Warriors’ relentless ‘D’
foiled Golden Hurricane
UH sacked Tulsa’s Kilian five times
and held the Golden Hurricane to
63 second-half yards
For the young men of the Hawaii defense, golf is a game to play when they get older, when their football days are behind them.
But on Saturday, the Warriors teed off -- again and again, against Tulsa's offense in the Warriors' 44-16 victory at Aloha Stadium.
Chad Owens' three touchdowns will be the enduring highlight-tape material from UH's first win of the season. But the defense's relentless assault on the Golden Hurricane that produced five sacks was just as important.
The key sequence was at the outset of the second half, when Warriors defensive linemen Lui Fuga, Nkeruwem Akpan, Matt Faga and Mel Purcell stuffed Tulsa quarterback James Kilian and running back Uril Parrish, forcing TU into the punt that resulted in Owens' 66-yard touchdown to give UH a 20-13 lead.
It was just the beginning of a tremendous half for the Hawaii defense, one of the best in coach June Jones' six seasons at Manoa. Tulsa was limited to 63 total yards and three first downs. The only points came from Brad DeVault's 45-yard field goal late in the third quarter after Hawaii built the lead to 27-16.
It was an incredible turnaround for a team that had yielded 484 yards per game in losses to Florida Atlantic and at Rice.
"We're kind of an aggressive zone-blitz team," Jones said yesterday. "When we play the (Rice) wishbone, we can't really play our defense against that type scheme. Last night we got back to what we are. The kids played well. And George and Rich did a great job of planning."
"George and Rich" are defensive coordinator George Lumpkin and secondary coach Rich Miano, who also has a lot of input in the pass-defense strategy. They've been the targets of much of the criticism for UH's 0-2 start.
The Warriors made one change among the defensive starters for Saturday's game, inserting Lono Manners at safety in place of Lamar Broadway. The former running back from Waianae responded with a game-high eight tackles.
"He's a hitter and he loves the game," Jones said. "He tries to do what you tell him to do. He's a good kid and he deserves the opportunity."
The Warriors' banged-up linebacker corps played well, too. Tanuvasa Moe, Ikaika Curnan, Lincoln Manutai and Watson Ho'ohuli were all in on sacks.
It was a tale of two halves for the offense. The Warriors receivers dropped five first-half passes -- and that using a conservative definition of "drop" -- after failing to latch on to around 15 should've-been-caughts in the first two games. After the break, Owens, Jason Rivers, Se'e Poumele and Britton Komine latched on to everything within reach.
"We just talked about how we played the worst half of football we had (played) and we were lucky the game was tied," Jones said. "We just need to get going. I thought in the second half we played, in execution, offensively and defensively, the best since I've been here."
It was also the best UH special teams effort in a while. In addition to Owens' fourth career return touchdown and first since 2001, senior kicker Justin Ayat also reverted to his fine form of that freshman year. He made all three of his field-goal attempts, including a school-record-tying 56-yarder, and all four extra points -- and points-after were not automatic for Ayat last season.
"He did a nice job," Jones said of Ayat, who battled a groin injury during preseason camp and the first two games. "We felt like physically he was all right the last 10 days or so. We knew it was just a matter of time for him and wanted to put a little pressure on him. Sometimes it takes something like that to get out of that funk."
The running game was another plus for Hawaii, as Michael Brewster (81 yards) and West Keli'ikipi (64) spearheaded a 128-yard team effort on the ground.
Quarterback Tim Chang continued the best start of his five years at UH, completing 22 of 43 passes for 378 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions.
But Tulsa is not the Tulsa of last season, when the Golden Hurricane went 8-5, including a 27-16 victory over Hawaii. Nevada, the team Hawaii hosts Saturday, looks like it might not be much better after Saturday's 48-13 drubbing by UNLV, and the Warriors will likely be favored.
Jones said UH can continue to compete and win if it executes like it did against the Hurricane.
"We just caught the ball. And our offensive line was very aggressive and played well," he said. "We did what we practiced."
No turnovers: Hawaii, Purdue and Texas A&M are the only Division I teams that haven't thrown an interception.
The Aggies have lost one fumble, but the Warriors and Boilermakers both have zero turnovers.
Up for honors: UH nominated Owens and Ayat for Western Athletic Conference offensive and special teams players of the week.
Hurt list: The Warriors reported only one injury from Saturday's game. Purcell is day-to-day after suffering a stinger in his left shoulder.
National rankings
Where Hawaii stacks up against the nation
Rushing offense Hawaii 117th 54.00 Rushing defense Hawaii 94th 203.7 Total defense Hawaii 84th 405.3 All-purpose yardage Chad Owens 10th 160.67 Receptions per game Chad Owens 1st 10.3 Jason Rivers 42nd 5.0 Receiving yds per game Chad Owens 6th 120.67 Punt ret. yds per attempt Chad Owens 27th 13.14 Passing efficiency Tim Chang 43rd 130.8 Completions per game Tim Chang 2nd 31.33 Total Offense Tim Chang 3rd 336.7 Interceptions per game Abraham Elimimian 12th .67
