Monday, September 27, 1999
Worst to first?
It could happen
Sure, Hawaii's only 1-0 in
the WAC, but it's the first
time since the '92 seasonUH Football 1999 special By Paul Arnett
UTEP might be WAC contender
Carter happy with role
Star-BulletinAll roads lead to 1992. You can look it up.
There was that 24-game WAC road losing streak, which followed the Halloween 1992 win at the Sun Bowl. You remember that 41-21 victory over UTEP. Travis Sims had a 99-yard touchdown run called back because Darrick Branch pushed a guy in the back near the 50.
It was a no-call. A bad call. UH associate head coach George Lumpkin said so just last week. The guy wasn't going to make the play and the ref kept Sims from making history. Don't you hate that when it happens?
Huh? What? Oh yeah. Sorry. But we digress
Hawaii snapped that distasteful string with a 20-0 victory over Southern Methodist last Saturday afternoon to run the Rainbows' winning streak to three games. Last time that happened? You guessed it. 1992.
"I was telling Matt (Paul) this is the first time we ever won wearing white,'' a reverent Tony Tuioti said a half-hour after Saturday's game was done. Paul, sitting on a bench a few feet away, smiled and just said nothing. It was Tuioti's cue.
"You just want to hold time real fast for a little bit and relish it. We expected it. We came here to take care of business in football country and then go back home proud. You can't really explain what this win means unless you've been where we've been.''
Been there and done that was the theme in the Hawaii locker room. Yes, there was plenty of celebrating going on. But it wasn't with the same fervor of snapping the 19-game losing streak or scoring 27 unanswered points in last week's win over Boise State.
It's like that first child when everything's flying fast. Holy Toledo. Light up the cigars. With the second one, it's like, "Honey, is it time to zoom in?'' And the third one, well, you're telling the doctor what to do by then.Middle man Jeff Ulbrich put it this way, "It's starting to feel like business as usual. It's not even that big of a thing that we're winning now. It's like we expect it, getting confident. You look around in the huddle and there's a whole different appearance to our team.
"To me, this is what it's supposed to be like,'' Ulbrich explained. "You go over and tell the guys, 'Nice game.' This is how it should be. Not talking about losing streaks, but winning ones.''
That takes us back to 1992 once again. The last time Hawaii was 1-0 in the WAC? Let's think a second. That's right. 1992.
The last time Hawaii opened the WAC with a win on the road? Here's a hint. Hurricane Iniki blew through town seconds after the UH team lifted off for the Air Force Academy. Rodney Glover, actor Danny Glover's nephew, came off the bench after Michael Carter and Ivin Jasper went down with leg injuries.
Some guy named Jason Elam hit a pair of field goals and missed a couple others as the Rainbows secured a rare victory at Falcon Stadium, 6-3. OK. Sorry for that momentary lapse, but just thinking about those postseason days gets you to believing that this Saturday night's game with UTEP is the next step toward brighter days.
When Adrian Klemm talked about that distinct possibility during the WAC media day this past summer, they laughed at him like the girls in "Carrie.''
"I remember telling the Fresno TV station, "I know it sounds strange coming from a team 0-12, but we have a chance to compete for the WAC championship.' And they laughed at me,'' Klemm said as he exited the famed field of the Cotton Bowl. "When they come to Honolulu next month, ask them who's laughing now?''
One person you won't catch laughing quite so loud and long is UH head coach June Jones. Last night, Big D was as distant a memory as J.R. Next up from the Lone Star State - UTEP. And to paraphrase Glenda the Good Witch, "And they're much worse than the other one was.''
Or as Jones put it, "We better start thinking about UTEP. You start thinking that you're good, that's when you get your ass beat.''
Wow. Them's fightin' words for the normally reserved Jones. But perhaps good ones. Before you start thinking about the first bowl bid since when? All right. 1992. You better learn how to deal with winning, first. Just ask former WAC members Air Force or BYU. Or current WAC foe, TCU. Take care of business before it takes care of you.
