Monday, October 8, 2001
Sept. 25, 1999: The Hawaii football team captured its first road victory in four years, beating Southern Methodist, 20-0, at the Cotton Bowl. The Rainbows won the rest of their WAC road games on the way to a share of the conference championship and a 9-4 season. After beating SMU, what
Hawaii does next is pivotalThe Warriors hope to use the
win as a springboard to further
success this seasonASK THE COACH
UH STATISTICSBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com
Oct. 14, 2000: Hawaii beat SMU, 30-15, at Aloha Stadium. It was UH's first victory of the year. But the Warriors won only two more games and finished 3-9.
Last Saturday: The Warriors bounced back from two tough conference losses and outlasted the Mustangs, 38-31, in overtime.
So what's it gonna be this time -- springboard or false hope?
Saturday's win was way more gritty than artistic. And it wasn't against a very good team. But it was a conference game, on the road -- one in which UH dealt with adversity from before the trip even began (starting quarterback Tim Chang's injury) to the last series (a four-down defensive stand at the 5-yard line).
The Warriors say those are reasons it can be the starting point of something special.
"We certainly hope it is," coach June Jones said. "You've got to win your close games. To do it on the road is even bigger for us. It gives us confidence for the next time we go on the road."
That will be in two weeks at Tulsa, the third and last road game of the season.
This Saturday, UH hosts Texas-El Paso, and Hawaii wants to keep the momentum it generated in the second half and overtime at SMU.
The Miners went 8-4 last season, tied for first in the WAC and beat the Warriors, 39-7.
UTEP was blown out, 56-7, by Alabama last Saturday and fell to 2-3. Former Rainbows head coach Bob Wagner is the Miners' defensive coordinator.
Hawaii defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said Saturday it doesn't matter who the Warriors play next. He feels they've turned a significant corner.
"I don't know anything about UTEP. All I know is us. We needed this (victory at SMU). On the road, in the conference, to get our confidence back."
Several players said they were inspired by Jones' halftime speech Saturday. What do you tell a team that has lost two straight and is behind 17-3 at halftime?
"He gave us a don't-give-up speech," junior guard Vince Manuwai said. "He told us about how he went to three different colleges before he really got his chance at Portland State. The moral of the story was don't give up. Then we broke with a big 'Believe,' and went out and did it."
The biggest offensive playmakers were invisible men before Saturday.
Junior running back Thero Mitchell, backup to freshman Mike Bass all season, rushed for 116 yards and two TDs. Senior wide receiver Tafiti Uso, who had one catch going in, played the entire second half and grabbed four receptions for 66 yards and two touchdowns.
And, of course, there was senior quarterback Nick Rolovich, pressed into action due to Chang's injury. He merely led a struggling team to victory after a year on the bench with a savvy performance that got better as the game wore on.
After a shaky first half, Rolovich completed 16 of 24 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns. He finished 31 of 51 for 325 yards and two first-half interceptions. Take out the three times he was sacked and Rolovich scrambled for 30 yards on six carries.
The controversy mongers are already out, comparing Chang and Rolovich -- and Bass and Mitchell, and Uso and starting wideout Justin Colbert. It takes a lot for a Jones starter to lose his job, and the three incumbents have played well.
Still, it will be interesting to see if Rolovich's second half Saturday hastens Chang's recovery, if Mitchell gets a chance to continue his James Fenderson impersonation, and if Uso tempts Jones into a five-receiver set now and then.
Meanwhile, Lempa said he will continue to shuttle 20 players in and out on defense, using certain guys in certain down-and-yard situations and keeping them fresh overall. The defense has some new standouts, too, in sophomore end Travis Laboy and freshman cornerback Abe Elimimian.
Special teams remain wildly unpredictable, and Hawaii won despite four missed field goals, a bad punt snap and giving up a touchdown on a kickoff return.
But the Oakland Skyline connection of Robert Grant and Keith Bhonopha made up for it after Grant blocked his second punt of the game and the ball went right to Bhonopha, his former high school teammate. Bhonopha took it in for UH's first special teams touchdown since 1994. And it was Grant's second blocked kick of the game, putting him in the record book with Niko Noga and Matt Harding.
Jones said the Warriors would need lots of other players to step up with Chang out of the lineup. And that's exactly what happened Saturday.
"This whole week we were talking about how we needed to hang together," Mitchell said. "The last couple games were some wins we should've got. It was real important that the team hung together."
