Funaki faced the challenge
POSTED: Monday, October 06, 2008
It was a week ago today when Nick Rolovich sat Inoke Funaki down and laid out the situation.
“;We all challenged him, I did especially,”; Rolovich, Hawaii's quarterback coach, said of that conversation two days after a disheartening loss to San Jose State.
“;We believed in him and I challenged him on Monday and said, 'Give me an answer tomorrow. You're going to be the guy and you either want this or you don't.'
“;He came in and said, 'let's go do it.' “;
Given another chance, Funaki didn't throw it away.
A week after being pulled in the Warriors' home loss to San Jose State, Funaki filled the order by managing the Hawaii offense in the Warriors' 32-29 upset of then-No. 22 Fresno State at Bulldog Stadium.
And for at least one week, Hawaii's quarterback situation has some stability heading toward the Warriors' homecoming game against Louisiana Tech on Saturday at Aloha Stadium.
“;He didn't have huge numbers, but a W is better than any kind of number,”; said Rolovich, who led the Warriors to another thrilling win over Fresno State in 2001.
“;I think this team knows Inoke can lead them to wins. That's a great feeling as a quarterback.”;
Funaki went 17-for-25 for 170 yards and two touchdowns, netted 76 rushing yards on 14 carries, but more importantly didn't turn the ball over as the Warriors defeated a ranked team on the road for the first time in 11 attempts.
“;He was more confident, especially when he was breaking off those long runs,”; center John Estes said. “;You could see in his eyes that he was going to make big plays.”;
Granted scoring opportunities by a suddenly ball-hawking Warrior defense, the offense converted Fresno State turnovers into 20 points and fumbled the ball away just once.
Funaki's first scoring pass was a 28-yard laser to Malcolm Lane - “;a big-time throw,”; Rolovich said - and he later lofted a 2-yarder to Mike Washington in the third quarter.
“;He did exactly what he was supposed to do,”; UH offensive coordinator Ron Lee said. “;He managed (the game) but he made some plays, he didn't throw an interception. What he did was he made good decisions and he played smart.”;
Bouncing back from a four-turnover performance against San Jose State hinged on Funaki's ability to stay focused after a shaky start to the Fresno State game.
“;He missed two throws early and the old Inoke misses those throws and he's in the dumps for the rest of the game,”; Rolovich said. “;He missed those throws but he never gave up until the clock was zero, and then some.”;
In doing so, Funaki became the first Hawaii quarterback to go the distance this season, finishing what he started.
“;There are still so many things in this offense I know I need to do better and can get better at. I'm just grateful we were able to get away with this win,”; Funaki said. “;I'm so thankful to the man upstairs helping me out.
“;Because I know some of those things, I wasn't able to do on my own.”;
With all of the shuffling among the four quarterbacks who've taken turns atop the depth chart - including Tyler Graunke, Greg Alexander and Brent Rausch - UH coach Greg McMackin said the group has “;done a great job of sticking together and supporting Inoke.”;
Depth comes through
Hawaii's linebacker depth was tested on Saturday when senior Adam Leonard sat out with a hamstring injury. That opened the way for R.J. Kiesel-Kahuane to start and Tyson Kafentzis to see more playing time on a defense that rotated freely throughout the game.
