Glenn Freitas turns upfield against Boston College in the third quarter.
By Dean Sensui, Star-Bulletin
impressed by 'Bows
By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin
Glenn Freitas turns upfield against Boston College in the third quarter.
By Dean Sensui, Star-Bulletin
"I think the entire Hawaii football team was well-coached, prepared and they played with intensity," Eagles coach Dan Henning said.
"We knew they would play with intensity first game out of the box with a new coaching staff. But we did figure a team with a brand new coaching staff would make more mistakes than they did. That's a credit to the coaches and the players."
Added Henning, "I feel for those guys because they played well enough to get a win and didn't get it. But that's how it goes."
Henning, who has been under pressure to get BC back on the road to a bowl bid, was asked if he'd have to explain back home why the Eagles didn't win easier against a team ranked 96th in the nation by Sports Illustrated.
"I don't know any game I've coached in that I didn't have to explain - win, lose or draw," he said.
Junior quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who came on in relief of sophomore starter Scott Mutryn on BC's second series of the fourth quarter, said he expects questions back in Boston.
"Obviously there are very high expectations at home and we take a lot of criticism in the media. But there was no embarrassment because Hawaii's a good team. I don't think we get enough credit or they get enough credit. They're a solid football team and I think they'll have a good season."
Although Hawaii was an option team in the past, Henning said he was surprised at the Rainbows' execution of the option.
"Hawaii did a much better job with it than we expected they would do," he said. "We knew they ran it in the past but we know these coaches. They haven't coached it in the past."
Henning said he liked Hawaii's secondary standouts Eddie Klaneski and Al Hunter.
He even credited Hunter with a smart move on the holding penalty that moved BC to the UH 25 just before John Matich's winning field goal.
"If he (Hunter) hadn't interfered with him (receiver Dennis Harding), it might have been a touchdown play, so I think that was a smart play by the defensive back," Henning said.
Said, "We were very impressed with those guys (the UH defensive backs). We knew the strength of their defense was their secondary, but we didn't know which four were going to start or what kind of coverage they would play.
"We didn't win one-on-one outside of a couple of times. Their corners did a great job and they were very physical. I know some of our guys might have been looking for penalties on a couple of those plays but that's just physical bump-and-run coverage, and you have to give Hawaii a lot of credit. They played well enough to win this game. So we're very fortunate."
Asked if he thought he should have been inserted into the game earlier, Hasselbeck declined to criticize his coach as he did before the Hawaii trip when Henning named Mutryn to start.
"That's not my call," said Hasselbeck, son of former NFL tight end Don Hasselbeck. "I just wanted us to win."
Henning, when asked if in retrospect he thought he should have put Hasselbeck into the game earlier, said, "No."
Then he paused.
"Because...we might not have won. Never second-guess a win. I have enough problems second-guessing losses."
Teams: Ohio Bobcats at Hawaii Rainbows
When: 7:07 p.m., Aloha Stadium
Last week: Kareem Wilson rushed for 107 yards and three touchdowns Thursday as Ohio University scored 31 second-quarter points and whipped Akron 44-14 in a Mid-American Conference opener.
Facts & figures: Former UHassistant Mike Sewak is the Bobcats' offensive coordinator ... Ohio was 2-8-1 last season, with a 1-6-1 record in the MAC.