Hawaii News Archive - Starbulletin.com

UH won in trenches

POSTED: Monday, November 09, 2009

Gordy Shaw called it “;a good day's work.”;

The Hawaii offensive line coach's understated assessment came after watching the Warriors produce a rushing performance that had the media relations staff scurrying through the record books to verify a bunch of “;for the first time since ...”; statistics.

Since June Jones installed the run-and-shoot in 1999, the running game often complemented the passing game, but played a decidedly secondary role in the system. This season, the Warriors had gone for more than 100 rushing yards as a team just three times in their first eight games.

Which made Saturday's 360-yard rushing performance—Hawaii's best since 1995—in a 49-36 win over Utah State jarring for most observers and gratifying for the guys who cleared the way.

“;I've never been in a game where we ran that much,”; fifth-year senior center John Estes said. “;We just took what the defense gave us and executed pretty well.

“;They were playing man, so any time (the running backs) got through the first line of defense they were going to break off long runs.”;

Running back Leon Wright-Jackson and Alex Green did just that in busting through the holes in the Aggies' defensive front throughout the night. Wright-Jackson, UH's nominee for WAC offensive player of the week, ripped off runs for 44 and 62 yards on his way to a 167-yard, three-touchdown night. The first ignited UH's 94-yard drive in the second quarter that gave the Warriors (3-6, 1-5 Western Athletic Conference) a 35-7 lead. Green backed him up with 110 yards.

“;We made them defend the run and it affected their whole game plan when they couldn't stop the run,”; Shaw said.

The success of the ground game could give New Mexico State (3-6, 1-3) something else to think about heading into this week's game at Aloha Stadium.

Looking at the numbers, Shaw might have flashed back to his days as an assistant at Minnesota, coaching an offensive line that plowed the road for a prolific Big Ten running game.

Hawaii had thrown the ball on 68 percent of its 520 offensive plays entering Saturday's game and averaged a little more than 20 running plays per game.

The Warriors attempted 38 throws against Utah State while running the ball 37 times as they (gasp) picked up more yards on the ground than through the air.

“;They love it,”; Shaw said of the Warriors' line. “;They're down there just as happy as clams.”;

Along with clearing the way for the run, the Warriors also allowed just one sack in the game for a loss of 6 yards. After Moniz was dropped four times against Idaho on Oct. 17, UH quarterbacks have been sacked just four times in the three games since for losses totaling 16 yards.

With the decrease in the pace of sacks this season, the Warriors are now allowing roughly one sack per 18 pass attempts for the season.

“;They're the guys watching my back and I appreciate that,”; Moniz said after accounting for 413 yards in total offense and throwing a season-high four touchdown passes.

The Warriors controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The defense came up with three sacks on Saturday after recording just four over the previous six games. The secondary came down with two interceptions, the first by cornerback Lametrius Davis, who also broke up three passes. Safety Mana Silva, UH's nominee for WAC defensive player of the week, came up with a key pick in the fourth quarter to douse Utah State's comeback hopes.