“;His leg was bothering him and we didn't want to push it,”; McMackin said. “;R.J. and Tyson had practiced all week and we felt they were capable and they did a good job.”;
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOOTBALL STATISTICS
| Team Statistics |
||
| Hawaii | OPP |
|
| FIRST DOWNS | 83 | 97 |
| Rushing | 27 | 42 |
| Passing | 46 | 46 |
| Penalty | 10 | 9 |
| RUSHING YARDAGE | 553 | 855 |
| Yards gained rushing | 711 | 1,028 |
| Yards lost rushing | 158 | 173 |
| Rushing attempts | 140 | 202 |
| Average per rush | 4.0 | 4.2 |
| Average per game | 110.6 | 171.0 |
| Touchdowns rushing | 5 | 11 |
| PASSING YARDAGE | 1,035 | 1,008 |
| Att-Comp-Int | 169-95-11 | 145-80-5 |
| Average per pass | 6.1 | 7.0 |
| Average per catch | 10.9 | 12.6 |
| Average per game | 207.0 | 201.6 |
| Touchdowns passing | 6 | 7 |
| TOTAL OFFENSE | 1,588 | 1,863 |
| Total plays | 309 | 347 |
| Average per game | 317.6 | 372.6 |
| KICK RETURNS: No-Yds | 31-609 | 15-343 |
| PUNT RETURNS: No-Yds | 6-0 | 11-177 |
| INT. RETURNS: No-Yds | 5-28 | 11-156 |
| FUMBLES-LOST | 10-7 | 7-3 |
| PENALTIES-YARDS | 45-408 | 39-315 |
| PUNTS-AVG | 24-983 | 19-819 |
| TIME OF POSSESION/GAME | 29:38 | 30:22 |
| 3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS | 13/60 | 27/73 |
| 4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS | 3/6 | 6/12
|
| RUSHING |
|||||||
| G | Att | Net | Avg | TD | Long |
||
| Pilares | 5 | 29 | 167 | 5.8 | 4 | 34 |
|
| Funaki | 5 | 38 | 157 | 4.1 | 0 | 33 |
|
| Libre | 4 | 28 | 132 | 4.7 | 0 | 16 |
|
| Rego | 5 | 14 | 76 | 5.4 | 0 | 19 |
|
| Wright-Jackson | 5 | 16 | 70 | 4.4 | 1 | 16 |
|
| Farmer | 2 | 2 | 10 | 5.0 | 0 | 9 |
|
| TEAM | 3 | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rausch | 1 | 1 | -4 | -4.0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Peoples | 4 | 2 | -5 | -2.5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Graunke | 3 | 4 | -20 | -5.0 | 0 | 2 |
|
| Alexander | 1 | 5 | -29 | -5.8 | 0 | 1 |
|
| Total | 5 | 140 | 553 | 4.0 | 5 | 34
|
| PASSING |
|||||||
| G | Att | Comp | Int | Yds | TD | Long |
|
| Funaki | 5 | 52 | 85 | 5 | 576 | 3 | 37 |
| Graunke | 3 | 30 | 56 | 3 | 388 | 3 | 42 |
| Alexander | 1 | 11 | 21 | 2 | 57 | 0 | 12 |
| Rausch | 1 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 9 |
| Total | 5 | 95 | 169 | 11 | 1,035 | 6 | 42
|
| RECEIVING
|
||||||
| G | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|
| Washington | 5 | 27 | 242 | 9.0 | 1 | 33 |
| Salas | 5 | 17 | 218 | 12.8 | 1 | 41 |
| Bain | 5 | 15 | 166 | 11.1 | 2 | 33 |
| Pilares | 5 | 11 | 88 | 8.0 | 0 | 23 |
| Lane | 5 | 7 | 142 | 20.3 | 2 | 42 |
| Wright-Jackson | 5 | 7 | 59 | 8.4 | 0 | 20 |
| Medeiros | 4 | 4 | 39 | 9.8 | 0 | 24 |
| Libre | 4 | 3 | 13 | 4.3 | 0 | 6 |
| Taylor | 3 | 2 | 38 | 19.0 | 0 | 26 |
| Pollard | 2 | 2 | 30 | 15.0 | 0 | 15 |
| Total | 5 | 95 | 1,035 | 10.9 | 6 | 42
|
| TOTAl OFFENSE |
|||||||
| G | Plays | Rush | Pass | Tot | Avg |
||
| Funaki | 5 | 123 | 157 | 576 | 733 | 146.6 |
|
| Graunke | 3 | 60 | -20 | 388 | 369 | 122.7 |
|
| Pilares | 5 | 29 | 167 | 0 | 167 | 33.4 |
|
| Libre | 4 | 28 | 132 | 0 | 132 | 33.0 |
|
| Rego | 5 | 14 | 76 | 0 | 76 | 15.2 |
|
| Wright-Jackson | 5 | 16 | 70 | 0 | 70 | 14.0 |
|
| Alexander | 1 | 26 | -29 | 57 | 28 | 28.0 |
|
| Farmer | 2 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 5.0 |
|
| Rausch | 1 | 8 | -4 | 14 | 10 | 10.0 |
|
| TEAM | 3 | 1 | -1 | 0 | -1 | -0.3 |
|
| Peoples | 4 | 2 | -5 | 0 | -5 | -1.2 | |
| Total | 5 | 309 | 553 | 1,035 | 1,588 | 317.6
|
| SCORING |
|||||
| TD | FG | 1XP | 2XP | Tot |
