DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
With the offensive line shuffled Wednesday, UH's quarterbacks felt the pressure. Shawn Withy-Allen fumbled twice.
Jones ‘feels good’ Hawaii football coach June Jones was presented a lump of coal for Christmas in the form of the Warriors' 36-28 loss to Tulane in Wednesday's ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl.
about returnees
Hawaii will lose some key seniors,
Suspension kept Hunter out
but the coach believes the Warriors
will be ready for next season
-By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comBut Jones was upbeat yesterday in looking back on the completed season and ahead to 2003. He knows that one bowl loss does not a season make -- and that lumps of coal can be made into diamonds.
"You have to learn from your mistakes. I think we will. We were not as ready to play as we have been, and I kind of knew it going in," Jones said.
He said he tried to send his own team a message by talking about how Tulane appeared to be a tight, together unit the days leading up to the game.
"But we didn't do things we normally do. We were undisciplined. We got personal fouls, we didn't cover kicks the way we have the past four years," Jones said. "If you don't do those things you end up losing. Tulane, to their credit, they had our (usual) attitude."
Four Hawaii starters (center Lui Fuata, left tackle Wayne Hunter, quarterback Tim Chang, safety Hyrum Peters) missed all or most of the contest.
"Yeah we had a number of injuries, but that's no excuse. We're supposed to be a better football team and we should've won," Jones said.
UH is 31-20 in Jones' four-year tenure, and 19-7 the past two seasons.
"I feel good about it," he said. "I still feel this year and last year could've been even better, but that's football. At the same time it easily could've been worse. When I'm 6 feet under, hopefully someone will say I did a good job."
The Warriors lose a strong senior class. Right guard Vince Manuwai, Fuata, wide receiver Justin Colbert, linebackers Pisa Tinoisamoa and Chris Brown, and punter Mat McBriar all received various all-conference accolades, with Manuwai making several All-America teams. Defensive end La'anui Correa, linebacker Matt Wright, nickel back Keith Bhonapha, special teams standout Sean Butts and backup quarterback Shawn Withy-Allen will also be missed.
"The tough part of it is they had experience. I think physically we have some very talented players coming back. But a lot of them haven't done it on Saturday at 6:05 p.m.," Jones said. "I feel good about the kids coming back, at every position. We continue to add depth, good players to the group."
The units most depleted are linebacker and offensive line.
Keani Alapa and Chad Kalilimoku will get the first shot at starting linebacker spots after being role players as juniors this season. Jones is excited about the potential of Tyrone Brown and Ikaika Curnan, who will both be sophomores, and Patrick Harley, going into his junior season. Junior Chad Kapanui could also compete in this group, although there's been talk of him joining the quarterback mix for the third time. Brown Faavae, a junior, could play linebacker or safety. "He's one of those guys you need to get in there somewhere. He's got football speed," Jones said.
On the offensive line, sophomore Ryan Santos started his first game Wednesday, at right tackle. He gave up two sacks early but settled down and played better. His development is important to the Warriors' long-term plans.
"Ryan played well," Jones said. "He could allow us to move Uriah (Moenoa) into the middle at guard or center, which is a more natural position for him. And I'm excited about the potential of Samson Satele."
Satele redshirted this year. Brandon Eaton, who will be a sophomore, is also promising.
The defensive line and secondary should both be strong points. Starting tackles Lance Samuseva and Isaac Sopoaga, as well as Lui Fuga, who was injured in the first game, will all be seniors. So will ends Travis LaBoy, Houston Ala and Kevin Jackson.
"I'm real pleased with the way Travis LaBoy finished the year. He and I had an ordeal early in the season, but he became more accountable," Jones said of the talented pass rusher who missed a game due to suspension. "And I'm really proud of Isaac. Not just football, but his commitment in the classroom. He's developed as a leader on and off the field."
Jones added that sophomore Abu Ma'afala and freshman Tala Esera can become factors in the D-line mix if they hit the weights hard in the offseason.
"And defensive line is an area where we need to recruit well since we have so many seniors next season," Jones said.
Six players who started in the secondary will be back: seniors Kelvin Millhouse (corner), David Gilmore (safety) and Hyrum Peters (safety), junior Abraham Elimimian (corner) and sophomores Kenny Patton (corner) and Leonard Peters (safety).
At inside receiver, the Warriors return several proven players. Senior Clifton Herbert, juniors Britton Komine and Chad Owens and sophomore Nate Ilaoa all started at various times. Gerald Welch redshirted with a knee injury and could re-emerge. And Jones wants to find a way to get Ross Dickerson, who redshirted this year, into games as soon as possible.
