Monday, November 8, 1999
Also receiving
votes ... Hawaii
The pollsters take notice as
the Rainbows receive votes in
both the media and coaches pollsHawaii jumps in scoring offense By Paul Arnett
Bulldogs haven't traveled well
Conference Standings
Star-BulletinFor those of you who stuck your head in a cold bucket of water just to make sure you weren't California dreaming last Saturday afternoon, go get a 10-pound bag of ice because you're going to need it.
Not only did Hawaii receive two points in this week's Associated Press Top 25, the Rainbows nailed down five points in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll as well.
At the beginning of the season, the only people allowed to think such nonsense were the players and coaches on the Rainbows' football team. Spouses and girlfriends don't count.
The rest of you who actually thought in the light of day with people all about that such a turnaround was indeed possible, go to the medicine cabinet. Just because it happened doesn't make you sane.
Reality says this Saturday night at Aloha Stadium Hawaii is playing for a share of the Western Athletic Conference title and a bid from Bowl Games Hawaii to take part in the Christmas Day doubleheader. It's true. Even Rainbows head coach June Jones is willing to articulate the popular rage. Well, sort of.
"I'm not going to change my philosophy until we get that seventh win,'' Jones said. "We're just going to worry about Fresno State. The second-half of our season goal was to be 6-3 at this point. We wanted a shot at it with three home games left.
"I'm not talking about too much of anything accept Fresno State. All those championships and all those bowls take care of themselves if you just keep winning. We probably have a shot to be in a bowl game and we have a shot to win the title, so, we'll see how it goes.''
If there was a defining moment for last year's downtrodden Rainbows, it was the brutal loss at Fresno State.
There, at fog-shrouded Bulldog Stadium, Fresno State took the last bite of the Fred vonAppen era and spit it out on the grass in the form of a 51-12 beating. Anybody who saw that game won't soon forget the carnage or the shocked silence in the dressing room.
Now, nearly a year later, the teams meet again on the artificial surface of Aloha Stadium. San Jose State can tell it's hated rival that payback, island-style, isn't pretty.
The Godfather's Michael Corleone described it this way, "Today, I settle all family business.''
Or as senior offensive tackle Adrian Klemm said after Hawaii secured the bizarre 62-41 victory over San Jose State, "At the beginning of the year, nobody believed we would be playing for the conference championship this weekend. But tell Fresno State they'd better believe it."
You won't have to tell the Bulldogs anything. Fresno State head coach Pat Hill will do it for you during this week's practice. As unlikely as it was for Hawaii to be in this position, many preseason magazines tabbed the Bulldogs as the team to beat.
Now, the WAC title will very likely be decided Saturday night. The last time a Rainbow game held this much import was seven years ago against Wyoming. That night, Hawaii clinched it first conference co-championship.
That title wasn't nearly improbable as this possibility. Oh, like this year's team, that one was picked to finish eighth. But in 1992, Bob Wagner's eventual seven-win about-face began at the end of 1991. Hawaii nearly stunned Notre Dame the last game of that season and it carried over into the 1992 campaign.
This year's team entered 1999 with the nation's longest losing streak and extended it to 19 games after being blown out in the season opener with Southern California. But instead of pushing the panic button, Jones told them it was only one game. Think about it tonight, put it behind you tomorrow.
Now, eight games and six victories later, the Rainbows stand on the threshold of one of the nation's greatest swings since Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. Even Jones conceded the Rainbows are where they want to be.
"I'm feeling great about being 6-3 and proud of the guys winning three on the road,'' Jones said.
Not even the championship team of 1992 turned that trick. The last time it happened was 1988. Jones was in his final year with the Houston Oilers back then. But he's here now and has the Rainbows closing in on possibly the greatest turnaround in NCAA history.
It's time for the bucket. And throw in a little ice while you're at it.
Associated Press
Utah quarterback Darnell Arceneaux eludes Wyoming nose guard Jason Dreessen while scrambling for a first-quarter touchdown.
Hawaii jumps in scoring offense
By Paul Arnett
Star-BulletinProducing 62 points in one game helped Hawaii finally crack the top 50 in scoring, something head coach June Jones figured the Rainbows would eventually do.
All season, Hawaii has produced a lot of yards, but it hadn't always translated into points. But all that changed in Hawaii's 62-41 win over San Jose State.
Hawaii jumped from a tie for 68th nationally in scoring last week to a tie for 39th this week, averaging 28.3 points a game.
Quarterback Dan Robinson and his receiver corps helped make that happen. Robinson threw four touchdown strikes and ran for another, while slotbacks Craig Stutzmann and Channon Harris proved their worth.
Stutzmann hauled in eight passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a rushing score of 9 yards early in the fourth quarter.
"The best part of the game was how everybody kept coming back to the huddle with a big grin," Stutzmann said, who is now tied for 39th nationally in receptions, averaging 5.4 a game. "We knew we were going to win."
Harris had a career afternoon, catching seven passes for 148 yards and one score. The slotback set the tone early with a 42-yard scoring grab on UH's opening series.
"I didn't drop that one, did I?" said Harris, who earlier in the season had a penchant for letting sure scoring grabs slip through his fingers. "We keep getting better every week. If we execute, we can score on anybody."
Robinson was a key ingredient for the Rainbows' continued improvement. He is ranked 50th in the nation in passing efficiency and is 11th in total offense, averaging 302.6 yards a game.
Hawaii is now in the top 10 in passing, just behind Brigham Young, which is ranked ninth. The Rainbows are averaging 321.3 yards a game through the air and are rated 22nd in total offense with a 413.4-yard average.