|
| Kelly | 0 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 28 |
| Pilares | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Bain | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Lane | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Washington | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Wright-Jackson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Salas | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Mouton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Total | 12 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 102
|
| PUNTING |
|||||
| No. | Yds | Avg | Long |
||
| Grasso | 24 | 983 | 41.0 | 53 |
|
| Total | 24 | 983 | 41.0 | 53 |
|
| PUNT RETURNS |
|||||
| No. | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|
| Washington | 6 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | 6 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 2
|
| KICK RETURNS |
|||||
| No. | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|
| Mouton | 20 | 449 | 22.5 | 1 | 90 |
| Taylor | 9 | 134 | 14.9 | 0 | 30 |
| Lane | 2 | 26 | 13.0 | 0 | 14 |
| Total | 31 | 609 | 19.6 | 1 | 90
|
| Tackles |
||||||||
| G | UT | AT | Tot |
|||||
| Elimimian | 5 | 18 | 18 | 36 |
||||
| Veikune | 5 | 20 | 12 | 32 |
||||
| Satele | 5 | 15 | 15 | 30 |
||||
| Dowling | 5 | 16 | 12 | 28 |
||||
| Fonoti | 5 | 16 | 11 | 27 |
||||
| Robinson | 5 | 11 | 13 | 24 |
||||
| Monteilh | 5 | 12 | 11 | 23 |
||||
| Leonard, J. | 5 | 13 | 8 | 21 |
||||
| Leonard, A. | 4 | 11 | 10 | 21 |
||||
| Mouton | 5 | 14 | 5 | 19 |
||||
| Watson | 5 | 6 | 6 | 12 |
||||
| Kiesel-Kauhane | 5 | 7 | 5 | 12 Thomas | 5 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| Allen-Jones | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
||||
| Rego | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
||||
| Tufaga | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
||||
| Silva | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
||||
| Smith | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
||||
| Davis | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
||||
| Kafentzis | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
||||
| Bryant | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
||||
| Clore | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
||||
| Porlas | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
||||
| Laeli | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
||||
| Kelly | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
||||
| Purcell | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
||||
| Washington | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
||||
| Meatoga | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
||||
| Salas | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
||||
| Kia | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
||||
| Libre | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
||||
| Savaiigaea | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
||||
| Ahmad | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
||||
| Paredes | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
||||
| Funaki | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
||||
| Total | 5 | 206 | 153 | 359
|
MISC.
Sacks (No.-Yds): Satele 1-16, Fonoti 1-13, Elimimian 1-9, Robinson 1-8, Mouton 1-7, Dowling 1-3. Total: 7-64.
Interceptions (No.-Yds): Monteilh 3-13, Bryant 1-11, Satele 1-4. Total: 5-28.
Fumbles (Forced-Recovered): Kiesel-Kauhane 1-0, Rego 1-0, Tufaga 1-0. Total: 3-0
Blocked kicks: None.
