By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
The Rainbows' offensive line kept the heat off
sophomore quarterback Josh Skinner Saturday against
Fresno State. The Bulldogs had a school-record 12 sacks
against Utah the previous week, but were
unable to get to Skinner.
Special to the Star-Bulletin Rainbows’ offensive line
By Dave Reardon
makes a stalwart statement
For all the hype about how much brains it takes to play offensive line, it's often amazingly simple. It usually comes down to three words, which we modify by one letter for Hawaii's 28-16 victory over Fresno State on Saturday. Mass moves . . . Gass.
A.J. Gass, that is, and the rest of his undersized mates on the Bulldog defense.
"They just came out and kicked our ass up and down the field and we couldn't stop them," said Gass, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound linebacker and the smallest of a front seven that averages less than 230 pounds.
The Rainbows used the size of its offensive line -- about 280 pounds per player -- to open holes for freshman tailback Charles Tharp (29 carries for 143 yards) and to protect fledgling quarterback Josh Skinner (11 of 15 passing and no sacks).
"Total domination," left tackle Adrian Klemm said. "We're bigger up front, so we played smash face, every now and then changing it up with something different. Coach (offensive coordinator Wally) English's plan was to just run it until they stop us and they never did."
The previous week, Fresno State had 12 sacks in upsetting Utah, and Hawaii was flogged, 63-0, at Colorado State.
"This kind of stuff happens all the time in college football," Fresno State coach Pat Hill said. "We knew what we were walking into."
Fresno State had few chances to use its best defensive weapon -- an all-out blitz -- because the Rainbows were rarely in must-pass situations.
"We were able to stay on schedule," Hawaii offensive line coach Greg Olejack said of how the early downs belonged to the Rainbows' big boys and Tharp's gritty running.
Hawaii lost yardage on first down twice while the game was in question. And the Rainbows didn't hurt themselves. They were called for only one false start.
"The better we do on first down, the easier it is for the coaches to call plays," center Shane Oliveira said.
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
UH’s Blase Austin brings down
Fresno State’s Damon Hicklin.
As the Bulldogs began keying on Tharp, Skinner rolled out and completed short passes to six receivers."We couldn't get them into any third- and-long situations," Hill said. "They were more physical than us and stuck it up our rear end."
That also applied to Hawaii's goal-line stand early in the third quarter. With the Rainbows leading, 14-10, the Bulldogs had a first and goal at the Rainbow 1. They knocked four times but got no answer and no points.
Hawaii then went 99 yards on 16 plays, chewing 7:55 of game time. It was a statement by the offensive line, not only to their opponent, but to their teammates and fans.
"The backs always thank us; they help us off the ground. But we feel like some people have been blaming us and stuff like that," right guard Gary Krug said. "Tonight we showed them with our blocking.
"We didn't want to become accustomed to losing. It can be contagious," he added. "Maybe now we can make winning contagious."
Not that one win makes the Rainbows one big, happy family. Klemm and a non-O-line teammate were in each other's faces near the end, when the offense failed to get a first down with less than two minutes remaining and Hawaii leading, 28-16.
"It wasn't that big a deal, but we were hearing stuff we didn't need to hear at that point after playing so good most the game," Klemm said. "Everyone took care of their assignments as individuals and we worked well together."
WAC STANDINGS
Pacific Division
WAC Overall Team W L Pct. PF PA W L Pct. PF PA Air Force 4 0 1.000 114 54 7 0 1.000 155 74 Wyoming 2 0 1.000 65 16 5 2 .714 212 113 Colorado State 2 1 .667 118 24 4 2 .667 219 112 Nevada-LV 2 1 .667 70 40 3 3 .500 146 131 Fresno State 1 0 1.000 43 13 2 4 .333 153 163 Hawaii 1 3 .250 49 139 3 3 .500 100 163 San Diego St. 0 2 .000 39 60 1 5 .167 125 194 San Jose State 0 2 .000 30 85 0 5 .000 64 195
WAC Overall Team W L Pct. PF PA W L Pct. PF PA New Mexico 3 0 1.000 96 56 6 0 1.000 215 112 Rice 2 1 .667 81 79 4 2 .667 182 175 Brigham Young 1 1 .500 33 43 3 2 .600 108 130 Utah 2 2 .500 120 68 3 3 .500 161 110 Southern Meth. 1 2 .333 51 60 2 4 .333 113 138 Texas-El Paso 1 2 .333 56 112 2 4 .333 90 222 Texas Christ. 0 2 .000 37 53 0 5 .000 73 141 Tulsa 0 2 .000 42 75 0 5 .000 103 205
Hawaii 28, Fresno State 16
Air Force 10, Navy 7
Colorado State 55, San Jose State 20
Nevada-Las Vegas 21, Texas Christian 19
New Mexico 36, San Diego State 21
Rice 27, Brigham Young 14
Southern Methodist 20, Utah 19
Texas-El Paso 33, Tulsa 18
Wyoming 34, Nevada 30
Hawaii at Brigham Young, 8 a.m.
Fresno State at Air Force, 8 a.m.
Colorado State at Wyoming, 9 a.m.
Utah at Oregon, 10 a.m.
Tulsa at Texas Christian, 3:05 p.m.
Rice at New Mexico, 3:05 p.m.
Nevada-Las Vegas at San Diego State, 3:05 p.m.
San Jose State at Texas-El Paso, 3:35 p.m.
