RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Paul Lutu-Carroll, left, and Gerald Welch brought down San Jose State's Trestin George in the second quarter.

Special bounce
is back

UH makes big plays on special teams
-- a weakness in last week’s loss --
to crush the Spartans 46-28

Many coaches say it's one-third of football, and some even believe it. But special-teams play meant a lot more than that for Hawaii last night as the Warriors beat San Jose State 46-28 at Aloha Stadium.

Stars of the Game Britton Komine, Hawaii The wide receiver caught nine passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Tyson Thompson, San Jose State The running back tallied 203 yards -- including an 85-yard touchdown run -- on 23 carries. Key Matchup UH offensive tackles against SJSU defensive ends: The Warriors offensive line of Tala Esera, Samson Satele, Derek Fa'avi, Uriah Moenoa and Brandon Eaton played one of its best games. They allowed zero sacks by defensive end Tony Ficklin -- the WAC's co-leader in the department -- or any of his teammates. The Warriors O-line was flagged once for a false start and once for holding while helping generate 449 total yards.

It meant momentum and big plays ... both of which Hawaii will need in large amounts as it heads into the stretch run of its season, beginning with Friday's big game at unbeaten Boise State.

UH -- which suffered from shoddy special teams in a loss at Texas-El Paso last week -- improved to 3-3 overall and 3-2 in the Western Athletic Conference with its third straight home win. The Spartans fell to 2-4 and 1-2 in losing to the Warriors for the fourth time in a row. Hawaii must win four of its six remaining games to qualify for a third consecutive Hawaii Bowl.

Receiver Britton Komine (nine catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns) and a patchwork defense also shined at times for Hawaii, but the kicking game kick-started the Warriors.

"We did some good things on special teams, kickoffs and punts, real positives," Hawaii coach June Jones said. "Our kick coverage was also much better."

Jones excitement was tempered by an ever-expanding injury list. Three more starters -- receiver Se'e Poumele, defensive end Mel Purcell and linebacker Tanuvasa Moe -- joined it last night. Poumele may be lost for the season with a broken arm.

"We've got so many injuries now," Jones said. "We just have to look at the backups as starters now."

Early, it looked like the Spartans would benefit from special contributions as they took a 14-7 lead with a fake field goal that went for a touchdown.

But a homecoming crowd of 31,074 (36,264 tickets issued) saw senior Chad Owens return a punt for a touchdown in his third home game in a row and kicker Justin Ayat make a 49-yard field goal at the end of the first half.

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM SJSU quarterback Dale Rogers tossed the ball to a teammate as Hawaii's Matt Faga defended.

The turning point of the game though, was freshman Jason Ferguson's electrifying 66-yard kickoff return, right after the Spartans' trickery. Ferguson, in his second game as UH's deep man for kickoffs, took the ball at the goal line, went up the middle to his 25 and cut to the left sideline.

The 5-foot-5, 157-pound freshman set things up at the Spartans 34-yard line for 6-foot, 280-pound West Keli'ikipi. Keli'ikipi accounted for 17 bruising yards the rest of the way, including a 1-yard run for his first of two touchdowns. Ayat's extra point tied it at 14 with 5:04 left before halftime, and UH never trailed again.

The Warriors took the lead when Tim Chang hit Komine with a perfectly placed 46-yard touchdown pass, one play after Komine dropped a pass across the middle with 1:07 left in the first half.

Chang, playing with a damaged left (non-throwing) shoulder, completed 25 of 39 passes for 318 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He now has 14,791 career passing yards and needs 240 on Friday to catch NCAA record-holder Ty Detmer on national TV against Boise State.

"I was a little banged up after last week, but I felt all right this week," said Chang, who missed two practices last week. "When we get a big spark like that from (special teams) it really fires us up."

After San Jose State failed to run out the final minute of the first half, Owens returned a punt 16 yards to the Spartans 41, and Ayat made his 49-yarder.

What started out with promise for underdog San Jose State looked grim at halftime. And it turned out so, as UH scored 27 unanswered points and San Jose State wasted a 203-yard rushing performance by Tyson Thompson.

"We stopped ourselves the whole game," said quarterback Dale Rogers, who completed 10 of 24 passes for 82 yards and two touchdowns. UH safety Leonard Peters also managed his third interception of the season. "On some of my throws I should have made them, but I didn't and it hurt us."

The Spartans took a 7-0 lead by making the Warriors pay for an early mistake. Bobby Godinez intercepted a Chang pass on the first drive, and San Jose State drove 78 yards on 17 plays to take a 7-0 lead. Rogers hit Rufus Skillern for a 3-yard touchdown pass.

Running Wild

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii senior Michael Brewster, left, who rushed for 49 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries last night, looked for room to run in front of San Jose State's Sean McNamara.

The Warriors came right back with a good drive of their own, the longest of the season for UH, going 80 yards in 14 plays, consuming 7 minutes and 24 seconds. Michael Brewster capped it with a 7-yard touchdown, his fifth rushing score of the season.

Chang was picked again, this time by Jerrell Hardy when defensive end Sean McNamara tipped a ball.

The Spartans, starting from the Hawaii 26, looked like they would settle for a field goal when they stalled at the 6. But holder Beau Pierce rolled to his left and pitched to kicker Jeff Carr, who ran it in for the score and the 14-7 lead.

But then Ferguson and his blockers took back the night.

Later, in the third quarter, Owens removed any doubt with a 71-yard punt return.

"(Owens) tells me every week I need to make something happen. He gets me so hyped," Ferguson said. "I get 60, then he goes and scores a touchdown and I'm just like, 'Dang.'"

Owens broke Bobby Ahu's school career record with his fourth punt return for a TD. He is one off the NCAA Division I-A season record of four, owned by many players, with at least six games left.

"We had a breakdown on special teams," San Jose State coach Fitz Hill said. "You don't want to give a special guy like Chad Owens opportunities to make big plays. We gave him an opportunity and he turned it into a big play. Those three big special teams plays turned it in their favor."

UH held San Jose State scoreless after the break until Rogers passed 20 yards to tight end Brian Watje at 14:27 of the fourth quarter, closing the margin to 34-21.

Hawaii fired right back, as Keli'ikipi scored on another 1-yard run for his fourth TD against San Jose State in two seasons. Ayat missed the extra point and UH led 40-21.

Komine caught his second scoring pass from Chang with 6:24 left, for 13 yards.

Thompson ran 85 yards with 6:12 left for the final score. The Warriors allowed 397 yards with a unit missing four starters most of the game, along with Purcell for part of the second half.

"I was hurting and they tried to exploit me," said cornerback Abraham Elimimian, who played despite a strained hamstring. "I tried to keep (first-time starters Ray Bass at corner and Matt Manuma at safety) relaxed and yell out plays before they happened."