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOOTBALL STATISTICS

TEAM STATISTICS
	Hawaii	Opp
SCORING	221	299
Points Per Game	24.6	33.2
FIRST DOWNS	196	208
Rushing	52	107
Passing	129	93
Penalty	15	8
RUSHING YARDAGE	1,002	1,810
Yards gained rushing	1,171	2,056
Yards lost rushing	169	246
Rushing Attempts	202	383
Average Per Rush	5.0	4.7
Average Per Game	111.3	201.1
TDs Rushing	8	23
PASSING YARDAGE	3,153	2,018
Att-Comp-Int	236-393-14	166-259-7
Average Per Pass	8.0	7.8
Average Per Catch	13.4	12.2
Average Per Game	350.3	224.2
TDs Passing	20	16
TOTAL OFFENSE	4,155	3,828
Total Plays	595	642
Average Per Play	7.0	6.0
Average Per Game	461.7	425.3
KICK RETURNS: #-Yards	53-1,156	34-736
PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards	17-127	4-19
INT RETURNS: #-Yards	7-35	14-76
KICK RETURN AVERAGE	21.8	21.6
PUNT RETURN AVERAGE	7.5	4.8
INT RETURN AVERAGE	5.0	5.4
FUMBLES-LOST	21-13	24-9
PENALTIES-Yards	56-434	48-451
Average Per Game	48.2	50.1
PUNTS-Yards	26-882	32-1,293
Average Per Punt	33.9	40.4
Net punt average	32.4	35.2
TIME OF POSSESSION/Game	28:29	31:28
3RD-DOWN Conversions	49/101	54/118
3rd-Down Pct	49%	46%
4TH-DOWN Conversions	1/11	13/17
4th-Down Pct	9%	46%
SACKS BY-Yards	12-95	23-122
MISC YARDS	0	88
TOUCHDOWNS SCORED	28	39
FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS	8-13	9-13
ON-SIDE KICKS	2-3	0-1
RED-ZONE SCORES	25-40 63%	38-43 88%
RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS	18-40 45%	29-43 67%
PAT-ATTEMPTS	25-25 100%	36-36 100%
RUSHING
	G	Att	Net	Avg	TD	Long
Wright-Jackson	9	48	365	7.4	4	62
Green	9	52	339	6.2	2	44
Moniz	7	37	198	3.6	1	31
Alexander	4	37	164	2.8	0	23
Dimude	4	10	51	5.0	0	13
Funaki	9	7	24	2.6	1	8
Rego	6	4	17	4.2	0	9
Pilares	9	1	13	13.0	0	13
Austin	2	1	0	0.0	0	0
Taylor	9	1	0	-3.0	0	0
TEAM	8	4	-9	-2.2	0	0
Totals	9	202	1,171	5.0	8	62
PASSING
	G	Comp	Att	Int	Yds	TD	Long
Moniz	7	115	203	7	1,539	10	71
Alexander	4	98	150	4	1,433	9	73
Austin	2	22	36	3	174	1	30
TEAM	8	0	3	0	0	0	0
Funaki	9	1	1	0	7	0	7
Totals	9	166	259	7	2,018	16	60
RECEIVING
	G	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Salas	9	69	1,164	16.9	7	66
Bradley	6	31	575	18.5	5	73
Pilares	9	50	465	9.3	2	32
Taylor	9	22	309	14.0	3	71
Medeiros	6	23	306	13.3	3	57
Pollard	5	13	142	10.9	0	21
Wright-Jackson	9	11	78	7.1	0	18
Avery	6	6	64	10.7	0	16
Dimude	4	3	21	7.0	0	13
Green	9	5	10	2.0	0	12
Blount	4	1	8	8.0	0	8
Henry	8	1	7	7.0	0	7
Funaki	9	1	4	4.0	0	4
Totals	9	236	3,153	13.4	20	73
TOTAL OFFENSE
	G	Plays	Rush	Pass	Tot	Avg
Moniz	7	240	133	1,539	1,672	238.9
Alexander	4	187	103	1,433	1,536	384.0
Wright-Jackson	9	48	357	0	357	39.7
Green	9	52	323	0	323	35.9
Austin	2	37	0	174	174	87.0
Dimude	4	10	50	0	50	12.5
Funaki	9	8	18	7	25	2.8
Rego	6	4	17	0	17	2.8
Pilares	9	1	13	0	13	1.4
Taylor	9	1	-3	0	-3	-0.3
TEAM	8	7	-9	0	-9	-1.1
Totals	9	595	1,002	3,153	4,155	461.7
SCORING
	TD	FG	1XP	2XP	Tot
Enos	0	8	25	0	49
Salas	7	0	0	0	42
Bradley	5	0	0	0	30
Wright-Jackson	4	0	0	0	24
Taylor	3	0	0	0	18
Medeiros	3	0	0	0	18
Green	2	0	0	0	12
Pilares	2	0	0	0	12
Moniz	1	0	0	0	6
Funaki	1	0	0	0	6
TEAM	0	0	0	0	4
Alexander	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	28	8	25	0	221
PUNTING
	No.	Yds	Avg	Long
Dunnachie	26	882	33.9	55
Totals	26	882	40.4	72
TACKLES
	G	UT	AT	Tot
Soares	9	31	37	68
Smith	9	40	20	60
Kiesel-Kauhane	9	35	17	52
Silva	9	31	20	51
Paredes	9	32	15	47
Tufaga	9	20	17	37
Bryant	7	19	14	33
Torres	9	17	11	28
Davis	9	24	3	27
Purcell	9	12	14	26
Fonoti	6	10	12	22
Heun	9	15	3	18
Satele	9	12	5	17
Falemalu	8	12	4	16
Ornellas	9	13	3	16
Lolotai	9	10	5	15
Savaiigaea	9	8	7	15
Hopkins	8	8	6	14
Brown	3	7	3	10
Clore	8	4	4	8
Walker	9	7	1	8
Meatoga	7	6	2	8
Wadsworth	9	4	3	7
Hanohano	9	4	2	6
Rice	9	2	3	5
Correa	9	2	2	4
Enos	9	4	0	4
Black	4	2	1	3
Ahmad	9	2	1	3
J. Estes	9	2	0	2
K. Estes	9	0	2	2
Gomes	6	2	0	2
Funaki	9	0	1	1
Henry	8	1	0	1
Alexander	4	1	0	1
Medeiros	6	1	0	1
Wright-Jackson	9	0	1	1
Bradley	6	1	0	1
Taylor	9	1	0	1
Salas	9	1	0	1
Totals	9	403	239	642