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0-for-Owls
The Warriors drop their WAC
opener and fall to 0-2 with losses to
the Owls of Rice and Florida Atlantic
HOUSTON » The last time Hawaii lost two football games in a row, coach June Jones said his team was immature and undisciplined. The Warriors left Las Vegas a year ago today in disarray after a mistake-filled loss to the Rebels that followed a spanking at the hands of eventual national champion USC.
Last night at Rice Stadium, the Warriors were outmuscled by Rice, 41-29, and UH begins the 2004 campaign 0-2. And Hawaii has another two weeks to deal with the sting of a defeat, as it did after losing its opener to Florida Atlantic.
Yes, there were many mistakes last night. Lots of missed tackles and missed opportunities on offense to go around. But this time, Jones isn't as down on his players as he was last year.
Last night's post-mortem included no mention of a Western Athletic Conference championship, but Jones is confident his team can still rebound to meet another of its major goals. After all, the group that started out 2-3 in 2003 bounced back to beat Alabama and outlast Houston in the Hawaii Bowl on the way to a 9-5 mark.
"I know my guys. They'll play. They'll respond," Jones said, after the Owls' option flattened the Warriors with 405 rushing yards and 523 overall. "It hurts to lose, but they'll come back. I would anticipate that we can still do what we said we were going to do, and that's get in that bowl game.
"We said all along that we had to win one or two on the road," he added. "We can still do that."
The Warriors will want to start with one or two at home, but they can't until Oct. 2 against Tulsa.
"It's terrible. It's hard to get over this kind of thing," said linebacker Tanuvasa Moe, who was in on 10 tackles. "All we can do is try to get past it and focus on the next game. But you gotta do it and try to get ready for whoever is coming up next."
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That's what the Warriors said after falling to FAU on Sept. 4, and they had two weeks to prepare for the next set of Owls, whose wishbone they manage to contain, if not pull apart, in victories here in 2002 and at Aloha Stadium in 2003. But this UH defense was not the veteran group of years past.
They spent much of last night learning on the job.
"We felt like they were on their heels a lot in the first half," said Rice guard Greg Wilson, who helped pave the way for 234 yards rushing by fullback Ed Bailey, including 143 in the first half. "But in the second half they brought the linebackers up a little more and they gave us problems. We adjusted and played to our strength."
SAY WHAT?"It sucks. We got to do the little things. Like tackle."
Lui Fuga UH defensive tackle
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"They did a better job in the second half because they'd seen us running the plays over and over, and not just their scout team," Rice coach Ken Hatfield said.
The Warriors, after Justin Ayat's 25-yard field goal, even led 29-28 with 10:12 left. But Rice pounded back.
Owls quarterback Greg Henderson rushed for 135 yards, including three second-half touchdown runs. His two fourth-quarter TDs regained the lead for Rice (2-0, 1-0 WAC).
Henderson also passed for two touchdowns.
Hawaii lost despite its second consecutive game with no turnovers, and another good performance from quarterback Tim Chang. He completed 34 of 50 for 363 yards and three touchdowns.
But Chang was sacked five times, and he didn't come up with big plays late in the game when UH had momentum.
"We came up against a good Rice team," Chang said. "They did the things they needed to do to win. They've got good guys up front. They're well-coached, well-disciplined. They've got good motors and they played well."
STARS OF THE GAME
Chad Kapanui, HawaiiThe linebacker came off the bench to record nine solo tackles, two assists and a forced fumble.
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Greg Henderson, RiceThe Rice QB had 19 carries for 135 yards and three TDs and also passed for 118 yards and two TDs.
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Running back Michael Brewster, who scored two touchdowns against FAU, shined again for UH. He scored twice, first on a 6-yard run that gave UH a 7-0 lead, and then at the end of the third quarter on a 31-yard pass from Chang that made it 28-26, Rice.
Ayat's field goal and Brewster's second TD were both set up by Owls fumbles. Rice put the ball on the ground six times, with UH recovering only two.
Jones said he made one of the game's biggest mistakes when he opted to try a screen pass on third-and-3 at the Hawaii 17, with the Warriors trailing 34-29 and about 5 minutes left in the game.
Rice sniffed out the pass to Ross Dickerson and smothered him for a 3-yard loss. Rice took over at the UH 43 after a short punt, and Bailey and Henderson iced the game with a five-play touchdown drive that ate most of the rest of the clock.
"The wide-receiver screen, it was a bad call at the time. I guessed wrong. I thought they were going to dog it, they didn't dog it," Jones said.
KEY MATCHUP
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The Owls didn't blitz that often, relying mostly on their front four to pressure Chang. Defensive ends John Syptak and Thadis Pegues were credited with four of the five sacks.
"If you're able to put pressure on them then you're going to get a sack," Pegues said. "Our secondary played awesome tonight."
The Rice back seven didn't do anything fancy, but it was effective enough.
"Basically, we disguised our coverages," Owls rover Terry Holley said. "We ran basic coverages and just tried to move around a little and confuse them at the snap."
After Brewster's first score, Rice took control of the game, driving 83, 60 and 59 yards for three scores and a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter. Henderson found tight end Joe Don Wood behind the UH secondary for a 30-yard pass, Bailey rumbled in from 17, and Henderson passed for another touchdown, 18 yards to halfback Joe Moore.
