Hawaii's Britton Komine, right, congratulated teammate Jason Rivers after Rivers scored a second-quarter touchdown.
Offense runs through
Rivers
Sometimes being a receiver in the Hawaii football team's run-and-shoot offense means waiting your turn.
Entering last night's game against Idaho, Jason Rivers' efforts this season had netted him only two touchdowns.
But the Saint Louis graduate finally had the breakout night he'd been looking for, rampaging through the Vandals secondary to catch nine passes for a career-high 167 yards. He set a school record with four touchdown receptions, all coming in the first half of UH's 52-21 win at Aloha Stadium.
"Every game I hope for nights like this, but it doesn't always happen like that," Rivers said. "It's just the luck of the draw.
"Some nights the ball might be in perfect position for other people. Tonight I was that guy."
He tied the touchdown mark with three scoring receptions in the first quarter. Rivers then claimed the mark for himself by latching onto a 15-yard dart from quarterback Tim Chang at the 3:19 mark of the second quarter.
"I didn't know I did that, but it makes it that much sweeter," Rivers said.
Rivers had five touchdown receptions as a freshman and shared the school record for TDs in a game with six other receivers after grabbing three in last year's Sheraton Hawaii Bowl against Houston.
That performance raised expectations for Rivers entering his sophomore season and he delivered his biggest game last night.
"He had a really big game tonight, made a lot of great catches, came across the middle a lot," Chang said. "It's not easy coming across the middle like that. He stays in there, he catches the ball, turns it up when he can and takes the big hits. He played an awesome game and he's going to get better."
Rivers was the main target for Chang, who orchestrated an efficient UH offense. Four of the Warriors' five first-half scoring drives were three plays or fewer. At one stretch between the second and third quarters, he completed 15 of 16 throws, including his first seven of the second half.
"He was on the money," Rivers said of Chang. "You couldn't help but catch the ball."
Things didn't always come this easy for Rivers, but his production has kicked up a notch lately.
In the four games since he was held to three catches for 31 yards against San Jose State on Oct. 23, Rivers has 34 catches for 348 yards and all six of his touchdowns.
His biggest games have come in the Warriors' last two home games. He had eight grabs for 137 yards against Louisiana Tech in his previous Aloha Stadium appearance.
"It was just one of those nights where the game plan kicked in extra," Rivers said. "We prepared just like every other team and I just got the ball in the right situations.
"It's just the chemistry of the offense. We practiced all week, the chemistry was on and we're going to carry it into the game. I hope we practice like that next week and the week after that."
