ASSOCIATED PRESS Hawaii's Landon Kafentzis, top, and Kila Kamakawiwo'ole, right, helped bring down San Jose State receiver Jason Lance during Saturday's game.

Fa‘avi key to Hawaii’s success

SAN JOSE, Calif. » Sure, June Jones was a bit giddy after Hawaii's thrilling 45-38 win at San Jose State on Saturday. But Jones meant it when he said center Derek Fa'avi might be the Warriors' most indispensable offensive player seven games into the 2005 campaign.

"Derek has had an unbelievable seven games. So much better, so much stronger. He has probably been our most valuable player on offense," Jones said. "He's worked harder and he's so smart."

At 3-5 (3-2 Western Athletic Conference), Hawaii is still a longshot to win four of its final five games to qualify for the postseason. Without Fa'avi, though, Jones and others believe the Warriors wouldn't have to worry about that already; they might have lost to the Spartans if not for the senior captain from Campbell High School.

Nate Ilaoa scored the winning touchdown. Dane Porlas intercepted a pass with 55 seconds left to seal the win. Colt Brennan threw for three TDs and ran for another. Acrobatic freshman slotbacks Ryan Grice-Mullen and Davone Bess added several more plays worthy of end-of-the-year banquet viewing.

Grice-Mullen was nominated for WAC Offensive Player of the Week after his five catches for 125 yards and a touchdown, plus a 15-yard TD on his first career rushing attempt.

But several players said inspirational leadership from fourth-year starter Fa'avi was the key to the 10-play, 80-yard game-winning drive in the fourth quarter.

"He said, 'Hey, we're not going to lose this football game.' He made sure every lineman and every receiver and I knew that we were going to go down the field and do whatever we could to help our defense win the game," Brennan said of Fa'avi. "When he was doing that, it meant that much more because he's a humble person who doesn't get in people's faces. Because he doesn't do it every game, it means that much more. There was a look. It wasn't as much what he said as how he said it. It was exactly what we needed for a spark for that last drive."

Left guard Samson Satele said he was inspired by Fa'avi.

"We saw him all riled up and he's not always like that, so we wanted to do everything we could to win," Satele said.

Bess, who caught two passes for 19 yards on the drive, said Fa'avi "challenged (him) to make a big play."

"He gave us all confidence that we could do it," Bess added.

Fa'avi said he told the other linemen to give Brennan more time to throw after the Warriors allowed three sacks earlier in the game.

"I just try to give moral support," he said. "Hopefully my enthusiasm carries on to the rest of the team."

Another relatively unheralded veteran, junior receiver Ross Dickerson, contributed to the drive with two catches for 31 yards.

"The young guys are really doing their job and it's a collaboration of both veterans and young guys stepping up to be the man and get us moving," said Ilaoa, a senior.

No surprises: If you go by their records, Hawaii has beaten the bad teams and lost to the good ones so far.

Hawaii's three wins are against Idaho, New Mexico State and San Jose State. Their combined record is 2-19. The four losses are against USC, Michigan State, Boise State and Louisiana Tech. Those teams are a combined 19-8 and none of them has a losing record.

Among the leaders: Two interceptions Saturday hurt Brennan's efficiency rating. He's now ranked 11th in the nation. His counterpart for Saturday's game at Aloha Stadium, Fresno State's Paul Pinegar is 12th.

Brennan is second in pass completions per game with 29.14, trailing only Cody Hodges of Texas Tech with 33.43. His 21 TD passes are also behind only Hodges, who has 24. Hodges and Brennan are also Nos. 1 and 2 in passing yardage with 406.7 and 363.7 per game.