By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Kamuela Cobb-Adams sacked Minnesota
quarterback Cory Sauter twice.
Au revoir, Gophers
The Rainbows' victory over Minnesota
By Paul Arnett
was nice, but they won't dwell on it
Star-BulletinDon Lindsey won't spend a lot of time reviewing the highlights in today's film session with his University of Hawaii defensive unit. It's not the coordinator's style.
Instead, the man responsible for Hawaii shutting down the University of Minnesota in the Rainbows' 17-3 win over the Big Ten Gophers, will highlight one drive.
"It's the one where they took the ball from their own 13 to our 3," Lindsey said. "They exploited us partly because of poor tackling, partly because we pursued too hard and partly because of the defense we were in. But I want to remind them of what can happen.
"I will also tell our team that Cal State Northridge scored 63 points this weekend, threw for 511 yards and completed 33 of 43 passes. That's good against air, much less 11 guys on the football field.
"To me, the celebration is over. It's time to get to ready for Northridge. If their minds start to wander and think this one's going to be easy, I'll show the highlights of our losses to Wyoming (66-0) and San Diego State (56-8) last year. That should do the trick."
Sounds like a true coach, but the veteran Lindsey offers some sound advice. Hawaii almost opened the 1996 season with a win over Boston College, then came back to lose to lowly Ohio University the following week.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Linebacker Rinda Brooks busted up a handoff, which
led to a fumble that was picked up by safety Chris Shinnick,
who waltzed into the end zone for a touchdown and a 14-3 lead.
Minnesota is probably on par with Boston College's team of a year ago, while Northridge was ranked 48 spots higher in a preseason poll than the Rainbows this season.Sobering facts. And ones the coaches will hammer on as the Rainbows prepare for Saturday night's game with the Division I-AA Matadors at Aloha Stadium.
"We shouldn't be taking anybody too lightly," UH head coach Fred vonAppen said. "We don't have that kind of talent. I thought Minnesota had more offensive talent than we did.
"But Coach Lindsey called a great game plan, and the guys played hard throughout. We made some plays on defense and special teams, but our offense still needs some work. And when you see how many points Northridge put up on the board this weekend, we'd better be ready to strap it on and score some points of our own."
The Rainbows' offense scored only 10 points on Saturday. They had a meager 174 total yards, and just 72 on the ground, well below their mediocre 136-yard average of a year ago.
Freshman Charles Tharp was the lone bright spot for the Rainbows, accounting for 82 of Hawaii's yards on the ground and through the air.
Tharp played most of the game as a slotback receiver. He had two catches for 28 yards. The Californian also rushed the ball for 54 yards on eight carries, including back-to-back runs of 25 and 20 yards that set up Eric Hannum's 31-yard field goal in the fourth.
Senior Tim Carey also showed a little rust after not playing competitively in several years, but the Minnesota defense didn't make things easy for him, either.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Freshman tailback Charles Tharp accounted for
nearly half of Hawaii's offensive output on just 10 plays.
The Gophers stifled the run, blanketed the Rainbows' receivers and pressured Carey constantly en route to three sacks and twice as many hurries."It was good to finally get in there and play after all these years," Carey said. "There are a lot of doubters out there, but we're for real. We're going to go out and get win number two this week.
"We did some things on offense well, but we've got to clean it up. And we will. Once we play together more and understand what each of us can do, we'll be all right. We mixed it up well, but we've got to keep our drives going against Northridge."
That may not prove as difficult as it did against Minnesota. For one, the Gophers' defense is better than the Matadors, who yielded more than 400 yards in their weekend victory at Boise State.
Hawaii also plans to refine some things during this week's practice. There could be some personnel moves in the backfield and at wide receiver.
"We've got to get the ball into Tharp's hands more," vonAppen said. "He came in barely out of high school and played a good game in his Division I debut.
"We also have to distribute the ball better to our receivers. We didn't find Johnny Macon or John Kirby, and we need to."
Tailback Quincy Jacobs had his moments between the tackles, but his speed around the corner is lacking. Look for Tharp and fellow freshman Avion Weaver to carry the ball early and often against the Matadors.
"We've got to find some answers to our problems this week in practice," offensive coordinator Wally English said. "Sometimes Minnesota kicked our butts, but we kept going. They
didn't give up, even when our execution failed us a little bit.
"Minnesota was bigger and stronger than we were -- and in an eight-man front -- so when we tried to run the ball, they just knocked us back. We had to come up with a couple of wrinkles to get what we could, when we could get it."
Fortunately, the kicking game kept field position in Hawaii's favor. Punter Chad Shrout averaged 47.4 yards a kick in the steamy confines of Aloha Stadium. The sophomore was solid on kickoffs as well.
"We said all along Chad was a weapon," vonAppen said. "Our special teams did the job, which was important. Because if you can win two phases of the game like we did in special teams and defense, then you should win."
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
VonAppen got a victory hug from
tight end Jimmy McClain.
Gov. Ben Cayetano and University of Hawaii head coach Fred vonAppen might not be able to share the same bench area, but such is not the case for Mayor Jeremy Harris. Mayor seizes an opportunity
to do a little politickingPrior to Saturday's game in the Aloha Stadium parking lot, Harris and his wife passed out watermelon slices and 2,000 signs that read "Go Bows!" on one side and "Support the Coach!" on the other.
