HAWAII FOOTBALL
SB FILE / NOVEMBER 2003
Hawaii head coach June Jones celebrated with his players after the Warriors upset Alabama 37-29 in 2003.
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UH players recall turning the Tide
Hawaii's 37-29 victory over Alabama in 2003 came one year after a 21-16 loss to the Tide
ATLANTA » It was muggy, and Hawaii's starting quarterback was booed off the field. The Warriors had a field goal and a punt blocked late in the game against a program with 12 national championships in its trophy case.
Somehow, though, UH beat Alabama 37-29 on Nov. 29, 2003, at Aloha Stadium.
HAWAII AT ALABAMA
When: Saturday, 1:05 p.m. Hawaii time
TV: Live on pay-per-view, delayed on KFVE (Ch. 5) at 9:30 p.m.
Radio: KKEA (1420-AM)
Note: KGMB (Ch. 9) airs a season preview tonight at 9.
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Yes, the Crimson Tide were on NCAA probation and finishing a 4-9 season under first-year coach Mike Shula, and the Warriors were headed toward a 9-5 finish, their third winning campaign in a row.
Tomorrow the Warriors try to accomplish something much bigger, a road victory in front of 93,000 Alabama fans at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
UH, 5-7 last year, is a 17-point underdog against the Tide, 10-2 and ranked No. 8 in the country in 2005.
But there are around 20 current UH and UA players who participated in that game three years ago who know firsthand it is possible for Hawaii to beat Alabama -- because they were there on the field when it happened.
"We had some players who made some big plays in that game," Hawaii coach June Jones said. "Jeremiah Cockheran, I remember, made a big play. Obviously (backup quarterback) Jason Whieldon came in and did a great job. We didn't turn the ball over like we did the year before to them. That's going to be a key again this game."
Whieldon passed for 237 yards and four touchdowns in relief of the slumping Tim Chang, who went on to become the NCAA career passing yardage leader the next season.
Cockheran caught five passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns.
Cockheran and Whieldon are long gone, but there are plenty of players on UH's current roster who saw the elephant three years ago and bagged a win.
Does it matter that 10 players who were on that team will all start or play major roles for the Warriors tomorrow?
"It certainly helps, but every game's an individual game," Jones said. "Those same guys have to do an even better job."
Jason Rivers, a true freshman then, caught two passes for 10 yards. It wasn't one of his bigger games statistically, but he said the win helps him -- and his younger teammates -- believe UH can overcome the odds tomorrow.
"It does a lot for us as far as confidence. It lets all the new guys who think of Alabama as a powerhouse, it lets them know that they're beatable," Rivers said.
Senior center Sam Satele was a freshman left tackle in that game. He recalls how UH dug itself a 14-0 hole but was able to come back.
"The memory I've got is Tim Chang being booed off the field," he said. "There were a lot of good things that happened in that game, too. Jason Whieldon came in and fired us up."
Kurt Milne, then a freshman, earned WAC special teams player of the week honors as his punts pinned the Tide behind its 20 six times and the 10 three times as UH controlled field position.
"The best game of my career, by far. A lot of things worked in my favor. Had great gunners, Omega Hogan and Gary Wright. They did a great job getting them down there, and our defense did a great job keeping them down there and forcing them to punt out of their own end zone," said Milne, who is still UH's starting punter and is from Roswell, Ga., less than a 3-hour drive from Tuscaloosa.
"The second-to-last one we got a punt blocked, which hurt us, and right there was a critical part of the game. But the defense made a stand."
Alabama scored on a blocked field-goal attempt, so UH didn't dominate special teams. But it did win the turnover battle (three to one) and on the line of scrimmage, especially during passing downs (six sacks to none).
"The game for the defense is trying to get the ball back to the offense as fast as we can," said senior free safety Leonard Peters, who also played in the game. "Stripping the ball, intercepting the ball, stuff like that.
"That game was really exciting for the state as well as us. Playing a good team like Alabama, going in we know they have big guys, great running backs, great quarterback, and speed, and coming out on top."
Satele will always cherish the 2003 victory, but he knows these are two different teams.
"We can't take that win and go up there and say we're going to beat them," he said. "It's going to be a hard game."
Alabama star linebacker Juwan Simpson played in the game three years ago and is now a senior.
"I remember it being a hard-fought game. They prepared very well for us," Simpson said. "Both of us have totally different teams now and it's a whole new slate, so I don't really dwell on that. Since we won the year before (21-16, also at Aloha Stadium), I guess you can look at this as best of three."