Wideout Dwight Carter had a relatively quiet afternoon in San Jose, Calif., but he's still ranked 16th in receiving yards (95.89) and is tied for 19th in th e country in receptions per game at 6.2.
"In this offense, everybody is going to share in the wealth," said Carter. "I know it can't be just me every week. The only thing we all care about is getting the win."
NEXT GAME:
UH vs. Fresno State,
Nov. 13, 6:05 p.m. HSTBulldogs haven't traveled well
By Paul Arnett
Star-BulletinFresno State travels as well as twin 5-year-olds on a cross-country summer vacation. Since Pat Hill took over as head coach three years ago, the Bulldogs are a woeful 5-11 on the road.
"Now, we've got to go in there and try to get a win in one of the toughest venues in our league," Hill said.
The Bulldogs are alone in first place and can capture their first WAC title if they win their final two games with Hawaii and San Jose State.
A split, and the best Fresno State can do is a co-championship, which will still be good enough to put the Bulldogs in the Las Vegas Bowl next month.
As for Hawaii, it must beat Fresno State to be WAC co-champions for the second time this decade.
Conference Standings
Overall Conference W L T PCT. W L T PCT. PF PA Fresno State 7 3 0 .700 4 1 0 .800 139 98 Hawaii 6 3 0 .667 4 2 0 .667 183 137 Rice 5 5 0 .500 4 2 0 .667 169 131 Texas Christian 4 4 0 .500 3 2 0 .600 172 99 Southern Methodist 2 5 0 .286 2 2 0 .500 79 78 Texas-El Paso 4 6 0 .400 2 3 0 .400 129 154 San Jose State 3 6 0 .333 1 4 0 .200 108 205 Tulsa 2 7 0 .222 1 5 0 .167 115 192
Hawaii 62, San Jose St. 41 Last Week's Results
Fresno St. 47, Rice 18
Tulsa 43, UTEP 19
CS-Northridge at SMU, 10 a.m. Coming Up Saturday
UTEP at Rice, 10 a.m.
Louisiana-Monroe at Tulsa, 10 a.m.
North Texas at TCU, 10:05 a.m.
Fresno St. at Hawaii, 6:05 p.m.
Season Statistics
Team
Hawaii Opp FIRST DOWNS 188 181 Rushing 49 82 Passing 121 80 Penalty 18 19 RUSHING YARDAGE 829 1416 Yards gained rushing 1073 1739 Yards lost rushing 244 323 Rushing Attempts 230 408 Average Per Rush. 3.6 3.5 Average Per Game 92.1 157.3 TDs Rushing 11 15 PASSING YARDAGE 2892 1836 Att-Comp-Int. 415-220-13 260-153-15 Average Per Pass 7.0 7.1 Average Per Catch 13.1 12.0 Average Per Game 321.3 204.0 TDs Passing 19 14 TOTAL OFFENSE 3721 2911 Total Plays 645 597 Average Per Play 5.8 4.9 Average Per Game 413.4 361.3 KICK RETURNS No. -Yards 31-616 44-800 PUNT RETURNS No. -Yards 28-221 24-203 INT RETURNS No. -Yards 15-230 13-144 FUMBLES-LOST 23-13 21-10 PENALTIES-YARDS 90-778 86-651 PUNTS-AVG 45-41.4 53-40.4 TIME OF POSS. 26:45 33:15 3RD-DOWN CONV. 46/126 48/133 4TH-DOWN CONV. 6/15 6/15Rushing
Att. Yds. TD Long Weaver 81 468 4 47 Thompson 74 359 3 38 Stutzmann 6 36 1 9 Fenderson 2 22 0 11 Grant 5 17 0 13 Phillips 0 6 0 0 Liana 1 5 0 5 Harris 1 3 0 3 Sims 2 2 0 5 Garland 1 1 0 1 Gray 1 1 0 1 Skinner 1 1 0 1 Team 1 -1 0 0 Ho-Ching 1 -1 0 0 Harrison 8 -13 1 5 Robinson 45 -77 2 14Passing
Att. Com. Int. Yds. TD Robinson 394 211 12 2801 19 Harrison 20 9 1 91 0 Ho-Ching 1 0 0 0 0Receiving
No. Yds. TD Long Carter 56 863 5 62 Stutzmann 49 501 7 34 Harris 42 669 4 48 Lelie 25 375 1 43 Thompson 17 127 0 25 Weaver 13 136 0 29 Brooks 5 116 2 80 Gray 3 31 0 18 Sims 2 57 0 46 Butts 2 14 0 14 Colbert 2 7 0 8 de Laura 1 7 0 7 Noa 1 -1 0 0 Owen 1 -3 0 0 Robinson 1 -7 0 0Punting
No. Yds. Avg. Long Shrout 44 1861 42.3 60Tackles
UT AT TT Ulbrich 35 81 116 Y. Warren 24 40 64 D. Miller 25 35 60 LeJay 16 40 56 Paul 14 38 52 N.Jackson 16 29 45 Kemfort 11 29 40 A. Smith 11 29 40 Tucker 14 17 31 Tuioti 6 25 31 Austin 13 17 30 Correia 5 19 24 Iosua 6 15 21 Elam 3 14 17 Sims 4 13 17 Avila 2 14 16 Espiau 5 11 16 Ho-Ching 5 11 16 Garnier 5 8 13 Fuga 1 9 10 Garner 0 9 9 Armstrong 1 7 8 C. Brown 4 4 8 Fenderson 2 6 8 Phillips 1 7 8 Campbell 2 5 7 Espinoza 2 4 6 Morgan 0 4 4 Shrout 2 2 4 Williams 3 1 4 Butts 2 1 3 Dietschy 0 3 3 Harris 1 1 2 Lelie 1 1 2 Liana 1 1 2