"He made the biggest impact as a freshman since I've been here," he said. "I'm very excited about his ability to make plays."
Jeremiah Cockheran returns on the outside, and there will be a wide open competition to replace Colbert on the other side.
"We have some guys, and Daniel Inferrera is probably the most improved freshman that I have. He has a chance to become an impact kind of guy with his acceleration and speed. After the first two months, I was saying he ain't gonna be able to play. But he really focused on getting better, and that guy will be a player."
Jones also likes the potential of Sean Stennis, another freshman who redshirted.
At running back, senior John West and junior Mike Bass are the main incumbents, and sophomore Pesefea Fiaseu might get some reps for his blocking skill. Orlando Wong is back from his mission.
Oft-injured quarterback Tim Chang will be a junior. It will be even more important for UH's all-time passing yardage leader to stay healthy without Withy-Allen around. Jason Whieldon -- who almost started the season-opener -- will be a senior. Jeff Rhode, Kainoa Akina (sophomores), Ryan Stickler and Preston Maloney (second-year freshmen) will also compete for the backup spot.
That might seem like a lot of guys for one position, especially if Kapanui returns. But Jones and his staff will be hoping to sign even more quarterbacks. That doesn't mean they'll end up playing there, though.
Some think Jones' recruiting strategy is bizarre, but it's worked so far.
"It's not going to change. We'll go after offensive line, defensive line, corners and quarterbacks. There might be one or two at other positions we really like that we recruit," Jones said. "The same formula works in the NFL. You get a corner and if he can't play corner you move him to safety, that type of thing. We attract receivers. There are a couple of special kids this year, and we will recruit at wide receiver, but that's not normally a priority."
The Warriors will be careful about how they dispense their scholarships this year, as several of them are already accounted for. Defensive back A.J. Martinez, who was supposed to be in last year's recruiting class, will likely get one after a grades glitch last year. Defensive end/linebacker Mel Purcell also falls into that category. Wong and Faavae also count against this year's scholarship allotment.
Jones said he wants to recruit a punter, although Kurt Milne might be able to do the job. And another kicker will have to be lined up eventually, since Justin Ayat will be a junior next year.
While the Warriors didn't finish the way they'd hoped, Jones thinks 19 victories in two seasons will help on the recruiting trail and eight months from now when UH begins another arduous 13-game regular-season schedule.
"It could be our toughest schedule, because we've got six road games," he said. "If we had a long season in 1999 (when UH went 9-4 in Jones' first season), we physically wouldn't be able to hold up. But now we feel like we have a team that we can go to a place like USC and have a chance."
Confidence on the road won't be a problem, as UH went 3-2 away from the islands, including an upset of rival Fresno State.
Hawaii could enter 2003 with the same coaching staff for a third year in a row -- a rarity at any level of football.
"I thought we were very lucky. I know guys had job offers last year and elected to stay," Jones said. "You never know how that will work out. To lose only two assistants in four years, that's unheard of. At the same time, we've got to be ready to replace two or three guys at any time."
Jones said he has mixed feelings about Pay-Per-View. He acknowledges that live TV cut into attendance.
"We have to find the happy medium. If Pay-Per-View were not an option I think we'd get 40-45,000 for every game. It doesn't mean we lost money. We made about the same. My feeling is we have to maximize our home-field advantage, and to do that we need people in the stadium to help us win at home. If we find the right price for Pay-Per-View, we can still draw 42,000 and accommodate those people who can't come to the games for whatever reason. It was kind of an experimental year. It was kind of exciting. I think we're the only team in the whole world that has live Pay-Per-View, they show it four hours later and it gets great ratings and we still draw 30,000 people to the stadium."
Jones will begin renegotiating his contract -- which includes requests for increases in assistants pay, facility upgrades and a plan for more control for UH of Aloha Stadium -- within the next few days.
"I hope we can get it done in the next three weeks, that's my goal," said Jones, who is going into the final year of a five-year deal that earns him around $400,000 per year. "I want to be here. I hope they feel the same way. My heart, my love for here has not changed."
That, even though Christmas was less than merry for the Warriors.
"I'm disappointed obviously, but at the same time I don't feel negative," Jones said. "We were the top passing team in the country, we did a lot of positive things and we won 10 games."
