Jones sticks to his guns
Hawaii coach June Jones said yesterday that early success running the ball in last week's 27-16 loss at Tulsa merely reinforced his faith in his pass-first offensive philosophy rather than diminishing it.
Hawaii's going to the ground in that game only showed that UH has to throw the ball to be successful, Jones said.
"I knew that we were going to have to run the ball to keep their pass rush at bay. And we did that," Jones said. "But we proved that that doesn't win games for us."
Jones said more passes would only increase Hawaii's odds of hitting a big play. Upon reflection, he thought UH should have almost doubled its passing attempts at Tulsa.
"We've got to throw it 70 times and we didn't throw it enough," Jones said. "You throw it 70 times, then you've got 10 chances instead of four, for touchdowns."
Despite coming up empty in the second half, Jones said that UH had chances for big plays against Tulsa, but failed to cash in on opportunities and failed to execute at the right times.
He gave his offensive line a good grade overall, but said the occasional mistakes really hurt.
"And they came at critical times," Jones said. "We had a busted pass protection when we had a chance to throw the ball up the field for a big one.
"And then on a third-and-inches, something we block all the time, we turn two guys loose in the hole. On just a base look. There's no excuse for that."
On defense, Jones said Hawaii played well overall, good enough to win the game. But again it broke down over a few key moments.
Much of it is stuff Hawaii has gotten away with in the past.
"I would say that we have overcome, the last couple years, some of the dumb mistakes we've made," Jones said. "We haven't been able to overcome them this year ... for whatever reason, we haven't."
Head wound: Jones said he knew he was taking out quarterback Tim Chang because of an injury. He just wasn't sure what kind.
"I thought he hurt his knee," Jones said. "And then when I was talking to him, 'Are you OK? Are you OK?' he wasn't responding. Somebody said he got kicked in the head in my headset, as the game was going."
Jones praised Chang's play, but also chalked up the quarterback's second quarter interception to a "bad throw."
Jones said Chang is and will be fine despite the ding.
Still hurting: UH is a different team with a go-deep gamebreaker at split end and an NFL prospect at defensive tackle. But Jeremiah Cockheran and Isaac Sopoaga may miss another week.
"Isaac didn't look like he could run today," Jones said. "And Jeremiah didn't look like he'll play either. So it's kind of the same boat."
Officially, Cockheran is listed as "probable," and Sopoaga as "doubtful."
Linebacker Chad Kalilimoku is "pretty sore" after a shot to the ribs, but should be fine, Jones said. Safety Leonard Peters was on the wrong end of a pile on Saturday, but "he ran today," Jones said, "so I think he's OK."
Bouncing back: Jones said incoming opponent Fresno State has the best defense he's seen from the Bulldogs, but Hawaii's focus will be the same despite a 2-3 record.
"My goal (before the season) was the same as it is, which was to win our home games and to steal a couple on the road," Jones said. "And that's been it for the whole year, and it hasn't changed and it hasn't wavered. So that's going to be the goal, to get into that (Hawaii) bowl game. And that's what it is, and that's what it will be until we can't do it."
He said Hawaii needs to respond better to swings in momentum and learn how to be winners and how to finish opponents.
"Somebody's got to take control and make big plays," Jones said. "We've had big players make big plays in years past and that's basically what happened. In fact I was just looking at the two years ago Fresno State game, and Ashley Lelie kind of just took it over. And that's what you've got to do."
Short yardage: Fresno State (3-3) is 3-0 in night games this season. ... The Bulldogs have committed just eight penalties in their last two games. ... Boise State quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie, Tulsa defensive end Jeremy Davis and SMU return man Jonas Rutledge were Western Athletic Conference players of the week. ... Its win over UH also won Tulsa CollegeSportsReport.com's Team of the Week award.