"We still can do things better, but we're getting there,'' senior quarterback Dan Robinson said. "This week, the defense bailed us out. That's what good teams do.''
Good teams usually find themselves in first place as well. And that's exactly where the Rainbows are, entering this week's homecoming game with the Miners. Last time that happened? But of course, 1992.
"It's way too soon to start thinking about a bowl bid or WAC championships,'' Jones said. "All you can do is take it one step at a time. And that next step is UTEP.''
.
UTEP might be
By Paul Arnett
WAC contender
Star-BulletinTexas-El Paso isn't exactly sending up flares for national recognition, but after the Miners' 54-23 victory over rival New Mexico State last Saturday night, Hawaii can ill-afford to take UTEP lightly.
The win over the Aggies - who were fresh off a stunning upset of then No. 22 Arizona State the week before - leveled the Miners' season mark at 2-2.
Their losses are to Kansas State and Oregon with wins over the two New Mexico schools. UTEP head coach Charlie Bailey said over the summer that the Miners would contend for the Western Athletic Conference title. Some laughed, but a win this weekend at Hawaii and who knows, he may be right.
The top two offensive players are running back Paul Smith and quarterback Jay Stuckey. Smith rushed for three touchdowns and Stuckey threw for three more to key the win over the Big West Conference Aggies.
Carter happy with
By Paul Arnett
big contribution
Star-BulletinDwight Carter was feeling a little left out after last week's victory over Boise State. Sure, he had four receptions, including one for a touchdown that helped break open the game. But he only managed 29 yards.
Instead, slotback Craig Stutzmann was the man of the hour. His nine catches, including his first collegiate score, grabbed most of the attention. Carter was down, but not out.
The senior came back this week and had nine catches for 127 yards. And while it was more to his liking, he understands that the plays called are what the defenses are willing to give up.
"Like I said last week, somebody is always open, it's just a matter of finding him," Carter said. "Sure, I want to be involved like this every week, but I understand the nature of the run-and-shoot. Each week, it's going to be somebody different. That's the beauty of it."
Carter and Stutzmann are among the nation's leaders in receptions and receiving yards. Carter is ranked No. 14 in receiving yards, averaging 103.25 a game.
He also is tied for No. 29 in receptions, averaging six a game. Stutzmann only had one catch in the win over SMU, but it was for a 13-yard touchdown. Last week, he was averaging seven catches a game. This week, he is tied for No. 44 nationally, averaging 5.5 a game.
Quarterback Dan Robinson didn't have an outstanding outing, but he did move up to No. 11 in the country in total yards, averaging 286.2 a game.
"I made a lot of mistakes," said Robinson, who threw three interceptions. "But the good thing is we won. That's the main stat."
Robinson helped lift the Rainbows to a No. 14 ranking in passing offense. Hawaii is averaging 307.3 yards a game through the air.
The Rainbows are also tied for 18th in punt returns (12.6-yard average) and are rated No. 15 in net punting (39.9 yards a game).
Punter Chad Shrout and return man Jamal Garland are responsible for those figures. Shrout is ranked 17th in punting (43.7-yard average) and Garland is ranked 19th in punt returns (12.6 yards).
The only other individual in the top 50 is cornerback Quincy LeJay. His average of .5 interceptions a game leaves him in a tie for No. 43 nationwide.
Conference Standings
Overall Conference W L T PCT. W L T PCT. PF PA Hawaii 3 1 0 .750 1 0 0 1.000 20 0 San Jose St. 2 2 0 .500 1 0 0 1.000 34 10 Fresno State 2 2 0 .500 0 0 0 .000 0 0 UTEP 2 2 0 .500 0 0 0 .000 0 0 TCU 1 2 0 .333 0 0 0 .000 0 0 Rice 1 3 0 .250 0 0 0 .000 0 0 Tulsa 1 3 0 .250 0 1 0 .000 10 34 SMU 0 3 0 .000 0 1 0 .000 0 20Last Week's Results
Hawai 20, SMU 0
Fresno St. 49, Nevada 24
TCU 24, Arkansas St. 21
Rice 20, Navy 17
San Jose St. 34, Tulsa 10
UTEP 54, New Mexico St. 23
Coming Up Saturday
Rice at Tulsa, 7 a.m.
