Sports Watch
JUNE Jones hopes that when people told him getting the University of Hawaii's head football coaching job was a win-win situation, they weren't referring to how many games his Rainbows would win this season. Rainbows hope
there’s more to comeJones and his players expect more. And so do the fans, who also became believers after Hawaii ran away from Boise State, 34-19.
"We'll get better. We'll get better," was Jones' mantra-like promise after the season-opening shellacking by USC.
They seem to be, although even Jones didn't expect them to become better that quickly as they did coming out of the locker room after halftime.
When Boise State took a 19-7 lead at halftime, nonbelievers thought, oh-oh, UH was back to its losing ways.
Surprise. The Rainbows scored 27 unanswered points and pitched a shutout on defense to win their second straight game.
What happened?
The Rainbows put it all together, that's what.
"The kids are coming of age. They've started to play together and believe in one another," said defensive coordinator Greg McMackin.
Once again, linebacker Jeff Ulbrich was the defensive ringleader with 17 tackles and two sacks.
ON offense, the 'Bows were unstoppable once they weren't dropping passes as they did in the slow-starting first half.
This is not to say that they will continue their modest winning streak at Southern Methodist Saturday. They've been road-kill, losing 15 in a row and 24 straight in Western Athletic Conference play.
But sophomore wide receiver Craig Stutzmann, who caught nine passes for 77 yards and a touchdown against Boise State, believes UH's losing ways, even on the road, will soon be over because of Jones' offense.
"There's no way you can stop this offense if we execute, get our reads right, catch and protect the ball," Stutzmann said.
"I swear the only ones who can stop it are ourselves," said running back Avion Weaver, enjoying a breakthrough game.
"It's good that the kids are feeling that way. That's the attitude you've got to have. That you can't be stopped," Jones said. "We certainly had the plays there to be made in the first half, but we didn't make them."
The 'Bows did after intermission, as Avion came calling off the bench to help spark a stirring comeback.
He scored the Rainbows' first rushing touchdown of the year to make it 19-14, after Jamal Garland's 46-yard punt return and Dan Robinson's 31-yard completion to Channon Harris helped to get it to the Broncos' 4-yard line.
THE touchdown was Weaver's first as a Rainbow in 26 games. He then came up with perhaps the game's biggest play with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
The 'Bows faced a third-and-15 on their own 12 when Weaver took a shovel pass from Robinson and broke it for a 29-yard gain that led to an 83-yard, go-ahead TD drive.
The 'Bows continued to hurt themselves with careless penalties, including three more personal foul infractions - making it six this season.
One of them can be forgiven. It was on Chad Shrout, who nailed a Boise State punt returner out of bounds.
"It's the best hit I've ever seen a punter make," Jones said.
"I saw him on the sidelines, but I didn't think he was out of bounds. It was fun, still," Shrout said. The rest of his teammates joined in the fun in the second half.