DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii cornerback Kelvin Millhouse brought down Nevada running back B.J. Mitchell last night. Mitchell had 73 yards rushing.
Wolf Pack caught The first quarter lasted 75 minutes. For Nevada, the long night was just beginning.
in a whirlwind
Notes / Stats
Sidelines
Warriors romp
Komine makes the most of opportunity
By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comThe most points the Wolf Pack had given up was in a 31-7 loss against Washington State in the season opener. Hawaii had 35 points with 5:50 to go in the first quarter of last night's Western Athletic Conference football game at Aloha Stadium.
It didn't end there. Nevada, yielding an average of 26.6 points a game before last night, gave up nearly twice that in the first half alone. Hawaii sprinted into the locker room with a 52-22 halftime lead.
What could Nevada coach Chris Tormey tell his team when the Warriors were able to score nearly three points for every minute they had the ball?
"We told them that we can't undo what's behind us, we have to look forward and come out in the second half and never let it be said that Wolf Pack quit," said the third-year coach. "We gave up three big plays early in the game. I think our guys were a little bit shell-shocked. We weren't able to recover. We played tentative. And Hawaii played lights-out."
Little things led to the lights being turned out early for Nevada:
Missed blocking assignments. Missed signals on deep coverage. Young corners and defensive backs against Hawaii's speedsters. Confusion on the field, leading to several delay of game penalties and two timeouts within the first 10 minutes of the first quarter.
It added up to a 59-34 defeat, Nevada's worst since last November's 64-45 loss to San Jose State.
Although the Wolf Pack (2-4, 1-1) lost for a third straight game -- and the third consecutive road meeting -- Nevada kept a more impressive streak alive.
The Pack has not been shut out in its last 262 games, a streak dating back to Sept. 27, 1980 (Weber State, 10-0).
It's little consolation for Nevada, which heads back to Reno for its homecoming game Saturday against San Jose State.
"We weren't ready to go tonight," said Nevada cornerbacks coach Kim McCloud, who played for Hawaii from 1987-90. "We didn't perform tonight. We've got to get better. Hawaii played great.
"It was demoralizing for a bit, but the kids kept working and played real good in the second half. We just got caught in a whirlwind and couldn't get out."
Nevada sophomore safety Keone Kauo agreed.
"The biggest thing is we gave up too many big plays early," said Kauo, making his third consecutive start of the season. "They came out firing on all cylinders in the beginning. "The 42 points (in the first quarter) got us down. We settled down in the second half."
Nevada opened the second half with some inspired play.
The Pack had sacked Warrior quarterback Tim Chang six times in last year's 28-20 win over Hawaii in Reno. Last night, Nevada didn't get to Chang until the Warriors' first possession of the second half. It led to Mat McBriar's first punt of the game, a 50-yarder that UH sophomore Josiah Cravalho downed inside the 2.
We had a different game plan this year," said Tormey. "Chang is a great player. Last year, we pressured him more because we thought we could get to him. This year we thought we could cover and the coverage didn't hold up."
After opening the year 2-1, the Pack had lost its last two games by a combined eight points (Colorado State 32-28 and UNLV 21-17). Last night, Nevada never got closer than seven (14-7) after the first four minutes.
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[ KEY STATS ]
[ GAME STATS ]
SCORING SUMMARY
First quarterHaw--Komine 72 pass from Chang (Ayat kick), 14:40
Haw--H.Peters 64 interception return (Ayat kick), 13:49
Nev--Threadgill 2 run (Fine kick), 11:36
Haw--Owens 50 pass from Chang (Ayat kick), 10:38
Haw--Brewster 4 run (Ayat kick), 7:59
Haw--West 6 run (Ayat kick), 5:50
Nev--FG Fine 27, 2:04
Haw--Komine 54 pass from Withy-Allen (Ayat kick), 0:39.Second quarter
Haw--West 2 run (Ayat kick), 12:23
Nev--Milton 1 run (kick failed), 7:45
Nev--Streelman 3 pass from Threadgill (pass failed), 4:42
Haw--FG Ayat 25, 1:55.Third quarter
Nev--Flowers 20 pass from Threadgill (pass failed), 6:59
Haw--West 2 run (Ayat kick), 4:35
Nev--Mitchell 1 run (run failed), 1:07.
A--39,616.
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING -- Nevada: Milton 17-133, Mitchell 9-73, Burleson 1-17, Stoddard 2-10, Threadgill 5-(-2) Rowe 1(-8). Hawaii: West 9-59, Withy-Allen 7-40, Galeai 5-33, Fiaseu 3-11, Mitchell 1-9, Brewster 1-4.PASSING -- Nevada: Threadgill 19-36-2-241, Rowe 1-2-0-5. Hawaii: Chang 19-31-1-381, Withy-Allen 6-9-0-139.
RECEIVING -- Nevada: Burleson 11-143, Flowers 4-41, Fleming 2-21, Lewis 1-33, Mann 1-5, Streelman 1-3. Hawaii: Komine 8-238, Colber 8-120, Bennett 2-53, Cockheran 2-10, Owens 1-50, West 1-28, Galeai 1-15, Brewster 1-7, Mitchell 1-(-1).
[ WAC STANDINGS ]
CONFERENCE OVERALL W L PF PA W L PF PA Str Boise St. 2 0 110 55 5 1 260 168 W4 San Jose St. 2 0 92 47 4 3 206 243 L1 Hawaii 3 1 163 108 4 2 256 179 W1 Nevada 1 1 65 80 2 4 148 191 L3 La. Tech 1 1 73 46 2 4 145 195 L3 Rice 1 2 86 82 2 4 123 143 W2 UTEP 0 2 30 89 1 5 103 295 L5 Tulsa 0 2 33 105 0 6 110 253 L16 SMU 0 3 40 106 0 7 83 237 L7 Yesterday
Hawaii 59, Nevada 34
Boise St. 52, Tulsa 24
Fresno St. 30, SMU 7
Rice 17, Navy 10
Ohio St. 50, San Jose St. 7
[ TURNING POINT ]
Komine TD started
the rout on its way
Britton Komine's previous three touchdown receptions this season were in the second half of games that were, for the most part, already decided. The sophomore from Maryknoll and Pac-Five came off the bench in UH's first five games.Last night, Hawaii wasted no time putting Komine to use and he made a huge impact. With Nate Ilaoa out with a shoulder injury, he got the starting call.
On the game's first play from scrimmage, starting at the UH 28, Komine got wide open and cradled a pass from Tim Chang at the Nevada 35. He ran into the Wolf Pack end zone untouched for a 72-yard TD and the tone was set for the Warriors' rout.
Dave Reardon, Star-Bulletin
[ COMING UP ]
Tulsa will come here
on 16-game skid
Hawaii hopes to extend the nation's longest losing streak in when Tulsa limps into Aloha Stadium on Saturday.The Golden Hurricane (0-6, 0-2 Western Athletic Conference) lost for the 16th consecutive time last night, absorbing a 52-24 pounding by Boise State.
One of those losses was put on Tulsa by Hawaii last season. The Warriors beat the host Hurricane 36-15 in a game that wasn't as close as the score. Ashley Lelie caught two touchdown passes from Nick Rolovich, and Pisa Tinoisamoa was in on 14 tackles.
Hawaii leads the all-time series 3-2.
Dave Reardon, Star-Bulletin
UH Athletics
