 | -4 | 29 | 25 | 12.5 |
|
| Washington | 10 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 9 | .9 |
|
| TEAM | 6 | 5 | -6 | 0 | -6 | -1.0 |
|
| Peoples | 6 | 4 | -9 | 0 | -9 | -1.5 | |
| Total | 10 | 648 | 1,113 | 2,316 | 3,429 | 342.9 |
Scoring
| TD | FG | 1XP | 2XP | Tot |
|
| Kelly | 0 | 8 | 25 | 0 | 49 |
| Pilares | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| Washington | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 26 |
| Lane | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Bain | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Libre | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Alexander | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Salas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Mouton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Funaki | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Wright-Jackson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Farmer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Fonoti | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Graunke | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 29 | 8 | 25 | 1 | 227 |
Punting
| No. | Yds | Avg | Long |
|
| Grasso | 47 | 1,879 | 40.0 | 55 |
| TEAM | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 |
| Total | 48 | 1,880 | 39.2 | 55 |
Punt Returns
| No. | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|
| Washington | 13 | -4 | -0.3 | 0 | 3 |
| Bain | 7 | 37 | 5.3 | 0 | 17 |
| Total | 20 | 33 | 1.6 | 0 | 17 |
Kick Returns
| No. | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|
| Mouton | 24 | 514 | 21.4 | 1 | 90 |
| Lane | 12 | 361 | 30.1 | 0 | 91 |
| Taylor | 9 | 134 | 14.9 | 0 | 30 |
| Farmer | 3 | 29 | 9.7 | 0 | 19 |
| Smith | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 4 |
| Paredes | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
| Allen-Jones | 1 | -2 | -2.0 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 52 | 1,047 | 20.1 | 1 | 91 |
Tackles
| G | UT | AT | Tot |
|
| Elimimian | 10 | 37 | 41 | 78 |
| Veikune | 10 | 37 | 19 | 56 |
| Leonard, A. | 9 | 29 | 25 | 54 |
| Dowling | 10 | 34 | 19 | 53 |
| Robinson | 10 | 28 | 18 | 46 |
| Fonoti | 10 | 23 | 23 | 46 |
| Satele | 10 | 25 | 17 | 42 |
| Roberts | 10 | 31 | 10 | 41 |
| Monteilh | 10 | 19 | 15 | 34 |
| Mouton | 10 | 23 | 9 | 32 |
| Leonard, J. | 9 | 16 | 12 | 28 |
| Kiesel-Kauhane | 10 | 14 | 8 | 22 |
| Thomas | 10 | 12 | 10 | 22 |
| Watson | 10 | 10 | 11 | 21 |
| Allen-Jones | 10 | 9 | 7 | 16 |
| Silva | 10 | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| Meatoga | 10 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Maka | 4 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Tufaga | 9 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Ahmad | 9 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Smith | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Laeli | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Kafentzis | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Porlas | 10 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Lolotai | 10 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Rego | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Purcell | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Ingram | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Davis | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Paredes | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Bryant | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Clore | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Washington | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Torres | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Savaiigaea | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Salas | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Funaki | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Grasso | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kelly | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2D | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Rice | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Wong | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Libre | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Watson | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Kia | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 10 | 408 | 275 | 683 |
Misc.
Sacks (No.-Yds): Veikune 5.5-34, Fonoti 1.5-17, Satele 1-16, Elimimian 2.5-15, Meatoga 1.5-11, Leonard 1-8, Robinson 1-8, Mouton 1-7, Allen-Jones 1-7, Dowling 1.5-6, Maka 1.5-5, Kiesel-Kauhane 1-3. Total: 20-137.
Interceptions (No.-Yds): Monteilh 3-13, Mouton 1-91, Robinson 1-32, Thomas 1-24, Bryant 1-11, Roberts 1-9, Dowling 1-5, Satele 1-4. Total: 10-189.
Fumbles (Forced-Recovered): Veikune 4-0, Kiesel-Kauhane 2-1, Mouton 2-0, Dowling 1-1, Elimimian 1-1, Satele 1-0, Allen-Jones 1-0, Kafentzis 1-0, Lolotai 1-0, Fonoti 0-3, Roberts 0-1, Thomas 0-1, Tufaga 0-1, Porlas 0-1, Rego 0-1. Total: 14-11.
Blocked kicks: Watson, Mahaley. Total: 2.
