Wildcats unlike UH’s
other home foes
Hawaii’s wins have come against
teams with a cumulative record
of 18-37
It's true Hawaii is a different football team at home than on the road.
It's also true, however, that the quality of the Warriors' opponents this season has something to do with the disparity between their results at home (5-1) and away (0-4).
After Hawaii's 52-21 pounding of Idaho at Aloha Stadium on Saturday, the Warriors have five home wins in a row -- against five teams with losing records and a cumulative mark of 18-37. The road losses were to teams that have a combined 28-12 mark.
It's the nature of the Western Athletic Conference schedule's annual rotation that Hawaii plays Fresno State and Boise State at home or on the road in the same season, and this year, it was on the road ... along with resurgent Texas-El Paso.
Northwestern, which comes to visit Saturday, is bucking the weak-home-opponent trend. The Wildcats are 6-5 and finished their Big Ten season 5-3.
A bowl berth is on the line for both teams. If UH wins, it still must beat Michigan State on Dec. 4 to clinch a Hawaii Bowl bid.
"Northwestern is the best offensive team we'll play this year," Warriors coach June Jones said. "Speed, schemes, they have it all. We have to play our best game to even be on the field with them."
Hawaii -- despite rampant injuries -- was pretty close to that on Saturday. Quarterback Tim Chang passed for a career-high six touchdowns, with Jason Rivers grabbing a school-record four touchdown passes. Defensively, the Warriors knocked the Vandals (3-9) around for 10 sacks to tie another school record. UH yielded only 71 yards in shutting out Idaho in the second half.
"Timmy was very sharp throwing the ball, strong and accurate. Jason did a good job of catching with bodies around him," Jones said. "Our defensive line really played well. We did some different things after we looked at the tape and saw they might not be ready for some blitzes."
The Warriors shared the wealth, with nine players getting the 10 sacks. Linebacker Lincoln Manutai was the leader with two. All four starting defensive linemen got one apiece.
"They're all really together now. I think we sent a message out that we can't depend on one or two guys making all the plays," defensive line coach Vantz Singletary said. "We need more guys to make a difference, and that's what we got."
Early on, it appeared Idaho would match Hawaii score for score. Vandals quarterback Michael Harrington threw two touchdown passes to Bobby Bernal-Wood in the first half.
"We made a couple adjustments after he was just having fun in the backfield, throwing all those passes. We changed up our defense a couple times and it got us back in the game," said UH defensive end Mel Purcell, whose five tackles included a 13-yard sack. "We just had more blitzes and everybody was eager to get to the quarterback.
"Everybody feels more comfortable playing at home than away," Purcell added.
The nominees: UH turned in the names of Rivers (nine catches for 167 yards and four TDs) for WAC Offensive Player of the Week and nominated Leonard Peters (seven tackles, a forced fumble, fumble recovery and a sack) for Defensive Player of the Week.