TEAM STATISTICS
HAWAII OPP FIRST DOWN 338 303 Rushing 63 131 Passing 239 147 Penalty 36 25 RUSHING YARDAGE 1533 2362 Yards gained rushing 1784 2822 Yards lost rushing 251 460 Rushing attempts 308 596 Average per rush 5.0 4.0 Average per game 109.5 168.7 Touchdowns rushing 26 24 PASSING YARDAGE 5406 3168 Att-Comp-Int 731-407-26 495-253-18 Average per pass 7.4 6.4 Average per catch 13.3 12.5 Average per game 386.1 226.3 Touchdowns passing 35 21 TOTAL OFFENSE 6939 5530 Total plays 1039 1091 Average per play 6.7 5.1 Average per game 495.6 395.0 KICK RETURNS: No-Yds 59-1264 58-1214 PUNT RETURNS: No-Yds 39-334 25-453 INT. RETURNS: No-Yds 18-319 26-234 FUMBLES-LOST 25-15 20-9 PENALTIES-YARDS 122-1041 120-1043 PUNTS-AVG 50-43.0 81-39.3 TIME OF POSSESSION/GAME 27:21 32:39 3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS 91/203 89/240 4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS 15/29 14/23 Rushing
G Att Net Avg TD Long West 13 59 451 7.6 5 81 Mitchell 14 58 352 6.1 11 41 Bass 10 52 311 6.0 1 37 Withy-Allen 13 41 211 5.1 3 42 Brewster 8 16 90 5.6 3 34 Ilaoa 12 6 56 9.3 1 42 Galeai 10 9 37 4.1 1 27 Whieldon 4 6 27 4.5 0 9 Fiaseu 3 3 11 3.7 0 8 Kapanui 14 1 10 10.0 0 10 Herbert 14 3 10 3.3 0 10 Owens 10 3 5 1.7 0 3 Chang 14 39 -17 -0.4 1 27 Team 13 12 -21 -1.8 0 0 Total 14 308 1533 5.0 26 81 Passing
G Att Comp Int Yds TD Long Chang 14 624 349 22 4474 25 72 Withy-Allen 13 86 49 3 770 7 57 Whieldon 4 18 8 1 92 3 24 Kapanui 14 3 1 0 70 0 70 Total 14 731 407 26 5406 35 72 Receiving
G Rec Yds Avg TD Long Colbert 14 92 1302 14.2 8 59 Komine 14 58 886 15.3 10 72 Cockheran 12 49 731 41.9 5 70 Owens 10 47 550 11.7 2 51 Ilaoa 12 46 532 11.6 3 41 Gossett 11 33 413 12.5 3 51 Herbert 14 30 377 12.6 3 49 Mitchell 14 21 193 9.2 0 50 West 13 11 100 9.1 0 28 Bass 10 10 100 10.0 0 46 Galeai 10 4 59 14.8 1 18 Bennett 3 2 53 26.5 0 30 Brewster 8 2 36 18.0 0 29 Noa 12 1 70 70.0 0 70 Jackson 14 1 4 4.0 0 4 Total 14 407 5406 13.3 35 72 Total Offense
G Plays Rush Pass Tot Avg Chang 14 663 -17 4474 4457 318.4 Withy-Allen 13 127 211 770 981 75.5 West 13 59 451 0 451 34.7 Mitchell 14 58 352 0 352 25.1 Bass 10 52 311 0 311 31.1 Whieldon 4 24 27 92 119 29.8 Brewster 8 16 90 0 90 11.2 Kapanui 14 4 10 70 80 5.7 Ilaoa 12 6 56 0 56 4.7 Galeai 10 9 37 0 37 3.7 Fiaseu 3 3 11 0 11 3.7 Herbert 14 3 10 0 10 0.7 Owens 10 3 5 0 5 0.5 Team 13 12 -21 0 -21 -1.6 Total 14 1039 1533 5406 6939 495.6 Scoring
TD FG 1XP 2XP Tot Ayat 0 15-23 55-56 0 100 Mitchell 11 0-0 0-0 0 66 Komine 10 0-0 0-0 1 62 Colbert 8 0-0 0-0 0 48 Cockheran 5 0-0 0-0 0 30 West 5 0-0 0-0 0 30 Ilaoa 4 0-0 0-0 0 24 Herbert 3 0-0 0-0 1 20 Peters 3 0-0 0-0 0 18 Gossett 3 0-0 0-0 0 18 Withy-Allen 3 0-0 0-0 0 18 Brewster 3 0-0 0-0 0 18 Owens 2 0-0 0-0 0 12 Galeai 2 0-0 0-0 0 12 Chang 1 0-0 0-0 0 6 Patton 1 0-0 0-0 0 6 Bass 1 0-0 0-0 0 6 Maafala 1 0-0 0-0 0 6 Correa 0 0-0 0-0 0 2 Total 66 15-23 55-56 2 502 Punting
No. Yds Avg Long McBriar 48 2148 44.8 73 Team 2 0 0.0 0 Total 50 2148 43.0 73 Punt Returns
