Sunday, October 7, 2001
[ UH WARRIOR FOOTBALL ]
Rolo rallies DALLAS >> A week ago Nick Rolovich was a backup the coaches were hoping to redshirt. Yesterday, he stood with his arms outstretched and screamed in triumph, and the rest of the Hawaii football team celebrated around him like it had just won the Super Bowl.
road Warriors
The quarterback finds himself
surrounded by playmakers and
uses them to get a key winGAME SUMMARY
By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comThey weren't reacting to what they'd won; it was just a game against another team without a conference victory.
It was about how they won.
And on a day when player after player stepped up and contributed for the Warriors, the one who did the most when really needed was under the most pressure.
Rolovich saved his best for after halftime as UH outlasted Southern Methodist 38-31 in overtime at Gerald J. Ford Stadium yesterday. The Warriors improved to 2-2 overall and 1-2 in the Western Athletic Conference, while the Mustangs fell to 0-4 and 0-2.
SMU was a 412-point favorite, partly because of uncertainty about how Rolovich would perform. But the senior, who began last season as the Hawaii starter only to lose the job midway through the second game, did enough to win in place of injured starter Tim Chang.
"He made the throws when he had to," UH coach June Jones said. "I was happy for him because he's a heckuva competitor. It's a heckuva win, one he'll never forget."
Neither will the rest of the Warriors, who were snakebitten last week at home against Rice. They lost 27-24 to the Owls despite a 21-7 halftime lead, and Chang, their starter and offensive leader, fell to injury.
For the first 30 minutes yesterday, it looked like misfortune followed UH across the Pacific and half the continent.
A rough first half ended with Hawaii down 17-3, as SMU's David Page found Chris Cunningham for touchdown passes of 21 and 33 yards.
But after the break, Rolovich completed 16 of 24 passes for 211 yards (he finished 31 of 51 for 325 yards, two TDs and two interceptions). His second-half completions included two touchdowns to Tafiti Uso, another backup pressed into action.
Rolovich's increasing efficiency combined with Thero Mitchell's 116 yards and two touchdowns rushing, a defense that also got better as the game went along and two blocked punts by Robert Grant to deliver UH's first road victory after five losses away from Hawaii.
"If you get five turnovers, you better win the game," Hawaii defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said.
Said Mustang coach Mike Cavan: "Mistake-wise, this is the ugliest game I've seen in a while. We just continue to make way too many of them to win."
But none of SMU's four lost fumbles, nor UH freshman Abraham Elimimian's interception led directly to points. Despite all the Mustang miscues, the Warriors did it the hard way.
The second Rolovich-Uso scoring connection, a 6-yarder, came in overtime, which was forced by a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by SMU's Jonas Rutledge with 2:50 left in the game.
"We've had so many things go against us," Jones said. "We hadn't had a kickoff return, but that was a big one to overcome."
Hawaii had another chance to win in regulation. But Justin Ayat, who made one of five field goals, missed from 47 yards out.
In overtime, both teams start at the opponents' 25, first-and-10. Uso scored the eventual game-winner two plays after Rolovich found Ashley Lelie for a 22-yard pass on third-and-11.
When SMU got its chance, Page could manage only one complete pass in six tries, as the Warrior defense stopped the Mustangs four times from the 5.
UH allowed a season-low 377 total yards, and that included the defense's only breakdown of the second half, a 90-yard touchdown pass from David Page to Johnnie Freeman that made it 24-10 SMU with 8:25 left in the third quarter.
But UH's defense stiffened the rest of the way and the offense began to click.
"In the first half we played well, but we made a couple mistakes," said defensive end Travis Laboy, who had three tackles-for-loss among his five stops. "We just had to execute the way we did in the first half and things would turn out better. And they did.
"Today you saw so many guys step up, man. Tafiti Uso. Rolovich, Abe Elimimian, Thero. It was unbelievable," Laboy added. "This is what it's about, right here."
Rolovich, who had thrown only one pass (an incompletion) this season, started in place of the nation's leader in total offense; Chang was out with a sprained right (throwing) wrist.
After Rolovich was intercepted twice in the first half, it appeared Hawaii would lose its third consecutive game. But he adjusted after halftime, not trying to force long passes against the Mustangs' capable corners, Kevin Garrett and Rutledge. Both intercepted him in the first half.