SMU at Kansas, 9 a.m.
San Jose St. at Stanford, 11 a.m.
TCU at Fresno St., 4 p.m.
UTEP at Hawaii, 6:05 p.m.
Season Statistics
Team
Hawaii Opp FIRST DOWNS 71 88 Rushing 20 37 Passing 46 41 Penalty 5 10 RUSHING YARDAGE 262 656 Yards gained rushing 377 800 Yards lost rushing 115 144 Rushing Attempts 93 199 Average Per Rush. 2.8 3.3 Average Per Game 65.5 164.0 TDs Rushing 2 8 PASSING YARDAGE 1229 901 Att-Comp-Int. 167-89-8 130-77-4 Average Per Pass 7.4 6.9 Average Per Catch 13.8 11.7 Average Per Game 307.3 225.3 TDs Passing 8 5 TOTAL OFFENSE 1491 1557 Total Plays 260 329 Average Per Play 5.7 4.7 Average Per Game 372.8 389.3 KICK RETURNS No. -Yards 21-339 17-284 PUNT RETURNS No. -Yards 9-113 14-87 INT RETURNS No. -Yards 4-83 8-47 FUMBLES-LOST 10-6 9-4 PENALTIES-YARDS 42-364 35-269 PUNTS-AVG 23-43.7 22-39.8 TIME OF POSS. 24:45 35:15 3RD-DOWN CONV. 16/51 24/67 4TH-DOWN CONV. 1/5 2/10Rushing
Att. Yds. TD Long Weaver 32 133 1 12 Thompson 24 131 0 38 Fenderson 2 22 0 11 Grant 4 15 0 13 Stutzmann 3 10 0 4 Skinner 1 1 0 1 Robinson 24 -21 1 12 Harrison 3 -29 0 0Passing
Att. Com. Int. Yds. TD Robinson 157 83 8 1166 8 Harrison 9 6 0 63 0 Ho-Ching 1 0 0 0 0Receiving
No. Yds. TD Long Carter 25 413 2 62 Stutzmann 22 207 3 26 Harris 11 208 1 43 Lelie 11 136 0 43 Weaver 6 77 0 29 Brooks 4 107 2 80 Gray 3 31 0 18 Thompson 3 31 0 19 Sims 1 11 0 11 Colbert 1 8 0 8 de Laura 1 7 0 7 Robinson 1 -7 0 0Punting
No. Yds. Avg. Long Shrout 23 1005 43.7 60Tackles
UT AT TT Ulbrich 17 42 59 Le Jay 7 22 29 Y. Warren 7 19 26 D. Miller 12 14 26 A. Smith 4 17 21 Tucker 5 13 18 Kemfort 3 15 18 Paul 2 15 17 Austin 7 10 17 Jackson 8 9 17 Tuioti 4 12 16 Espiau 5 11 16 Ho-Ching 4 10 14 Elam 2 11 13 Correia 0 12 12 Iosua 3 7 10 Fuga 0 8 8 Garner 0 5 5 C. Brown 2 3 5 Morgan 0 4 4 Avila 0 4 4 Campbell 0 3 3 Espinoza 0 3 3 Sims 1 2 3 Garnier 1 2 3 Dietschy 0 3 3 Lelie 1 1 2 Armstrong 0 1 1 Fenderson 0 1 1 Jackson 1 0 1 Liana 1 0 1 Owen 1 0 1 Robinson 0 1 1 Shrout 0 1 1 Williams 1 0 1
