Monday, October 15, 2001

[ UH WARRIOR FOOTBALL ]

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Warriors look ahead to
-- but not past -- Tulsa

The Golden Hurricane lost to
UTEP, but UH won't beat itself
by thinking about Fresno

ASK THE COACH
UH STATISTICS

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By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

Matt Wright was joking, intending no malice toward the team Hawaii had just embarrassed on the field 66-7.

"We need to play UTEP more often," the Warriors' junior linebacker said.

Well, for its next opponent, UH has to settle for something even better, technically at least: a team the Miners have beaten.

Saturday's foe is Tulsa, and Hawaii (3-2, 2-2 WAC) will be on the road. But the Golden Hurricane has been a disappointment this fall. Tulsa is 1-4 and 0-4 in the conference, including a 26-10 loss at Texas-El Paso.

So if you believe in comparative scores, UH should be a huge favorite.

But even after their most lopsided victory in 22 years, the Warriors are wary of taking the Hurricane lightly.

"Nevada wasn't a great team, but they kicked us all over the field," junior linebacker Chris Brown said. "We have to take these guys as serious, if not more serious than UTEP, because we're on the road. It's going to be a big challenge for us, but I think that we're going to keep going with this defense."

Hawaii hasn't won three consecutive WAC games since 1992. Another dose of big-play defense could help UH achieve that this week and give it a head of steam going into the Oct. 26 matchup with No. 8 Fresno State at Aloha Stadium.

But the Warriors aren't even thinking about the Bulldogs yet.

"Basically we have to take it one game, one week at a time, look at the film of each opponent as they come along," safety Robert Grant said.

Grant, Wright and Kelvin Millhouse returned interceptions for touchdowns against the Miners. Wright's 90-yard runback tied the fourth-longest in school history.

UTEP quarterback Wes Phillips missed a wide-open Joey Knapp on the play. It was typical of the Miners' night, as their own miscues did them in as much as Hawaii's opportunism and gang tackling did.

"We had the right plays a lot of the time. We didn't execute our plays and that's what ended up hurting us the most," UTEP wide receiver Lee Mays said.

It was the second consecutive game in which Hawaii's opponent turned the ball over five times. The Warriors are finally on the plus-side in turnover differential.

Even if it continues to improve on defense, UH knows it can't count on as many gifts from the Hurricane. Tulsa ranks second in the nation in fewest fumbles lost, fifth in turnovers lost and 34th in turnover margin.

The Hurricane beat the Warriors 24-14 last year at Aloha Stadium as Donald Shoals scored on a punt return and a pass from Josh Blankenship.

Shoals has three consecutive 100-yard-plus receiving games. But Tulsa has lost all three games, including last week's 41-10 failure at Boise State.

True freshman Tyler Gooch has assumed the starting job from Blankenship, though the latter still threw 24 passes against the Broncos.

Warriors coach June Jones said Tim Chang is still his starter, although the 2000 WAC Freshman of the Year has sat out the past two weeks nursing a sprained (right) wrist. Backup Nick Rolovich has led UH to two victories in his absence.

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ASK THE COACH

10 questions with University of Hawaii Coach June Jones

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Jones: Takeaways were a key

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 66-7 victory over Texas-El Paso on Saturday at Aloha Stadium.

Star-Bulletin: Have you been involved in a more lopsided game as a coach or a player?

June Jones: I've been involved in a couple of them like that at Portland State when we won that big. But I don't think I've ever been in one where the defense scored three touchdowns like that.

SB: Could Tim Chang have started Saturday?

JJ: Yes. But we were a little worried that if Timmy went down on his wrist again he might be out another couple weeks.

SB: Any thoughts who you might go with this week at quarterback?

JJ: There's a high probability that Tim Chang will start at Tulsa.

SB: The slotbacks ran the ball for the first time this season. Any particular reason?

JJ: This particular opponent did some things that made it a good play for us. But the blocking is basically the same as it is for the fullback runs.

SB: How pleased are you with the turnover ratio the past two games?

JJ: "It's a key stat. We've emphasized it and the players have done a great job. The first guy tackles and the second guy rips the ball out. Obviously we're starting to get some interceptions now, too.

SB: After such a huge win what is the thing or two you need to improve?

JJ: Playing consistently and being the best you can be every week. We weren't perfect. That's what we're always striving to be. There's nothing specific, the same general things. We didn't have a whole lot of missed assignments, but we didn't execute on a couple things that we've got to make sure we do properly. We had some chances on long balls. They were pretty good throws, we just didn't hit 'em. Sometimes you hit 'em, sometimes you don't.

SB: How does it feel to have put together as many wins as you did last season in less than half a season this year?

JJ: I don't think of it in those terms. I haven't thought much about last season at all.

SB: How do you guard against a letdown at Tulsa on Saturday?

JJ: We're on the road in the conference. There won't be a letdown.

SB: Is what seems to be happening to UTEP this season similar to what happened to your team last year -- a bad year after winning the WAC?

JJ: I don't see any similarities other than they lost some key people like we did.

SB: Who gets the unsung hero award this week?

JJ: The offensive line played very well overall. The defense played great team football, hustling to the ball every play. They work on that in practice every day.

