Sunday, November 11, 2001
[ UH WARRIOR FOOTBALL ]
Broncos rein The magic finally ran out for the Hawaii football team last night -- to the disappointment of the vast majority of a homecoming crowd of 40,600 at Aloha Stadium.
in Warriors
Boise State scores late in the game
to end Hawaii's hopes for a
piece of the WAC titleDinwiddie, Forsey bounce back big
GAME SUMMARY
By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com
Instead of Ashley Lelie catching a game-winning touchdown pass, as he did against Fresno State two weeks ago, the largest group to watch the Warriors this season saw the star receiver fall to the turf -- without the ball -- on fourth-and-18 with time running out.
Boise State (6-4, 5-2 Western Athletic Conference), which had momentum wrested away in the second half, grabbed back just enough to beat Hawaii 28-21. UH (6-3, 5-3) had its five-game winning streak and slim league championship and bowl hopes dashed.
"We might not be WAC champions, but we'll come back. We've got three games left and we'll play our asses off. We promise three more exciting games," defensive end Joe Correia said. "But this was hard to take. It was like someone died."
Hard to take because UH fought back from a 20-9 halftime deficit with big defensive plays. Three Broncos turnovers led to 14 Warrior points, and Hawaii held a 21-20 lead with time running down. The Warriors even had the ball, thanks to Sean Butts' block of a Boise State field-goal attempt, his second blocked kick of the game.
But after Justin Ayat -- who had made three first-half field goals for all of Hawaii's points before intermission -- missed a 52-yard attempt with 6 minutes and 12 seconds left, Boise State took over at its own 35 and Brock Forsey took over the game.Forsey carried four times for 32 yards of the eight-play drive, including the final 4 yards into the Hawaii end zone for his second touchdown and the eventual game-winning points. Ryan Dinwiddie hit Jeb Putzier for a 2-point conversion.
Completions for first downs to tight ends Rocky Atkinson and Lou Fanucchi also contributed to the drive.
"We drew it up on the sidelines," BSU coach Dan Hawkins said. "We didn't have it in the game plan."
The Warriors mounted what started out as a promising last-gasp effort as Nick Rolovich hit Lelie for completions of 24 and 11 yards that went for first downs.
But a sack and a bad snap pushed UH back to its own 37 with less than two minutes left and facing fourth and 18.
Lelie said he might have been interfered with by safety Quintin Mickell on the final play.
"I don't want to complain. It's a contact sport and you've got to be physical, but he did grab me down," Lelie said.
UH receiver Justin Colbert was more upset, saying he was interfered with on an incomplete pass earlier in the final drive.
Hawaii coach June Jones declined to comment on the officiating.
"We just needed to make a few more plays," he said.
UH's offense started slowly again, but Rolovich finished with 23 completions in 45 attempts for 258 yards and a touchdown.
Channon Harris turned in season-highs in receptions (10) and receiving yards (112).
Two of Hawaii's best defenders did not play.
Outside linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa (stress fracture in his right leg) and right end Travis Laboy (high right ankle sprain) were out with injuries. They are tied for the team-high in tackles for loss with 10 each and sacks with four each.
Boise State led at the end of the first half thanks to two long touchdown drives and a 98-yard kickoff return by David Mickell.
Mickell also scored on a 1-yard run at 6:47 of the first quarter, capping a 13-play, 73-yard drive, putting BSU up 6-3 after Nick Calaycay's extra-point attempt was blocked by Butts.
Ayat's second of three field goals, for 47 yards, tied it at 6 with 5 seconds left in the first quarter.
But Boise State grabbed the lead back immediately as Mickell took the kickoff and ran untouched up the left sideline and into the UH end zone.
Ayat kicked another 47-yarder to close the gap to 13-9 with 10:23 left in the half.
The Broncos padded the margin to 11 points with an 11-play, 77-yard drive that consumed 3:16 of the last 3:40 of the half, culminating in Forsey's 6-yard TD pass from Dinwiddie.
Hawaii came back with two touchdowns set up by Boise State turnovers.
Mike Iosua's interception led to Ayat's first of two missed field goals in the second half, but Kelvin Millhouse intercepted his third pass in two games three plays later.
The Warriors didn't waste that gift, as Rolovich found Lelie for a 22-yard TD with 5:29 left in the third quarter, making it 20-15.
On BSU's next series, Chris Brown forced Forsey to fumble and Hyrum Peters recovered. Thero Mitchell scored on a 1-yard run at 1:16 of the quarter, and UH led 21-20 after Hawaii failed on a second-consecutive 2-point conversion attempt.
But the UH defense, which had given its offense the ball three times and no points to BSU in the second half, had little left.
"It was like a different game in the second half, really playing well and playing aggressively," defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said. "Just that one drive there at the end. We were worn down. We missed (Laboy and Tinoisamoa), but everyone played as hard as they could."
