RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's John West looked for room against Appalachian State on Saturday. Lineman Uriah Moenoa is in the background.
Warriors’ line
under constructionUH still looking for the right
combination for its offensive lineHawaii statistics
What was once an impregnable fortress has become a construction area. And the deadline for restoration of Hawaii's offensive line is fast approaching.
The Warriors beat Appalachian State 40-17 on Saturday despite giving up four sacks. Hawaii offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh knows UH's front five can't play the way it did in the opener against a Division I-AA team and expect to beat Southern California a week from Saturday.
The Trojans' defensive front is considered the best in the nation by some, and it manhandled Auburn in USC's 23-0 victory.
Hawaii started second-year freshmen Samson Satele and Dane Uperesa at the tackle positions. Junior right guard Phil Kauffman also made his first career start. Senior left guard Shayne Kajioka and sophomore center Derek Faavi also started, but Cavanaugh substituted liberally, looking for the right combination for the rest of the season.
That wasn't a problem most of last year, as the Warriors started the same five players in their first 11 games; now three of them, Vince Manuwai, Wayne Hunter and Lui Fuata, are property of NFL teams.
UH allowed 14 sacks in those first 11 games and nine in the last three after Fuata got hurt in 2002, showing the importance of continuity.
Cavanaugh is still looking for the right combination for 2003, and he also used Saturday's game to develop depth.
"There's some good, some bad. We played a lot of guys," Cavanaugh said of Saturday's performance. "We gotta handle things a little bit better. Fundamentally, Dane Uperesa's got to make a stand and punch (block) guys. You can't just play the game with your feet. It's feet, and hands. So he's gotta really step up and start trusting his punch. I thought Phil Kauffman stepped in and did a real nice job for us. He's gonna give us some good depth there, he's a good athlete."
Kajioka played only the first half, as true freshman Jeremy Inferrera came in at left tackle and Satele slid over to left guard in the second half. Cavanaugh said nothing is wrong with Kajioka.
"We just wanted to look at a different combination, to throw Inferrera in there and get reps and see live bullets and Samson Satele's a guy who can give us a good combination at guard," Cavanaugh said. "It wasn't anything that Shayne did. He feels like it's something he did. But I want to see some different combinations and Coach (June) Jones wants to see some different combinations.
"It's real important. We've been fortunate around here. We haven't lost a lot of guys to injuries. But last year, you take a look. Lui Fuata got hurt, then Shayne Kajioka got hurt. You gotta look at different combinations and there's some good young kids who have to be ready to go."
Junior Uriah Moenoa did not start because of a bruised right Achilles' tendon. He was replaced by Kauffman at starting right guard. Moenoa, who had started the previous 26 games, played the second half.
Kauffman hopes he earned another start.
"I think I did well. I hope whoever's watching the tape sees the same thing," he said.
Satele said he is glad to finally have his first college game behind him.
"A lot of jitters or excitement. I ran out there and did what Cav told me to do. Read the defense. I did that and the blocking came easier than I thought it would," Satele said.
"Me and Dane are roommates, so we talked about our jitters. Watching all the football on TV yesterday got me excited. In two weeks we have USC and we have to do better than we did today. Us O-linemen, we gotta wake up. We made some little mistakes, but overall we were OK."
BACK TO TOP |
Hawaii statistics
Team Statistics
HAWAII OPP FIRST DOWN 18 12 Rushing 3 4 Passing 15 6 Penalty 0 2 RUSHING YARDAGE 91 122 Yards gained rushing 113 152 Yards lost rushing 22 30 Rushing attempts 27 36 Average per rush 3.4 3.4 Average per game 91.0 122.0 Touchdowns rushing 1 0 PASSING YARDAGE 359 137 Att-Comp-Int 38-22-3 23-13-1 Average per pass 9.4 6.0 Average per catch 16.9 10.5 Average per game 359.0 137.0 Touchdowns passing 3 2 TOTAL OFFENSE 450 259 Total plays 65 59 Average per play 6.9 4.4 Average per game 450.0 259.0 KICK RETURNS: No-Yds 4-165 3-63 PUNT RETURNS: No-Yds 8-77 0-0 INT. RETURNS: No-Yds 1-4 3-0 FUMBLES-LOST 1-0 2-0 PENALTIES-YARDS 6-55 5-35 PUNTS-AVG 5-41.2 12-44.0 TIME OF POSSESSION/GAME 28:47 31:13 3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS 6/15 2/15 4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS 0/1 0/0
Rushing
G Att Net Avg TD Long West 1 6 27 4.5 1 13 Bass 1 5 23 4.6 0 9 Brewster 1 5 22 4.4 0 10 Poumele* 1 2 13 6.5 0 7 Owens 1 1 7 7.0 0 7 Rhode 1 1 5 5.0 0 5 Whieldon 1 7 -6 -0.9 0 8 Total 1 27 91 3.4 1 13
Passing
G Att Comp Int Yds TD Long Whieldon 1 35 21 2 359 3 54 Poumele 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 Rhode 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Total 1 38 22 3 359 3 54
Receiving
G Rec Yds Avg TD Long Cockheran 1 7 154 22.0 3 54 Owens 1 5 77 15.4 0 29 Ilaoa 1 2 51 25.5 0 41 Brewster 1 2 38 19.0 0 26 West 1 2 20 10.0 0 14 Komine 1 2 10 5.0 0 6 Bass 1 1 9 9.0 0 9 Dickerson 1 1 0 0.0 0 0 Total 1 22 359 16.3 3 54
Total Offense
G Plays Rush Pass Tot Avg Whieldon 1 42 -6 359 353 353.0 West 1 6 27 0 27 27.0 Bass 1 5 23 0 23 23.0 Brewster 1 5 22 0 22 22.0 Poumele 1 4 13 0 13 13.0 Total 1 65 91 359 450 450.0
Scoring
TD FG 1XP 2XP Tot Cockheran 3 0 0 0 18 Ayat 0 2 4 0 10 Dickerson 1 0 0 0 6 West 1 0 0 0 6 Total 5 2 4 0 40
Punting
No. Yds Avg Long Milne 3 133 44.3 51 Wright 2 73 36.5 40 Total 5 206 41.2 51
Punt Returns
No. Yds Avg TD Long Owens 6 68 11.3 0 24 Brewster 2 9 4.5 0 7 Total 8 77 9.6 0 24
Kick Returns
No. Yds Avg TD Long Dickerson 3 140 46.7 1 100 Owens 1 25 25.0 0 25 Total 4 165 41.2 1 100
Interceptions
No. Yds Avg Td Long Peters, H. 1 4 4.0 0 4 Total 1 4 4.0 0 4
Tackles
G UT AT Tot Peters, H. 1 6 3 9 LaBoy 1 8 0 8 Kalilimoku 1 7 0 7 Elemimian 1 1 5 6 Alapa 1 5 1 6 Sopoaga 1 2 4 6 Samuseva 1 3 3 6 Curnan 1 2 2 4 Millhouse 1 3 0 3 Moe 1 2 1 3 Peters, L. 1 1 1 2 Manutai 1 1 1 2 Jackson 1 2 0 2 Ala 1 0 1 1 Maafala 1 1 0 1 Gilmore 1 1 0 1 Blackburn 1 1 0 1 Kapanui 1 1 0 1 Komine 1 1 0 1 Hollingsworth 1 1 0 1 Faavae 1 0 1 1 Wright 1 1 0 1 Rhode 1 1 0 1 Purcell 1 0 0 0 Total 1 51 23 74