UH STATISTICS
Individual statistics
Car Yards Avg TD Long Charles Tharp 65 358 5.5 2 55 Calvin Mims 31 146 4.7 1 21 Quincy Jacobs 45 120 2.7 2 15 Josh Skinner 24 14 0.6 1 13 Avion Weaver 9 11 1.2 0 5 Morrie Roe 9 9 1.0 0 6 Anthony Diieso 13 9 0.7 0 5 Jade Charles 2 6 3.0 0 7 Eleu Kane 3 6 2.0 0 16 Johnny Macon 3 5 1.7 0 7 Lonn Kalama 1 -2 -2.0 0 0 Robert Kemfort 2 -3 -1.5 0 4 Tim Carey 41 -115 -2.8 1 18
Att Comp Yards Int TD Josh Skinner 45 29 318 1 1 Dan Robinson 4 2 30 0 0 Tim Carey 112 68 730 5 2 Charles Tharp 1 0 0 0 0
Rec Yards Avg TD Long Lonn Kalama 19 160 8.4 0 23 Charles Tharp 13 155 11.9 1 29 Johnny Macon 12 147 12.3 0 24 Calvin Mims 12 144 12.0 0 58 Eleu Kane 11 116 10.6 0 17 Gary Ellison 8 104 13.0 2 24 John Kirby 8 99 12.4 0 21 Wesley Morris 6 92 15.3 0 30 Robert Kemfort 2 23 11.5 0 18 Morrie Roe 2 8 4.0 0 12 Quincy Jacobs 2 8 4.0 0 4 Ryan Battin 2 7 3.5 0 8 Jade Charles 1 10 10.0 0 10 Anthony Diieso 1 5 5.0 0 5
TD 1xp 2xp FG Pts Eric Hannum 0 10 0 6 28 Charles Tharp 3 0 0 0 18 Gary Ellison 2 0 0 0 12 Quincy Jacobs 2 0 0 0 12 Sam Collins 1 0 0 0 6 Calvin Mims 1 0 0 0 6 Josh Skinner 1 0 0 0 6 Chris Shinnick 1 0 0 0 6 Tim Carey 1 0 0 0 6
No. Yards Avg Blk Long Chad Shrout 39 1,837 47.1 1 71 Tim Carey 4 123 30.8 0 37 Josh Skinner 1 29 29.0 0 29 Team 1 0 0.0 0 0
No. Yards Avg TD Long Eddie Klaneski 15 96 6.4 0 32
No. Yards Avg TD Long Eleu Kane 3 88 29.3 0 46 Charles Tharp 8 192 24.0 0 35 Quincy Jacobs 1 19 19.0 0 19 Robert Kemfort 6 106 17.7 0 23 Team 1 5 5.0 0 5
No. Yards Avg TD Long Eddie Klaneski 2 0 0.0 0 0 Joaquin Avila 1 8 8.0 0 8 Al Hunter 1 1 1.0 0 1 Ron Wood 1 8 8.0 0 8 Chris Shinnick 1 0 0.0 0 0
No. Yards Avg TD Eddie Klaneski 1 78 78.0 0 Sam Collins 1 32 32.0 1 Chris Shinnick 1 2 2.0 1
Una Ast Total Loss Sack Doug Rosevold 29 20 49 6 1 Chris Shinnick 29 16 45 0 1 Eddie Klaneski 22 18 40 0 0 Brian Chapman 13 8 21 2 2 Ron Wood 17 4 21 2 1 K. Cobb-Adams 16 4 20 1 4 Matt Paul 14 5 19 0 1 Kekoa Kilcoyne 12 6 18 0 0 Al Hunter 16 1 17 0 0 Ben Bright 10 5 15 1 2 Bob Pigott 7 7 14 1 2 D. Williams 10 3 13 0 0 Sam Collins 6 6 12 0 1 Ellie Kapihe 6 6 12 3 0 Joaquin Avila 9 2 11 0 0 S. Gonzales 8 2 10 3 1 Matt Elam 7 2 9 2 2 Punahou Aina 5 4 9 2 1 C. Bobbitt 7 2 9 0 0 Mark Jenkins 3 6 9 1 0 Blase Austin 9 0 9 0 0 Tony Tuioti 2 6 8 1 0 Miles Garner 2 6 8 0 0 Rinda Brooks 6 2 8 1 0 B. Santamaria 3 1 4 0 0 R. Robinson 4 0 4 0 0 Olen Rosehill 2 1 3 0 0 Larry Slade 2 1 3 0 0 Rufus Ayeni 2 1 3 0 0 Anthony Diieso 2 0 2 0 0 Wesley Morris 2 0 2 0 0 Tim Carey 2 1 2 0 0 Chad Shrout 1 0 1 0 0 Gary Ellison 1 0 1 0 0 Kaulana Noa 1 0 1 0 0 Mark Mollner 1 0 1 0 0 Calvin Mims 1 0 1 0 0 Quincy Jacobs 0 1 1 0 0 Johnny Macon 1 0 1 0 0
Team statistics
UH OPPFirst downs 90 114 Rush 34 52 Pass 49 50 Penalty 7 12Rushing
Attempts 248 221 Net yards 564 782 Yards per game 94.0 130.3Passing
Comp-att-inter 99-162-6 102-197-6 Net yards 1,078 1,235 Yards per game 179.7 205.8Total offense
Plays-yards 410-1,642 418-2,017 Yards per game 273.7 336.2 Points scored-average 100-16.7 163-27.2Punts
Number 45 34 Yards 1,989 1,424 Average 44.2 41.9Fumbles
Number-lost 10-5 18-10Penalties
Number-yards 40-343 38-314Sacks made
Number-yards lost 19-113 27-185
UH Football Notebook
UH Rainbow Warrior
Football Schedulehttp://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