Boise State needs one win in its final two games to qualify for its third consecutive Humanitarian Bowl -- which Boise hosts. The Broncos now have two big road conference wins, after having also knocked off Fresno State three weeks ago.
"It's tough duty over here, but our guys kept hanging in there," Hawkins said. "One of the things about a successful team is they can win in hostile places."
WAC STANDINGS
CONFERENCE OVERALL W L PF PA W L PF PA Str La. Tech 6 1 292 216 6 3 356 294 W3 Boise State 5 2 251 178 6 4 329 264 W1 Fresno St. 4 2 229 156 8 2 354 244 W2 Rice 4 2 226 193 7 3 286 281 W1 Hawaii 5 3 277 180 6 3 307 192 L1 San Jose St. 3 3 214 199 3 6 254 324 W1 Nevada 2 4 187 225 2 7 224 339 L1 SMU 2 4 138 216 2 6 155 242 L2 UTEP 1 5 122 251 2 7 187 339 L5 Tulsa 0 6 112 262 1 8 170 344 L8 Yesterday
Fresno State 38, SMU 13
Rice 59, Tulsa 32
San Jose State 64, Nevada 45
Louisiana Tech 53, UTEP 30
Boise State 28, Hawaii 21
Nov. 17
Louisiana Tech at Kansas State
San Jose State at Boise State
SMU at Tulsa
Fresno State at Nevada
UTEP at Rice
Miami (Ohio) at Hawaii, 6:05 p.m.
[GAME SUMMARY]
Scoring summary
BOISE STATE 13 7 0 8 28 HAWAII 6 3 12 0 21 First Quarter
BSU--Mikell 1 run (kick blocked), 6:47. Haw--FG Ayat 47, 0:05.
BSU--Mikell 98 kickoff return (Calaycay kick), 0:00.
Second Quarter
Haw--FG Ayat 47, 10:23.
BSU--Forsey 6 pass from Dinwiddie (Calaycay kick), 0:24.
Third Quarter
Haw--Lelie 22 pass from Rolovich (pass failed), 5:29.
Haw--Mitchell 1 run (pass failed), 1:16.
Fourth Quarter
BSU--Forsey 4 run (Putzier pass from Dinwiddie), 3:15
Attendance--40,600
Team statistics
BSUHawFirst downs2523
Rushes-yards49-18720-080
Passing211258
Comp-Att-Int18-32-223-46-1
Return Yards6436
Punts-Avg.3-36.33-45.0
Fumbles-Lost2-11-0
Penalties-Yards8-707-50
Time of Possession34:2025:40
Individual statistics
RUSHING -- Boise State: Forsey 29-132, Dinwiddie 10-28, Mikell 6-28, Gilligan 1-2, team 3-(-3). Hawaii: Bass 7-48, Rolovich 8-21, Mitchell 4-16, team 1-(-5).
PASSING -- Boise State: Dinwiddie 18-32-2-211. Hawaii: Rolovich 23-45-1-258, Bass 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING -- Boise State: Forsey 6-46, Putzier 4-60, Fanucchi 3-72, Atkinson 2-28, Swillie 2-(-6), Swenson 1-11. Hawaii: Harris 10-112, Lelie 4-77, Stutzmann 4-19, Colbert 3-37, Mitchell 1-11.
[EXTRA POINT]
Game turns on Bass' incomplete halfback pass
Hawaii, which had surged back from a 20-9 halftime deficit, led 21-20 midway through the fourth quarter, and had the ball third-and-2 at the Boise State 34.The Warriors tried a halfback option pass, but Mike Bass' first attempted pass of the season fell well short of the intended receiver, Ashley Lelie.
"It was a planned play, and I have no regrets calling it," Hawaii coach June Jones said.
Justin Ayat then missed a 52-yard field goal.
Boise State took over at its 34 and mounted the game-winning drive.
Hawaii did get the ball back for one last drive, but UH lost the ball on downs at its own 37 and BSU ran out the clock.
[COMING UP]
Miami makes long trip after tough setback
Miami of Ohio comes to Hawaii this week after a deflating loss. Miami fell to Marshall 27-21 at home yesterday in a game that determined the Mid-American Conference East champion.The Redhawks (7-3) need to shake off their first loss after seven wins in a row to make their first football encounter with Hawaii a successful one. Miami's only other losses were to Iowa and Michigan.
Freshman quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was 16 of 29 for 210 yards yesterday and was held without a touchdown pass for the first time in his 10-game career. He has thrown for 21 TDs and 11 interceptions.
The Redhawks are the eighth of Hawaii's first 10 opponents this year to face the Warriors after losing the week before.
Dave Reardon, Star-Bulletin
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii