[ UH FOOTBALL ]
UH trying not
to get too downHawaii hasn’t given up on
the season after a bad loss
to Tulsa
If it's of any consolation -- and it probably isn't to the many who had high expectations going into this season -- the Hawaii football team is not in the shock and disarray it was two weeks ago. That was when the Warriors left Las Vegas minus one of their star players and the coach called the team arrogant.
Certainly, whatever little bit of swagger was left over is gone after a 27-16 defeat at former conference doormat Tulsa on Saturday. But that doesn't mean the Warriors (2-3, 1-1 Western Athletic Conference) have given up on the season.
Starting right guard Uriah Moenoa tried to sound an upbeat tone just a few minutes after Saturday's shocker. He was asked if UH can bounce back in time for this Saturday's game at Aloha Stadium against Fresno State.
"Definitely. This is the best group of guys. We have our ups and downs," Moenoa said. "This was a definite down and we know we don't want to be down like this again next week. We have to be way up next week."
Coach June Jones said Saturday's effort against the Golden Hurricane was better than in the 33-22 loss at UNLV on Sept. 19, although the result just as bad -- actually worse, considering this was a conference opponent.
"I think we came out ready to play. We just got beat. We had chances to make plays, and on the road you have to make plays to win," Jones said.
It wasn't fluky. Tulsa outgained Hawaii and forced two turnovers to none.
"I think they beat us fair and square," Jones said.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tulsa linebacker Jorma Bailey brought down UH's Mike Bass as the Golden Hurricane grounded the Warriors on Saturday.
There were no officials to blame this time, like when the Warriors lost 61-32 to USC; in fact, the close calls went against Tulsa, such as the apparent fumble by Mike Bass that was recovered at the Tulsa 1 by Hurricane linebacker Michael LeDet. Hawaii retained possession and scored the game's first touchdown on the next play.
But, despite falling behind 16-3, Tulsa made its own fortune in the second half.
"In the second half, we really came alive," Hurricane coach Steve Kragthorpe said. "We started getting more pressure on the passer in the second half, and tried to disrupt their rhythm. All three parts started to click at the same time -- offense, defense and special teams."
Jones could've made that same statement just one week ago, when Hawaii handled Rice 41-21 in UH's WAC opener.
But even that game featured a momentary lapse for Hawaii, which cost the Warriors 21 points in the last six minutes of the first half.
The near miss of that game was a prolonged breakdown at Tulsa -- after Tim Chang was intercepted by Oliver Fletcher in the second quarter, the Warriors never recovered.
"A lot of things are going to go the other team's way in a game. It's a matter of overcoming them," Moenoa said. "We have a lot of things to work on as an offensive unit and as a team."
UH was penalized only five times for 40 yards, but 35 of them came after halftime, when the Warriors were trying to come from behind.
"I think it's just we hurt ourselves," Moenoa said. "We had some stupid penalties, offsides. We shouldn't be having mental mistakes at this point in the season. But it happens. No one's at fault. It's just a bad game we have to bounce back from."
Fortunately for the Warriors, Fresno State (3-3, 1-0 WAC) is coming off a bad loss, too, 34-10 at Colorado State.
"They'll be very pumped up to get a win, just as we are," Jones said.
The season is on the line for Hawaii, as winning a WAC championship (a stated team goal) with two losses would be nearly impossible. And the Warriors can only hope their identity as a team is not what they showed at UNLV and Tulsa.
"We had breakdowns on all sides. I had breakdowns myself," wide receiver Britton Komine said. "We just need to pull it together and be more consistent."
Hawaii Statistics
TEAM STATISTICS
HAWAII OPP FIRST DOWN 113 89 Rushing 24 43 Passing 79 38 Penalty 10 8 RUSHING YARDAGE 449 873 Yards gained rushing 596 1018 Yards lost rushing 147 145 Rushing attempts 117 204 Average per rush 3.8 4.3 Average per game 89.8 174.6 Touchdowns rushing 7 10 PASSING YARDAGE 1767 885 Att-Comp-Int 277-163-10 127-66-5 Average per pass 6.4 7.0 Average per catch 10.8 13.4 Average per game 353.4 177.0 Touchdowns passing 11 5 TOTAL OFFENSE 2216 1758 Total plays 394 331 Average per play 5.6 5.3 Average per game 443.2 351.6 KICK RETURNS: No-Yds 25-542 12-239 PUNT RETURNS: No-Yds 18-162 8-86 INT. RETURNS: No-Yds 5-4 10-88 FUMBLES-LOST 11-6 10-4 PENALTIES-YARDS 37-338 32-263 PUNTS-AVG 27-39.3 36-43.2 TIME OF POSSESSION/GAME 30:20 29:25 3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS 27/78 22/71 4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS 5/11 1/2 RUSHING
G Att Net Avg TD Long Bass 4 28 158 5.6 1 18 West 5 21 117 5.6 2 25 Keliikipi 5 18 99 5.5 3 20 Brewster 5 9 54 6.0 0 17 Poumele* 5 5 29 5.8 1 7 Dickerson 5 2 23 11.5 0 24 Owens 3 1 7 7.0 0 7 Rhode 1 1 5 5.0 0 5 Chang 4 18 2 0.1 0 12 Whieldon 5 11 0 0.0 0 8 Milne 5 1 -8 -8.0 0 0 TEAM 3 2 -37 -18.5 0 0 Total 5 117 449 3.8 7 25 PASSING
G Att Comp Int Yds TD Long Chang 4 220 132 6 1306 6 54 Whieldon 5 53 30 3 461 5 54 Poumele 5 2 1 1 0 0 0 Kapanui 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 Rhode 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Total 5 277 163 10 1767 11 54 RECEIVING
G Rec Yds Avg TD Long Cockheran 4 28 428 15.3 4 54 Komine 5 24 253 10.5 1 38 Owens 3 23 255 11.1 3 30 Rivers 4 14 129 9.2 1 31 Welch 4 13 130 10.0 2 31 Brewster 5 12 103 8.6 0 26 West 5 11 77 7.0 0 25 Keliikipi 5 9 63 7.0 0 13 Poumele 5 7 111 15.9 0 27 Dickerson 5 7 50 7.1 0 19 Bass 4 6 58 9.7 0 27 Miyashiro 3 4 31 7.8 0 14 Ilaoa 1 2 51 25.5 0 41 Stennis 2 2 21 10.5 0 23 Herbert 4 1 7 7.0 0 7 Total 5 163 1767 10.8 11 54 TOTAL OFFENSE
G Plays Rush Pass Tot Avg Chang 4 238 2 1306 1308 327.0 Whieldon 5 64 0 461 461 92.2 Bass 4 28 158 0 158 39.5 West 5 21 117 0 117 23.4 Keliikipi 5 18 99 0 99 19.8 Brewster 5 9 54 0 54 10.8 Poumele 5 7 29 0 29 5.8 Dickerson 5 2 23 0 23 4.6 Owens 3 1 7 0 7 2.3 Rhode 1 2 5 0 5 5.0 Milne 5 1 -8 0 -8 -1.6 TEAM 3 2 -37 0 -37 -12.3 Total 5 394 449 1767 2216 443.2 SCORING
TD FG 1XP 2XP Tot Ayat 0 7 14 0 35 Cockheran 4 0 0 0 24 Keliikipi 3 0 0 0 18 Owens 3 0 0 0 18 Welch 2 0 0 0 12 West 2 0 0 0 12 Rivers 1 0 0 0 6 Bass 1 0 0 0 6 Dickerson 1 0 0 0 6 Komine 1 0 0 0 6 Poumele 1 0 0 0 6 Whieldon 0 0 0 1 2 Total 19 7 14 1 151 PUNTING
No. Yds Avg Long Milne 25 989 39.6 51 Wright 2 73 36.5 40 Total 27 1062 39.3 51 PUNT RETURNS
No. Yds Avg TD Long Herbert 7 62 8.9 0 13 Owens 6 68 11.3 0 24 Bass 3 23 7.7 0 19 Brewster 2 9 4.5 0 7 Total 18 162 9.0 0 24 KICK RETURNS
No. Yds Avg TD Long Dickerson 17 408 24.0 1 100 Brewster 4 64 16.0 0 24 Moe 2 32 16.0 0 16 Blackburn 1 13 13.0 0 13 Owens 1 25 25.0 0 25 Total 25 542 21.7 1 100 INTERCEPTIONS
No. Yds Avg Td Long Peters, H. 1 4 4.0 0 4 Fuga 1 0 0.0 0 0 Millhouse 1 0 0.0 0 0 Elimimian 1 0 0.0 0 0 Gilmore 1 0 0.0 0 0 Total 5 4 0.8 0 4 TACKLES
G UT AT Tot Kalilimoku 5 20 20 40 Curnan 5 21 18 39 LaBoy 5 22 9 31 Peters, H. 5 22 8 30 Peters, L. 5 14 10 24 Elimimian 5 13 8 21 Ala 5 12 8 20 Sopoaga 4 8 9 17 Samuseva 5 7 8 15 Millhouse 5 13 2 15 Alapa 4 9 5 14 Gilmore 5 9 2 11 Kapanui 5 8 2 10 Manutai 5 5 2 7 Jackson 4 4 2 6 Moe 5 4 2 6 Maafala 4 5 0 5 Wright 5 3 2 5 Fuga 4 3 2 5 Aguiar 4 3 1 4 Purcell 2 3 0 3 Broadway 5 1 2 3 Whieldon 5 1 2 3 Harley 4 1 1 2 Hollingsworth 1 1 0 1 Kamakawiwoole 4 1 0 1 Patton 3 1 0 1 Blackburn 4 1 0 1 Hogan 4 1 0 1 Rhode 1 1 0 1 Stennis 2 1 0 1 Komine 5 1 0 1 Ayat 5 1 0 1 Satele 5 1 0 1 Poumele 5 1 0 1 Keliikipi 5 1 0 1 Cockheran 4 1 0 1 Latusela 2 1 0 1 Hoohuli 1 1 0 1 Noa 5 0 1 1 Manners 4 0 1 1 Faavae 4 0 1 1 Flanagan 1 0 1 1 Herbert 4 0 0 0 Total 5 226 129 255
