Sunday, October 7, 2001
[ UH WARRIOR FOOTBALL ]
DALLAS >> After scoring two touchdowns in Hawaii's season-opening victory over Montana, junior running back Thero Mitchell played sparingly in UH's losses at Nevada and against Rice. Mitchell tops 100-yard
mark for first time
By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com
He waited patiently and responded yesterday with UH's first 100-yard rushing game since James Fenderson did the trick in a victory over Louisiana Tech last season.
In addition to scoring two touchdowns, Mitchell also helped eat the clock and wear down the SMU defense in the fourth quarter when UH appeared to have control.
"I'm glad I got a chance to go in there and help the team," said Mitchell, whose role expanded yesterday when starter Mike Bass tweaked an ankle. "That was big that we could get some time off the clock and keep our defense off the field and let them rest. We just really wore their defense down, the offensive line actually did it."
The Warriors have now won the last four games in which they've had a 100-yard rusher.
Mitchell said the tough loss to Rice at home last week helped UH handle the pressure of overtime yesterday. "Man, we were ready for adversity. That kickoff return they had, we were ready to come back," he said. "I'm stupefied right now. That was a crazy game right there.
"This is up there with that Fresno State game in '99," he added. "The championship wasn't on the line, but it was just as exciting and almost as important for us."
Lelie heats up: Hawaii wide receiver Ashley Lelie was among several Warriors to improve his performance in the second half. He finished with 10 catches for 121 yards, his third 100-yard receiving game of the season. He ran his consecutive game streak with at least one catch to 24.
Lelie, with 2,186 career receiving yards, needs 69 yards to match Chris Roscoe at No. 2 on UH's all-time list.
Uso was ready: Senior receiver Tafiti Uso was also waiting in the wings. "I've liked him since he got here," UH coach June Jones said yesterday of the Stanford transfer. "I planned to play him in the second half today."
Uso responded with four catches for 66 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner in overtime. "I've been ready to go for a while. I'm thankful Coach Jones gave me a shot," he said. "We cleaned it up in the second half. I think we tried to establish the run a little more and control the ball."
Short yardage: The Warriors are scheduled to arrive in Honolulu today at 5:31 p.m. aboard Delta flight 1579 from Los Angeles. ... SMU released an attendance figure of 12,082, but the crowd appeared to be about 8,000. ... The 377 yards yielded by Hawaii's defense was the lowest since UH's 27-10 victory over Louisiana Tech on Nov. 18 of last year. ... The victory was the first for Nick Rolovich in three career starts at quarterback for the Warriors. ... Defensive end Wayne Hunter did not play due to back spasms and flu symptoms. ... Linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa, who had three sacks in Hawaii's 30-15 victory over SMU last year and was named WAC Defensive Player of the Week, was in on five tackles yesterday. ... Rolovich was credited with a completed pass to himself when he caught a deflected ball. ... KFVE's telecast went down right before Justin Ayat's failed attempt at a game-winning field goal in regulation. The signal was restored while Hawaii was making its winning drive in overtime.
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