No. Yds Avg TD Long Owens 17 131 7.7 0 38 Herbert 9 72 8.0 0 33 Bass 6 53 8.8 0 13 Bennett 6 71 11.8 0 19 Colbert 1 7 7.0 0 7 Total 39 334 8.6 0 38 Kick Returns
No. Yds Avg TD Long Owens 19 477 25.1 0 63 Brewster 18 444 24.7 0 60 West 15 302 20.1 0 35 Kapanui 3 22 7.3 0 11 Manners 2 5 2.5 0 5 Kauka 1 6 6.0 0 6 Curnan 1 8 8.0 0 8 Total 59 1264 21.4 0 63 Interceptions
No. Yds Avg Td Long Peters 4 176 44.0 3 64 Millhouse 4 17 4.2 0 15 Brown 2 30 15.0 0 26 Tinoisamoa 2 23 11.5 0 19 Elimimian 2 0 0.0 0 0 Correa 1 12 12.0 0 12 Manners 1 10 10.0 0 10 Butts 1 19 19.0 0 19 Maafala 1 32 32.0 1 32 Total 18 319 17.7 4 64 Tackles
G UT AT Tot Tinoisamoa 14 89 40 129 Brown 14 47 39 86 Peters 12 55 22 77 Sopoaga 14 42 30 72 Gilmore 14 44 26 70 Elimimian 12 54 14 68 LaBoy 12 44 21 65 Millhouse 14 48 13 61 Wright 14 30 27 57 Correa 14 30 26 56 Samuseva 14 34 14 48 Ala 11 30 15 45 Bhonapha 14 32 10 42 Alapa 14 27 12 39 Butts 14 19 9 28 Kalilimoku 14 14 12 26 Kapanui 14 20 6 26 Peters 9 15 10 25 Jackson 14 10 11 21 Curnan 11 9 6 15 Noa 12 10 3 13 Wright 12 9 4 13 Maafala 11 3 9 12 Patton 11 7 3 10 Harley 10 3 3 6 Moe 11 4 2 6 Cravalho 10 2 3 5 Ayat 14 2 3 5 Manners 12 4 0 4 Aguiar 6 2 1 3 Gossett 11 3 0 3 Wills 5 2 1 3 Mitchell 14 2 0 2 McBriar 14 1 1 2 Wong 3 2 0 2 Moenoa 11 1 0 1 Hollingsworth 7 1 0 1 Kamakawiwaole 2 0 1 1 Broadway 9 1 0 1 Mauwai 11 1 0 1 Fuga 1 0 1 1 Withy-Allen 13 1 0 1 George 6 1 0 1 Ilaoa 12 1 0 1 Komine 14 1 0 1 Owens 10 1 0 1 Colbert 14 1 0 1 West 13 0 0 0 Total 14 759 398 1157
BACK TO TOP |
Hawaii starting left tackle Wayne Hunter was suspended from playing in Wednesday's ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl, a source close to the team said. Suspension, not injury,
kept Hunter out of bowlBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comHunter, who said he had re-aggravated a back injury from last year, was suspended from the game about two weeks ago for "conduct detrimental to the team," the source said. Hunter, a junior who started all 13 regular season games, participated in practices prior to the game and watched the Hawaii Bowl from the UH sideline.
Warriors coach June Jones declined to comment when asked about Hunter yesterday, other than to say he expects him to be with the team when spring drills start.
UH's offensive line gave up eight sacks in losing 36-28 to Tulane on Wednesday. In addition to Hunter being out, starting center Lui Fuata missed the game with a torn ACL and was replaced by Derek Faavi. Starting right tackle Uriah Moenoa moved to left tackle and Ryan Santos started his first game at right tackle.
Senior right guard Vince Manuwai and junior left guard Shayne Kajioka were the only usual offensive line starters in their regular positions. The Warriors allowed more sacks Wednesday than they did in their first eight games combined.
"We just weren't consistent in doing the things like we should have been, and that killed us," Manuwai said. "We never gave Withy (quarterback Shawn Withy-Allen) enough time to make the big play."
UH Athletics
