La'anui Correa saved his best for last, but unfortunately it wasn't enough for Hawaii to beat Tulane yesterday in the Hawaii Bowl. In his last game as
» Wipeout
a Warrior, Correa had
his biggest game
» Game stats
» Colbert shines 1 last time
» Wave played like home teamStar-Bulletin staff
The Warriors' senior defensive end led the way with a career-high eight tackles, including four for loss. He also had his third sack of the season, for 15 yards.
UH kept the Green Wave offense out of the Hawaii end zone until late in the third quarter, but finally broke late in the game.
"Unfortunately, we're not going to stop them every time, even when we're playing well," Correa said. "They were a better team than us and we beat ourselves today.
"Every time we got some momentum back they took it away again. We couldn't do anything about it."Correa said the Warriors felt they prepared well for Tulane's offense, but the Green Wave added some wrinkles.
"They ran a couple plays we didn't see, the shovel pass," he said.
Correa, who transferred from UNLV after his freshman year, finished his three-year UH career with 143 tackles, including 18 for loss.
"It was nice that he finished off with a good game, probably his best," defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said.
Sneaky kicks: There were two onside kicks attempted in last night's game, with mixed results. Tulane opened the game with a June Jones-style strategy -- Green Wave kicker Seth Marler, a former Lou Groza Award winner, executed the trick play perfectly. The ball bounced right into Marler's arms, and Tulane had stolen a possession.
"I wanted to show to my players and the staff, 'This is our place,'" explained Tulane coach Chris Scelfo. "'We're the home team.'"
But despite the success, Hawaii's defense forced Tulane into a 53-yard field-goal attempt, which Marler missed. Hawaii took the ball back and scored first to take a 7-0 lead.
Jones' own onside kick was more out of desperation. After Justin Colbert caught a 31-yard scoring pass from Shawn Withy-Allen to pull Hawaii within 34-28, Jones elected to try to keep the ball. But Justin Ayat's kick was recovered easily by the Green Wave.
A noted gambler, Jones figured if his defense did the job a short kick was just as good as a long one.
"If we stop them, I really don't care about the length of the field," Jones said.
But Marler then punted to pin Hawaii at its 1, and Tulane then got a safety, which sealed the win.
Happy birthday: Former Hawaii safety Nate Jackson made an appearance before the game, addressing the crowd with a short speech on his Dec. 25 birthday. Jackson, known as a popular and hard-hitting player who had a brief stint with the Tennessee Titans, has been back in the news after having been hospitalized for a month and recently undergoing heart surgery.
Jackson thanked everyone who had supported him throughout his football career, from Pop Warner days on up. There is currently a "Friends of Nate Jackson" campaign to help Jackson pay his medical bills.
After closing his remarks with "Go Warriors!" Jackson received a lei and embrace from entertainer Danny Kaleikini and several hugs and handshakes.
Christmas comes early: Scelfo doubled up on Christmas presents yesterday.
Not only did the Tulane football coach get to bring his team to the inaugural Hawaii Bowl, Scelfo had his contract extended by athletic director Rick Dickson.
The extension adds two years to Scelfo's current contract. He is completing his fourth season as the head coach at Tulane and is the first coach in school history to coach the Green Wave in two bowl games.
"I'm honored that Rick (Dickson) and Tulane recognize the job we're doing," said Scelfo, who is 27-33 after yesterday's game. "It's a total team effort. We're excited about the continuity in our program as we build a solid foundation for the future of Tulane football."
Tulane led all bowl teams in graduation rates of all student-athletes (70 percent), of its football players (80 percent and of its African-American football players (75 percent).
Island welcome: The Hawaii squad welcomed Tulane to Aloha Stadium by performing a traditional haka toward the Green Wave sideline after the coin toss.
UH defensive back Hyrum Peters sat out the game with an injury, but came out with his face painted and helped lead the Warriors in the Maori chant.
"I knew the dance, I've been doing it since I was young at the Polynesian Cultural Center," Peters said. "It was something I could do to help out the team."
Peters said defensive lineman Isaac Sopoaga actually proposed doing the routine to the team.
"We were supposed to start that next year, but Coach Jones gave us the OK to do it (yesterday)," Peters said. "It took us one night to get it."
Short yardage: Six Hawaii seniors have at least one game left in their college careers. Linebacker Chris Brown and offensive lineman Lui Fuata are committed to play in the EastWest Shrine Game in San Francisco on Jan. 11. Linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa and offensive lineman Vince Manuwai will play in the Senior Bowl in Alabama on Jan. 18. Tinoisamoa, Manuwai, Brown, Fuata, Correa and defensive back Sean Butts will play in the Hula Bowl on Maui on Feb. 1. ... Brown and Justin Colbert finished their careers by starting in their 38th consecutive game. ... Tulane recorded a season-high eight sacks in the game. Floyd Dorsey had two and led the Green Wave this season with 9 1/2 sacks.