Just as it looked like Rice would run away with it, Chang hit Dickerson for a 6-yard TD. Ayat's extra-point try failed, but UH closed to 21-19 in the third quarter on Chang's 5-yard pass to Chad Owens. Owens, who went into the game leading the nation in receptions per game, caught 10 passes for 91 yards, both game highs.
Hawaii defensive tackle Lui Fuga expressed the prevailing postgame sentiment for the Warriors, and the prospect of another two weeks dealing with a loss.
"It sucks," he said. "We got to do the little things. Like tackle."
Rice 41, Hawaii 29
At Rice Stadium
Hawaii (0-2, 0-1) 7 6 13 3 -- 29 Rice (2-0, 1-0) 14 7 7 13 -- 41
First quarter UH 11:42 Brewster 6 run (Ayat kick) 7-0 RICE 8:54 Wood 30 pass from Henderson (Landry kick) 7-7 RICE 4:32 Bailey 17 run (Landry kick) 7-14 Second quarter RICE 14:04 Moore 18 pass from Henderson (Landry kick) 7-21 UH 11:00 Dickerson 6 pass from Chang (kick failed) 13-21 Third quarter UH 10:06 Owens 5 pass from Chang (pass failed) 19-21 RICE 6:22 Henderson 5 run (Landry kick) 19-28 UH 0:00 Brewster 31 pass from Chang (Ayat kick) 26-28 Fourth quarter UH 10:12 FG Ayat 25 29-28 RICE 5:16 Henderson 8 run (pass failed) 29-34 RICE 1:27 Henderson 4 run (Landry kick) 29-41 Attendance: 12,000. Time: 3:20.
Officials -- Referee: Frank White; Umpire: Mike Rhoades; Linesman: Rich Chandler; Line judge: Dave Usechek; Back judge: Dave Curschman; Field judge: Otis Byrd; Side judge: Mickey Bryson; Scorer: Mark Sanders.
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Team Statistics
HAWAII RICE FIRST DOWNS 21 29 Rushing 2 24 Passing 17 4 Penalty 2 1 NET YARDS RUSHING 7 405 Rushing Attempts 13 64 Average Per Rush 0.5 6.3 Yards Gained Rushing 44 425 Yards Lost Rushing 37 20 NET YARDS PASSING 363 118 Completions-Attempts-Int 34-51-0 5-12-0 Average Per Attempt 7.1 9.8 Average Per Completion 10.7 23.6 TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS 370 523 Total offense plays 64 76 Average Gain Per Play 5.8 6.9 Fumbles: Number-Lost 0-0 6-2 Penalties: Number-Yards 3-30 9-74 PUNTS-YARDS 5-183 1-23 Average Yards Per Punt 36.6 23.0 Net Yards Per Punt 25.8 23.0 Inside 20 0 0 50+ Yards 0 0 Touchbacks 0 0 Fair catch 0 0 KICKOFFS-YARDS 6-374 7-416 Average Yards Per Kickoff 62.3 59.4 Net Yards Per Kickoff 53.2 47.6 Touchbacks 3 1 Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD 0-0-0 4-54-0 Average Per Return 0 13.5 Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 6-83-0 3-55-0 Average Per Return 13.8 18.3 Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD 0-0-0 0-0-0 Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD 0-0-0 0-0-0 Miscellaneous Yards 0 0 Possession Time 25:30 34:30 Third-Down Conversions 8 of 14 10 of 13 Fourth-Down Conversions 0 of 0 1 of 1 Red-Zone Scores-Chances 4 of 4 5 of 6 Sacks By: Number-Yards 0-0 5-37 Field Goals 1-1 0-1
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Individual offensive statistics
Rushing -- Hawaii, Brewster 6-31, Chang 7-(minus 24). Rice, Bailey 37-234, Henderson 19-135, Rucker 4-27, Cates 1-4, Hatfield 2-4, Moore 1-1.
Passing -- Hawaii, Chang 34-50-0-363, Team 0-1-0-0. Rice, Henderson 5-12-0-118.
Receiving -- Hawaii, Owens 10-91, Brewster 7-59, Dickerson 6-64, Sample 4-50, Komine 3-58, Rivers 3-36, Welch 1-5. Rice, Battle 3-70, Wood 1-30, Moore 1-18.
Individual defensive statistics
Hawaii
Player Solo Ast Tot Kapanui 9 2 11 Manners 8 2 10 Moe 5 5 10 Elimimian 8 0 8 Kamakawiwoole 8 0 8 Faga 5 3 8 Peters 5 2 7 Broadway 4 3 7 Curnan 2 3 5 Patton 2 2 4 Fuga 2 2 4 Purcell 3 0 3 Manutai 2 1 3 Harley 2 0 2 LaCount 1 2 3 Hogan 1 0 1 Keliikipi 1 0 1 Tautofi 0 1 1
Rice
Player Solo Ast Tot Price 12 1 13 Herrin 6 1 7 Downs 6 0 6 Casson 4 4 8 Holley 3 2 5 Ginn 3 0 3 Syptak 3 0 3 Pegues 2 0 2 Haynes 2 0 2 Barnes 2 0 2 Gilbert 2 1 3 Sparks 1 1 2 Alikor 1 1 2 Gordon 1 1 2 S. Wood 0 1 1 Cooper 0 1 1 W. Wood 0 1 1 Byrd 0 1 1 Cates 0 1 1