"They played with my eyes. I had to come back and play with theirs a little bit, and throw what they gave me and not force it down the field," Rolovich said. "I think they were a little scared of our speed, but their corners played our outside men real well.
"I was always comfortable," Rolovich said. "It's just, it's a lot different when you're in the game, there's stuff flying all around. But I was ready to play."
So was Mitchell. He played more than usual, because starter Mike Bass sprained an ankle.
Mitchell also scored on an 8-yard run with 3:08 left in regulation to give Hawaii its first lead, 31-24. He carried eight times for 42 yards on the drive and was rarely brought down on first contact.
"God, he's a workhorse and the O-line did great, they fought for every yard," Rolovich said. "They did a great job of keeping our defense rested."
It fit perfectly into Jones' plan of running the ball at least 30 times (UH rushed 43 times for 148 yards), to take pressure off Rolovich.
Then again, by the end of the game, the quarterback seemed to thrive on it.
GAME SUMMARY
HAWAII 0 3 21 7 7 38 SMU 10 7 7 7 0 31
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
SMU-- FG Crowley 37, 8:55
SMU-- Cunningham 21 pass from Page (Crowley kick), 1:41 Second Quarter
HAW-- FG Ayat 21, 1:33
SMU-- Cunningham 33 pass from Page (Crowley kick), 0:28 Third Quarter
HAW-- Mitchell 2 run (Ayat kick), 9:39
SMU-- Freeman 90 pass from Page (Crowley kick), 8:25
HAW-- Uso 45 pass from Rolovich (Ayat kick), 7:04
HAW-- Bhonapha 38 blocked punt return (Ayat kick), 0:11 Fourth Quarter
HAW-- Mitchell 8 run (Ayat kick), 3:08
SMU-- Rutledge 92 kickoff return (Crowley kick), 2:50 Overtime
HAW-- Uso 6 pass from Rolovich (Ayat kick), 0:00
Attendance--12,082.
Team Statistics
UH SMU First downs 30 15 Rushes-yards 43-148 34-121 Passing 325 256 Comp-Att-Int 31-51-2 11-25-1 Return Yards 67 106 Punts-Avg. 3-36 4-21 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 4-4 Penalties-Yards 11-88 4-36 Time of Possession 51:51 23:09
Individual Statistics
RUSHING -- Hawaii: Mitchell 21-116, Bass 12-38, Rolovich 9-3, McBriar 1 (minus 9). SMU: Briggs 9-37, Kincade 11-34, Cunningham 1-29, Page 13-21.PASSING -- Hawaii: Rolovich 31-51-2-325. SMU: Page 11-25-1-256.
RECEIVING -- Hawaii: Lelie 10-121, Harris 6-57, Stutzmann 6-50, Uso 4-66, Colbert 2-17, Bass 2-13, Rolovich 1-1. SMU: Cunningham 4-85, Ford 2-54, Freeman 1-90, Cardwell 1-15, Hampton 1-6, Pipkins 1-3, Briggs 1-3.
MISSED FIELD GOALS -- Hawaii: Ayat, 53, 37, 52, 47.
Grant's second punt block swung momentum to UH [EXTRA POINT]
It was one of many wild plays and apparent game-turners yesterday.
But when Hawaii's Robert Grant blocked an SMU punt for the second time, the ball went into the hands of teammate Keith Bhonopha and the momentum and six points went to Hawaii.
Bhonopha raced 38 yards into the Southern Methodist end zone for UH's first special-teams touchdown since 1994.
It tied the score at 24 with 11 seconds left in the third quarter, and the Warriors would never trail again.
Grant tied the school mark of two blocked kicks in one game, joining Niko Noga and Matthew Harding in the record book.
Wagner headed here with Texas-El Paso [COMING UP]
Three of the last four Hawaii head coaches -- dating back to 1977 -- will be at Aloha Stadium on Saturday when Texas-El Paso comes calling.
Current UH coach June Jones and KFVE commentator Dick Tomey will be joined by UTEP defensive coordinator Bob Wagner.
Wagner ran the Hawaii defense for Tomey before taking over as Rainbows head coach in 1987 and holding the head post through the 1995 season.
Wagner has a worrisome and busy week ahead of him; UTEP (2-3, 1-2 WAC) was whipped 56-7 by Alabama yesterday.
The Miners are 0-3 on the road.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii