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Sidelines Kalani Simpson |
Hawaii makes gains
despite many pains
Television Interviewer: What is your prediction?THEY'RE still alive. One down. The season isn't over. They made it through the night.
Mr. T (growling, of course): Pain.
--"Rocky III"
This one was about toughness. This one was about pain. This was a team that had to somehow get through this game, and did. This was Hawaii gritting its teeth until it could impose its will. Then it did.
This was UH toughing it out until San Jose State would (predictably) collapse.
And it did.
Last year it took most of the game to happen, it took until the final seconds, when San Jose State let the clock run out. Last night, it happened in the final minutes of the first half, when Fitz Hill's crew again botched game management, leaving the door open for UH to steal the two scores that would change the game.
And it was never the same from that point on. Pau.
Chad Owens did another Johnny Rodgers impersonation, and the place exploded, and another Aloha Stadium romp was on.
All the aches started to fade.
But before that, the night was about pain. You could see it. You could almost feel it. Your own bones creaked, watching Hawaii players hobble slowly to their feet. Your own muscles seared when, after almost every play, a UH guy would walk like an 80-year-old man.
"I didn't even recognize some of the people out there at the end of the game," June Jones said.
This team was banged up last night, and still is. But this morning doesn't hurt as much as it might have, had San Jose State been as tough.
Abraham Elimimian broke up a long pass, then grabbed his leg. Se'e Poumele was knocked out of the game and maybe out for the season. Mel Purcell left with a bruised chest (he would go to the hospital). T.J. Moe was carried off the field.
Who was hurting? All of them. They all were.
They still are.
How do they feel? "Sore," Elimimian said.
Oh, this team is in rough shape, at midseason. The rest of the year won't be easy, six more games in a row, injuries adding up every week. But they made it through the night.
Now they are back to .500, and the dream of a bowl season (and at this point it is very much a dream) is still alive. This game brings hope.
San Jose State had the players to win. The Spartans had better players (at least healthy ones). San Jose State should have taken it to the wire again.
The opponents aren't cooperating this season? San Jose State did.
"Hawaii played outstanding defense, obviously," Hill said. "But they weren't the reason why we couldn't execute."
This night offered hope. On this night at least, things fell into place the way they did during last season's comeback run. Aloha Stadium is magic.
The Spartans fell apart. Hawaii was able to fight through the pain.
We saw it last week at UTEP. We saw it this week here: Teams lose their heads on the road.
They find their hearts at home.