Hawaii won't win the Western Athletic Conference football championship at home this fall. Barring a big surprise, UH can only lose the title at Aloha Stadium. Thank the schedule-maker for that. Even-numbered year means even tougher for the Warriors.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BRYANT FUKUTOMI AND CRAIG T. KOJIMA
Vince Manuwai and the Warriors will travel 32,000 miles
in their five road games this season.
From California to Utah to Texas,
Schedule
Hawaii will be severely tested
on the road like never before
Lelie, Rolo make 1st pro TDs
Sports NotebookBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comNevada, Tulsa and San Jose State -- Hawaii's three home conference opponents -- are not expected to contend. So UH needs to win those games just to ante up.
The true destiny of June Jones' band of Warriors will likely be decided thousands of miles away from Halawa, where it will be outnumbered and in some cases outranked.
The road is where UH will show it deserves the respect it craves, or where it will quickly fall into the also-ran category ... like it did in 2000, when the Warriors followed up a 9-4 campaign by losing all four WAC road games on the way to 3-9.
Hawaii plays three of those four opponents -- Texas-El Paso, Fresno State and Rice -- again this year at their places. Throw in a visit to budding nemesis Boise State and next week's nonconference encounter at rival Brigham Young, and you have perhaps UH's most challenging road schedule to date.
Tomorrow's task has nothing to do with the road, other than the 10 miles of H-1 connecting Manoa and Aiea, as UH opens at home against Eastern Illinois.
So Jones deflects most questions about future games, but he sees the road to come as an opportunity and agrees it is a major key to the season and national credibility. The college football world knows Hawaii is a tough place to play; Jones wants that reputation to follow his team wherever it goes.
"If you ever want to be the champion and the top dog, you'd better win on the road," he said.
UH overcame adversity to win at Southern Methodist 38-31 in overtime, keying last year's 9-3 ledger. The Warriors also handled Tulsa, 36-15, at Tulsa.
Here's the difference: Hawaii is 8-25-1 on the road against this year's away foes.
UH is 0-7 at BYU, and the Cougars are smarting from the 72-45 spanking the Warriors put on them last December. That was here, this is now.
None of the current UH players have played at Provo. But associate head coach George Lumpkin was with the Rainbows in Utah for five of the defeats. He said winning there is far from impossible.
"They always have a sold-out crowd and they're a feisty crowd," Lumpkin said. "When you talk about tough places to play, it's a matter of being distracted by what people are saying, what the fans are doing. As long as you're focused about what you're doing, it's OK. They're not as tough as Fresno. Fresno's constantly on your players. BYU, they're all there, and they're all yelling. But the whole thing with the road is the idea of being focused. If you're focused, it doesn't matter what the fans are doing."
After a bye, it's off to UTEP for a Sept. 21 game. The Sun Bowl was no fun bowl for linebacker Matt Wright and the rest of the Warriors two years ago. Wright gave UH a short-lived 7-3 lead with a fumble recovery in the end zone, but a holding call against Joaquin Avila on an apparent Hawaii touchdown turned the momentum and the Miners won 39-7.
Although UTEP is not predicted to contend in the WAC this year, Wright said playing there (where UH is 5-7) will still be difficult.
"The town itself is a tough place. It's dry, it's real hot, it's right on the border," said Wright, now a senior starting linebacker. "They have great fans down there. They really get into it. With UTEP, the fans and the environment help them a lot. Playing any game on the road is tough. But you have to win on the road in order to be a successful team."
After a Sept. 28 home game against SMU, the Warriors go to Boise State -- a place where they've never played -- on Oct. 5. The Broncos are 19-1 at home the past three seasons, and are the favorites to win the WAC this year. This is among four or five games most likely to be the conference's biggest of the year.
Then it's back to Aloha Stadium for Nevada and Tulsa on Oct. 12 and 19. The road calls again the following week, when UH visits Fresno State on Oct. 25.
Team captain Chris Brown, now a senior linebacker, was a defensive lineman when FSU rolled up 435 yards on UH in winning 45-27 at Bulldog Stadium in 2000. A rabid gathering of 42,160 did more than watch.
"It seemed like they had the media guide with them, they were reading off our stats and our biographies and our hobbies and everything," Brown said. "It was scary. Give them credit, because they eat you alive.
"Fresno is the worst place to play for me," he added. "The crowd is notorious. I remember practicing and there's a frat house right next door. The guys were yelling, screaming their heads off. There was a guy at the game dressed up like a skeleton, screaming and yelling, chewing everybody out."
Brown said there is no secret to dealing with a taunting, hostile crowd. He hopes the experience of having been there helps.
"It bothers you. No matter what, it will bother you," Brown said. "But now I think we're straight business. We go over there, beat them and leave.
"Ultimately, that's what you really want to do. We don't have time to play these games and get into these things with them. That's what we want to do, not play around with them."
After hosting San Jose State on Nov. 2, the Warriors get a bye week to prepare for Rice's option offense, which they encounter at Houston on Nov. 16.
Quarterback Tim Chang was a true freshman when Dan Dawson intercepted him three times (one of five picks of Chang) in a 38-13 loss there in 2000.
"The fact that we haven't beaten them yet really puts a dent in our minds," Chang said. "I know I had my worst game at Rice. They're well-disciplined, well-coached. They play together. All 11 guys are always on the same page and doing the same thing."
The season concludes with three nonconference home games: Cincinnati (Nov. 23), Alabama (Nov. 30) and San Diego State (Dec. 7). The Warriors would love to be at least 7-3 going into that final gauntlet and be qualified for the ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl.
That would take a Herculean road effort, but one of which they think they are capable.
"I think we can win every road game," Chang said.
They did it before, winning all three away games in 1999 and grabbing a share of the WAC title.
But to paraphrase Robert Frost, it's 32,000 miles before the Warriors sweep ... or, as they've done often in the past, weep.
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All times Hawaii time UH schedule
* WAC gameAug. 31, Eastern Illinois, 6:05 p.m.
Sept. 6, at Brigham Young (ESPN), 1 p.m.
Sept. 21, at UTEP*, 3:05 p.m.
Sept. 28, SMU*, 6:05 p.m.
Oct. 5, at Boise State*, 2:05 p.m.
Oct. 12, Nevada*, 6:05 p.m.
Oct. 19, Tulsa*, 6:05 p.m.
Oct. 25, at Fresno State* (ESPN2), 3 p.m.
Nov. 2, San Jose State*, 6:05 p.m.
Nov. 16, at Rice*, 10 a.m.
Nov. 23, Cincinnati, 6:05 p.m.
Nov. 30, Alabama, 3:05 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 7, San Diego State, 6:05 p.m.
... In 2001, senior quarterback Nick Rolovich became a starter in the fourth game of the year, and quarterbacked Hawaii to eight wins in nine contests. UH finished the season 9-3 (5-3 WAC). Rolovich's run included an astounding 20 TD passes and 1,548 yards passing in his last three games.
He holds 20 school passing records despite starting only 12 games in his career.
Today, Rolovich is trying to make the Denver Broncos as a free agent.
UH Athletics