Harris said he could have handed out many more.
"Everyone was clamoring for the signs we had," Harris said yesterday. "Everyone wanted to say that they absolutely support the head coach.
"We usually pass out signs that read "Go Bows!" but I also thought I would put in a good word for the coach. He had a difficult week.
"We wanted people to know that we were supporting him and the boys on the team. I wanted him to know that we have confidence in the direction he's trying to take the football program."
VonAppen said he had heard about the signs, but hadn't seen any. He said he was appreciative of Harris' support, but vonAppen also said that he wasn't interested in feuding with Gov. Cayetano.
"I never got the impression that I was under siege," vonAppen said. "Ever since the governor came out and said what he said, the support for me has been overwhelming.
"My wife told me about the signs. She said Mayor Harris doesn't miss a trick and that he had made hay on this one, big time. Last year, he got the schedule cards out first, now this.
"It's good to know people are aware of what the situation here is, but I don't want to get into any more war of words with the governor. Hopefully, we can leave it at that."
-- By Paul Arnett
Individual statistics
Rushing
Car Yards Avg TD Long Charles Tharp 8 54 6.8 0 25 Quincy Jacobs 10 26 2.6 0 14 Calvin Mims 2 10 5.0 0 5 Anthony Diieso 1 5 5.0 0 5 Avion Weaver 3 4 1.3 0 2 Robert Kemfort 1 4 4.0 0 4 Morrie Roe 1 1 1.0 0 1 Tim Carey 10 -32 -3.2 1 1
Att Comp Yards Int TD Tim Carey 24 9 72 1 0 Dan Robinson 4 2 30 0 0 Charles Tharp 1 0 0 0 0
Plays Rush Pass Total Avg Charles Tharp 10 54 28 82 82.0 Tim Carey 34 -32 72 40 40.0 Dan Robinson 4 0 30 30 30.0 Quincy Jacobs 10 26 0 26 26.0 Calvin Mims 2 10 0 10 10.0 Anthony Diieso 1 5 0 5 5.0 Avion Weaver 3 4 0 4 4.0 Robert Kemfort 1 4 0 4 4.0 Morrie Roe 1 1 0 1 1.0
Rec Yards Avg TD Long Lonn Kalama 4 16 4.0 0 8 Charles Tharp 2 28 14.0 0 26 Eleu Kane 2 26 13.0 0 13 Calvin Mims 1 18 18.0 0 18 Quincy Jacobs 1 4 4.0 0 4 Wesley Morris 1 10 10.0 0 10
TD 1xp 2xp FG Pts Tim Carey 1 0 0 0 6 Chris Shinnick 1 0 0 0 6 Eric Hannum 0 2 0 3 5
No. Yards Avg Blk Long Chad Shrout 8 379 47.4 0 62 Tim Carey 2 66 33.0 0 37
No. Yards Avg TD Long Eddie Klaneski 3 29 9.7 0 15
No. Yards Avg TD Long Charles Tharp 1 34 34.0 0 34 Quincy Jacobs 1 19 19.0 0 19
No. Yards Avg TD Long Eddie Klaneski 1 0 0.0 0 0
No. Yards Avg TD Eddie Klaneski 1 78 78.0 0 Chris Shinnick 1 2 2.0 1
Una Ast Total Loss Sack Doug Rosevold 8 6 14 1 1 Kekoa Kilcoyne 7 1 8 0 0 Chris Shinnick 6 2 8 0 0 Brian Chapman 3 3 6 0 1 Eddie Klaneski 2 4 6 0 0 Ellie Kapihe 3 2 5 2 0 Ben Bright 3 1 4 1 1 Stephen Gonzales 3 1 4 1 0 Alfred Hunter 4 0 4 0 0 Punahou Aina 0 3 3 0 0 Kamuela Cobb-Adams 3 0 3 0 2 Donnell Williams 3 0 3 0 0 Tony Tuioti 1 2 3 0 0 Celnell Bobbitt 2 0 2 0 0 Matt Elam 2 0 2 0 1 Matt Paul 1 1 2 0 0 Blase Austin 1 0 1 0 0 Rinda Brooks 1 0 1 0 0 Bernard Santamaria 1 0 1 0 0 Sam Collins 0 1 1 0 0 Bob Pigott 0 1 1 0 0Team statistics
UH OPP First downs 11 13 Rush 3 5 Pass 6 5 Penalty 2 3Rushing
Attempts 36 42 Net yards 72 100 Yards per game 72.0 100.0Passing
Comp-att-inter 11-29-1 13-27-1 Net yards 102 121 Yards per game 102.0 121.0Total offense
Plays-yards 65-174 69-221 Yards per game 174 221 Points scored-average 17-17.0 3-3.0Punts
Number 10 10 Yards 445 390 Average 44.5 39.0Fumbles
Number-lost 0-0 4-2Penalties
Number-yards 8-73 8-69Sacks made
Number-yards lost 6-26 3-20Conversions
Third down 4-18 2-16 Conversion percentage .222 .125 Fourth down 0-0 1-2 Conversion percentage --- .500Time of possession
Average per game 29:12 30:48
See also, Notebook
UH Rainbow Warrior
Football Schedule
