Sunday, February 3, 2002
[ HULA BOWL ]
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WAILUKU, Maui >> When Nick Rolovich was here in September, he walked away not having played a down. Rolo wows ’em on Maui
By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comBut as the sun set over the west Maui mountains yesterday, he left War Memorial Stadium on top of the college football world and as a bonafide NFL prospect, clutching two trophies and dreams that now seem very attainable.
Rolovich passed for three touchdowns on his way to offensive MVP honors as his Aina team beat the Kai team 45-28 at the Hula Bowl. He completed 10 of 18 passes for 171 yards and was intercepted twice and was also named Aina MVP.
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Rolovich and his teammates this week -- including seven other Hawaii seniors -- generated the most points by a Hula Bowl team since 1968. It was the biggest two-team point total since 1971 (the year a record 74 points were scored), even though three minutes mysteriously disappeared from the game clock in the fourth quarter.If they noticed, none of the more than 10,000 in attendance -- including hundreds of pregame and halftime performers complained, as the outcome had been decided much earlier.
For Rolovich, it was the end of a long season that began in early September with him standing on a War Memorial sideline. He was a backup who didn't play in Hawaii's season-opening victory over Montana.
But after leading UH to eight wins in its last nine games, and passing for 20 touchdowns in the last three, he was invited to the Hula Bowl.
He made the most of it.
"I believed I could do it," he said. "But I needed all those guys out there."
"Those guys" included his Warrior teammates and an Aina secondary that came up with six interceptions, including two each by Ahmad Brooks and Jermaine Chatman. Nate Jackson and Dante Wesley also grabbed errant Kai passes.
It was the Nick and Pick show.
"We had no idea it would be like this," Chatman said. "But Coach (Dick) Tomey did a great job coaching us up in the secondary."
Tomey, the former UH coach, coached Chatman at Arizona.
"You've got to give him credit," Chatman said. "He really took this seriously and pushed us and we pushed each other. There was a lot of unity on our team."
It resembled a typical Hawaii game this season, with the defense creating opportunities for an offense capable of scoring quickly.
"It was like a continuation of our season," UH defensive end Joe Correia of Makawao said. "It was great to be able to show we could play with the nation's best."
Rolovich didn't have his favorite target, Ashley Lelie. But he thrived on the novelty of throwing to a tight end, a facet not included in the Warriors' run-and-shoot. Justin Peelle of Oregon caught two first-half TD passes from Rolovich. The first was for 3 yards, and the other, a 12-yarder, gave the Aina a 28-7 lead it took into halftime.
He also connected with Miami's Daryl Jones on a 38-yard score.
Rolovich, who got most of the Aina snaps in the first half, played sparingly in the second half. While he fretted slightly over the two interceptions he yielded, Rolovich outplayed Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch (4-for-11 with 3 interceptions) and the other four quarterbacks.
"Nick played super," said Aina assistant Steve Spurrier, the former Florida coach. It was also his last college game, as he is headed to the Washington Redskins.
Spurrier complimented Rolovich throughout the week. Kai coach Dennis Erickson did likewise after yesterday's game, and said Rolovich has a shot at getting drafted and sticking with an NFL team.
"I think he does, he has a real good chance," Erickson said. "He's just got to play more. He's a JC transfer, but I watched him play a few games this year and it seemed like he got better with every game."
Kai MVP Chester Taylor of Toledo tried to get his team back into it in the second half with touchdown runs of 6 and 3 yards, but it was too late.
"We didn't execute," Erickson said. "Both teams were pretty sloppy early, both made turnover after turnover. But then they took advantage of some of ours."