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Dave Reardon, Star-Bulletin

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[UH STATISTICS]

TEAM STATISTICS

	HAWAII	OPP
FIRST DOWN	126	100
Rushing	37	58
Passing	76	33
Penalty	13	9

RUSHING YARDAGE	505	876
Yards gained rushing	689	1038
Yards lost rushing	184	162
Rushing attempts	147	229
Average per rush	3.4	3.8
Average per game	101.0	175.2
Touchdowns rushing	8	2

PASSING YARDAGE	1769	945
Att-Comp-Int	239-137-10	150-73-5
Average per pass	7.4	6.3
Average per catch	12.9	12.9
Average per game	353.8	189.0
Touchdowns passing	11	8

TOTAL OFFENSE	2274	1821
Total plays	386	379
Average per play	5.9	4.8
Average per game	454.8	364.2

KICK RETURNS: No-Yds	12-266	24-502
PUNT RETURNS: No-Yds	17-171	7-42
INT. RETURNS: No-Yds	5-193	10-315
FUMBLES-LOST	8-2	13-9
PENALTIES-YARDS	40-336	42-337
PUNTS-AVG	20-33.7	31-29.3
TIME OF POSSESSION/GAME	29:13	30:47
3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS	28/69	30/82
4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS	2/8	3/5

TOTAL OFFENSE

	G	Plays	Rush	Pass	Tot	Avg
Chang	4	149	-51	1100	1049	262.2
Rolovich	3	101	-31	577	546	182.0
Bass	5	73	406	0	406	81.2
Mitchell	5	32	144	0	144	28.8
Flint	3	16	-16	92	76	25.3
Total	5	386	505	1769	2274	454.8

RUSHING

	G	Att	Net	Avg	TD	Long
Bass	5	73	406	5.6	2	34
Mitchell	5	32	144	4.5	5	23
Owens	3	1	33	33.0	1	33
Stutzmann	5	2	15	7.5	0	11
Withy-Allen	1	2	7	3.5	0	4
Herbert	4	1	7	7.0	0	7
Ala	3	4	7	1.8	0	6
Kauka	5	1	0	0.0	0	0
Team	5	2	-3	-0.6	0	0
McBriar	5	1	-9	-9.0	0	0
Flint	3	4	-16	-4.0	0	1
Rolovich	3	14	-31	-4.0	0	11
Chang	4	9	-51	-5.7	0	0
Total	5	147	505	3.4	8	34

PASSING

	G	Att	Comp	Int	Yds	TD	Long
Chang	4	140	83	6	1100	6	52
Rolovich	3	87	48	3	577	5	45
Flint	3	12	6	1	92	0	45
Total	5	239	137	10	1769	11	52

RECEIVING

	G	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Lelie	5	39	614	15.7	5	49
Colbert	5	25	295	12.8	0	52
Stutzmann	5	23	277	12.0	1	30
Harris	5	19	234	12.3	1	30
Bass	5	15	114	7.6	1	24
Uso	5	7	108	15.4	2	45
Mitchell	3	6	57	9.5	0	21
Owens	3	3	24	8.0	1	13
Gossett	1	1	45	45.0	0	45
Rolovich	3	1	1	1.0	0	1
Total	5	137	1769	12.9	11	52

SCORING

	TD	FG	1XP	2XP	Tot
Ayat	0	6-12	22-23	0	40
Lelie	5	0-0	0-0	0	30
Mitchell	5	0-0	0-0	0	30
Bass	3	0-0	0-0	0	18
Owens	2	0-0	0-0	0	12
Uso	2	0-0	0-0	0	12
Bhonapha	1	0-0	0-0	0	6
Grant	1	0-0	0-0	0	6
Harris	1	0-0	0-0	0	6
Wright	1	0-0	0-0	0	6
Stutzmann	1	0-0	0-0	0	6
Millhouse	1	0-0	0-0	0	6
Total	23	6-12	22-23	0	179

PUNTING

	No.	Yds	Avg	Long
McBriar	20	716	35.8	56
Total	20	716	35.8	56

PUNT RETURNS

	No.	Yds	Avg	Td	Long
Herbert	10	95	9.5	0	28
Owens	3	11	3.7	0	10
Jackson	2	8	4.0	0	7
Grant	2	19	9.5	0	0
Bhonapha	0	38	0.0	1	38
Total	17	171	10.1	1	38

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	2	33	16.5	0	17
Total	12	266	22.2	0	57

INTERCEPTIONS

	No.	Yds	Avg	Td	Long
Grant	1	27	27.0	0	27
Total	1	27	27.0	0	27

TACKLES

	G	UT	AT	Tot
Tinoisamoa	5	39	12	51.0
Brown	5	37	12	49.0
Espiau	5	22	12	34.0
Peters	4	29	4	33.0
N.Jackson	5	23	7	30.0
Grant	5	19	11	30.0
Laboy	4	14	11	25.0
Correa	5	10	6	16.0
Samuseva	5	10	6	16.0
Hoohuli	5	9	6	15.0
Wright	4	10	4	14.0
Iosua	4	9	5	14.0
Butts	5	8	5	13.0
Alapa	3	10	2	12.0
Elimimian	5	8	3	11.0
K. Jackson	5	8	3	11.0
Milhouse Jr.	5	6	3	9.0
Correia	4	5	3	8.0
Clowers	5	5	2	7.0
Liana	3	4	1	5.0
Williams	3	2	2	4.0
Riccardi	2	4	0	4.0
Cravalho	3	3	0	3.0
Wills	2	3	0	3.0
Bhonapha	3	1	2	3.0
Hunter	4	2	1	3.0
Ayat	5	3	0	3.0
Harley	1	2	0	2.0
Morgan	3	2	0	2.0
Kapanui	2	2	0	2.0
Manuma	2	2	0	2.0
Stutzmann	5	2	0	2.0
Berryman	2	1	0	1.0
Fuata	3	1	0	1.0
Faaliliu	3	1	0	1.0
Tafuna	2	1	0	1.0
Withy-Allen	1	1	0	1.0
Kauka	5	1	0	1.0
Harris	5	1	0	1.0
Mitchell	5	1	0	1.0
Chang	4	1	0	1.0
Lelie	5	1	0	1.0
Total	5	328	130	458.0

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UH Athletics
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