Said Manuwai: "We made some mistakes, but we got the W and that's what matters. It's a lot of boost. After getting a taste of this feeling the team's going to want it every week now."
ASK THE COACH
10 questions with Hawaii Coach June Jones
The day after each Hawaii football game this season the Star-Bulletin will ask coach June Jones 10 questions. Here is what Jones had to say after Hawaii's 38-31 overtime win over SMU on Saturday at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas. To Jones, all road wins are big
Star-Bulletin: SMU wasn't exactly Florida, but the circumstances make this a big win. Where does it rank among your victories at UH?
June Jones: I'd say it's equal to the road wins in 1999. They were all big because they were conference wins on the road. This will do great things for our confidence because we came from behind on the road.
SB: You're 2-0 in overtime now. Any secrets?
JJ: None that I'm aware of. Obviously it's important to score a touchdown, especially if you go first.
SB: What was Nick Rolovich's most important improvement after the first half?
JJ: I think he made some key third-down plays. Keeping the drives alive in clutch situations kept us going.
SB: Are there other injuries in addition to Mike Bass' sprained ankle and Hyrum Peters' hamstring?
JJ: Mike Iosua hurt his shoulder again, but he's been playing with that for over a year now. We'll know more about their status tomorrow.
SB: Your plan of running the ball at least 30 times to take pressure off Rolovich worked well. If he's your starter next week, will you shoot for that again?
JJ: It really depends on how the game goes, what the defense is doing. If they take away the run, that won't work.
SB: Robert Grant seems to be one of those guys who finds different ways to help the team every game. What makes him special?
JJ: He's a good athlete and he can run. He has the willingness to learn things, to put in the extra time away from the practice field.
SB: Is there anything technical that the field goal unit needs to do better, or were those just plain misses.
JJ: They were just misses. Justin Ayat will be OK.
SB: It doesn't take much for a quarterback controversy to get started. If Tim Chang is healthy, who's your starter now?
JJ: (Chang's) my starter and will be. I'm of the school that the best player plays, and he's our best quarterback. Rolo did a good job for us, but Timmy's our best quarterback.
SB: What about other positions like running back after Thero Mitchell's big game and the X wide receiver spot with Tafiti Uso emerging?
JJ: We'll play it the same way, with Mike Bass starting if he's healthy at running back. Tafiti and Justin Colbert will split time, with Justin continuing to start.
SB: We're guessing you might have been hoping Oklahoma beat Texas since the Longhorns dropped off your schedule last year. Did you pay much attention to the other game in Dallas on Saturday?
JJ: I rooted for Oklahoma because their offense is similar to ours.
Dave Reardon, Star-Bulletin
[UH STATISTICS]
TEAM STATISTICS
