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Friday, September 22, 2000
Warriors’ second EL PASO, Texas -- It would be unfair to say that this is a must win for the University of Hawaii football team. Making that claim in only the second game of the season is a bit much.
game of season may
be their biggest
A win on the road against
2001 Schedule
Texas-El Paso will help UH
get back on trackBy Paul Arnett
Star-BulletinBut tomorrow night's Western Athletic Conference opener at Texas-El Paso's famed Sun Bowl could be a harbinger of things to come. Beat the Miners and the Warriors are off to the same kind of solid start they had a year ago en route to a postseason appearance.
"This is a big game for us in several ways," Hawaii head coach June Jones said as his team arrived in El Paso today. "We have some goals as a team that we would like to reach, one of them being in a bowl game.
"But to do that, we need to come out and execute our game plans on both sides of the football. This is an improved UTEP team. They have goals of their own. To beat them at home, we're going to have to come out and play hard and play well."
As poorly as Hawaii executed two weeks ago in the season-opening loss to Portland State, the Warriors never let their shoulder pads sag. They played hard until the final gun sounded, a fact not lost on the UH coaching staff. It's one thing to lose because the execution was missing in action. It's quite another to quit and just go home.
"We were encouraged by the way the kids played from the first quarter to the fourth," UH defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said. "You watch the film of the game and the effort was there. We just had breakdowns that led to touchdowns. That's something we can correct."
Jones feels the keys to victory are twofold. First, Hawaii must not give up big plays on defense. A 70-yard bomb for a touchdown need not apply. Instead, the defense must make plays to give the offense a chance to do some damage.
Second, the offense must do a better job of moving the football on sustained drives. To do that, the running game needs to come to life to keep first-year quarterback Nick Rolovich from feeling too much pressure to produce.
He can ill afford to throw costly interceptions at critical moments, as he did in the 45-20 defeat to the Vikings. Instead of third and long, Jones would like to see the Warriors moving the sticks with pass completions on first and second down.
"I tried to force things a few times and it cost us," Rolovich said last week. "The bye gave me some time to review the things I did wrong. I've got to make the right reads against defenses designed to stop what we want to do. I didn't do that often enough against Portland State."
It would be inaccurate to say it all begins and ends with Rolovich. But as the quarterback in the run-and-shoot, Rolovich has to make the right decisions and put the ball in there where a receiver can catch it. Too often in the opener, his passes came up short or were knocked away by linebackers dropping back into a zone.
"Nick is going to be fine," Jones said. "He just needs a little seasoning, more game experience. I thought his first game was better than Dan's (Robinson) first game. And look what he ended up doing before the season was over."
If the offense clicks, then the defense has to do its part as well against an improved UTEP offense. Granted, the Miners will try to establish the run. But they also throw the ball with regularity. They are averaging nearly 31 attempts a game and UTEP head coach Gary Nord said the Miners will pass as many times as necessary.
"This is shaping up to be like an old-time WAC game where the team that scores last wins," Nord said. "We know what Hawaii wants to do and they probably have a good idea of what we like to do."
UTEP quarterback Rocky Perez likes to pass to tight end Brian Natkin and wideout Lee Mays. Perez is second in the WAC in passing efficiency, made even more impressive when considering the Miners have played not only conference foe Southern Methodist, but Big 12 powers Oklahoma and Texas A&M as well.
But the real key could be the UTEP defense. Last year, Hawaii ran well against UTEP's defensive packages that often included six defensive backs. Jones expects more of the same this year, but he believes they'll do a better job against the run.
"The biggest improvement on this team is defense," Jones said. "They're a lot quicker to the football and their defensive backs do an excellent job of closing on the receiver. That means Nick has to be able to squeeze it in there and make the right decisions.
"This is a big game for both teams. Any time you play a conference game, it's important because you can't lose too many of these and have a chance to compete for the title. We still feel we have a good football team. We just need to go out and show it."
First-time opponent Iowa State and new Western Athletic Conference member Boise State highlight the 2001 University of Hawaii football schedule released today. UH releases 2001
schedule:The Warriors will play nine games in the islands, kicking off the season on Sept. 1 against Iowa State at Aloha Stadium. Hawaii takes on I-AA Montana on Sept. 8, a game that will either be played at Aloha Stadium or War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku, Maui.
Three road games will be played at Nevada, SMU and Tulsa.
The Warriors finish out the year with two nonconference foes: Miami of Ohio Nov. 17, and former WAC member Air Force on Nov. 24.
(x- Western Athletic Conference game) UH FOOTBALL
2001 SCHEDULE
Sept. 1: Iowa State
2000 UH Football Special
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