HAWAII SMU FIRST DOWN 98 86 Rushing 23 48 Passing 63 30 Penalty 12 8 RUSHING YARDAGE 331 718 Yards gained rushing 474 848 Yards lost rushing 143 130 Rushing attempts 114 184 Average per rush 2.9 3.9 Average per game82.8 179.5 Touchdowns rushing 5 1 PASSING YARDAGE 1453 859 Att-Comp-Int 200-117-9 119-63-2 Average per pass 7.3 7.2 Average per catch 12.4 13.6 Average per game 363.2 214.8 Touchdowns passing 8 8 TOTAL OFFENSE 1784 1577 Total plays 314 303 Average per play 5.7 5.2 Average per game 446.0 394.2 KICKRETURNS: No-Yds 11-249 13-312 PUNTRETURNS: No-Yds 12-146 6-20 INT. RETURNS: No-Yds 2-38 9-271 FUMBLES-LOST 6-1 9-7 PENALTIES-YARDS 32-266 33-271 PUNTS-AVG 17-35.3 21-28.6 TIME OFPOSSESSION/GAME 33:46 30:00 3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS 24/46 26/63 4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS 2/7 0/2
RUSHING
G Att Net Avg TD Long Bass 4 55 260 4.7 1 34 Mitchell 4 31 143 4.6 4 23 Ala 2 4 7 1.8 0 6 Rolovich 2 9 3 0.3 0 11 Team 4 1 -1 -1.0 0 0 Kapanui 1 1 -4 -4.0 0 0 McBriar 4 1 -9 -9.0 0 0 Flint 2 3 -17 -5.7 0 0 Chang 3 9 -51 -5.7 0 0 Total 4 114 331 2.9 5 34
PASSING
G Att Comp Int Yds TD Long Chang 3 140 83 6 1100 6 52 Rolovich 2 52 31 2 325 2 45 Flint 2 8 3 1 28 0 11 Total 2 92 56 3 738 4 52
RECEIVING
G Rec Yds Avg TD Long Lelie 4 37 558 15.1 3 49 Stutzmann 4 20 238 11.9 1 30 Colbert 4 20 238 11.9 0 52 Bass 4 12 80 6.7 0 24 Harris 4 17 211 12.4 1 30 Mitchell 4 4 35 6.7 0 24 Uso 2 5 87 17.4 2 45 Owens 2 1 5 5.0 1 5 Rolovich 2 1 1 1.0 0 0.5 Total 4 117 1453 12.4 8 52
TOTAL OFFENSE
G Plays Rush Pass Tot Avg Chang 3 149 -51 1100 1049 349.7 Rolovich 2 61 3 325 328 164.0 Bass 4 55 260 0 260 65.0 Mitchell 4 31 143 0 143 35.0 Flint 2 11 -17 28 11 5.5 Ala 2 4 7 0 7 3.5 Team 4 1 -1 0 -1 -0.2 Kapanui 1 1 -4 0 -4 -4.0 McBriar 4 1 -9 0 -9 -2.2 Total 4 314 331 1453 1784 446.0
SCORING
TD FG 1XP 2XP Tot Ayat 0 5-11 13-14 0 28 Mitchell 4 0-0 0-0 0 24 Lelie 3 0-0 0-0 0 18 Uso 2 0-0 0-0 0 12 Harris 1 0-0 0-0 0 6 Stutzmann 1 0-0 0-0 0 6 Bass 1 0-0 0-0 0 6 Owens 1 0-0 0-0 0 6 Bhonapha 1 0-0 0-0 0 6 Total 14 5-11 13-14 0 112
PUNTING
No. Yds Avg Long McBriar 17 620 36.5 56 Total 17 620 36.5 56
PUNT RETURNS
No. Yds Avg Td Long Herbert 8 81 10.1 0 28 Jackson 2 8 4.0 0 7 Grant 2 19 9.5 0 0 Bhonapha 0 38 0.0 1 38 Total 5 55 11.0 0 22
KICK RETURNS
No. Yds Avg TD Long Tate 5 132 26.4 0 57 Colbert 3 86 28.7 0 40 Kauka 2 15 7.5 0 12 Mitchell 1 16 16.0 0 16 Total 11 249 22.6 0 57
INTERCEPTIONS
No. Yds Avg Td Long Elimimian 1 11 11.0 0 11 Grant 1 27 27.0 0 27 Total 2 38 19.0 0 27
TACKLES
G UT AT Tot Tinoisamoa 4 31 11 42.0 Brown 4 32 9 41.0 Peters 4 29 4 33.0 Espiau 4 15 12 27.0 N.Jackson 4 19 7 26.0 Grant 4 15 10 25.0 LaBoy 3 13 5 18.0 Correa 4 9 5 14.0 Hoohuli 4 7 7 14.0 Butts 4 8 3 11.0 Iosua 3 7 4 11.0 Ala 4 10 0 10.0 Samuseva 4 6 4 10.0 Wright 3 7 2 9.0 Elimimian 4 6 3 9.0 Millhouse 4 6 3 9.0 Alapa 2 4 4 8.0 Correia 3 5 3 8.0 Clowers 4 5 2 7.0 K.Jackson 4 5 1 6.0 Liana 2 3 1 4.0 Hunter 4 2 1 3.0 Stutzmann 4 2 0 2.0 Ayat 4 2 0 2.0 Bhonapha 2 0 2 2.0 Manuma 1 2 0 2.0 Riccardi 1 2 0 2.0 Williams 2 0 2 2.0 Cravalho 2 1 0 1.0 Tafuna 1 1 0 1.0 Faaliliu 2 1 0 1.0 Rolovich 2 1 0 1.0 Fuata 2 1 0 1.0 Morgan 2 1 0 1.0 Mitchell 4 1 0 1.0 Harris 4 1 0 1.0 Kapanui 1 1 0 1.0 Chang 3 1 0 1.0 Lelie 4 1 0 1.0 Andrews 3 0 0 0 Total 4 263 105 368.0
UH Athletics
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