Hawaii bowls 'em over
POSTED: Sunday, November 09, 2008
LAS CRUCES, N.M. » The Hawaii offense bucked some recent trends yesterday to reach a familiar result.
The Warriors offense enjoyed another productive outing against New Mexico State as Hawaii closed its 10-day stay on the mainland with a 42-30 victory at Aggie Memorial Stadium.
Hawaii had struggled to score in four of its previous five road games, but came through with its highest point and yardage totals of the season. The Warriors split their two-game road trip and gave their postseason hopes a boost.
“;The offense kept us in the game,”; Hawaii coach Greg McMackin said. “;They've been sort of feeding off the defense and special teams—now all of a sudden I thought the offense changed the whole momentum of the ball game.”;
Like Colt Brennan before him, Hawaii quarterback Greg Alexander picked apart the New Mexico State defense, completing 26 of 32 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns as the Warriors rebounded from the disappointment of the previous week's loss at Utah State.
By remaining perfect in five meetings with New Mexico State, Hawaii (5-5, 4-3 Western Athletic Conference) returns to Honolulu today two wins shy of a berth in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl with three home games to play following a bye this week.
“;We knew what was at stake. This was a must-win for us and that's how we approached it as a team,”; said UH linebacker Solomon Elimimian, who had a team-high 10 tackles. “;The offense played a heck of a game.”;
New Mexico State (3-6, 1-4)—which has given up an average of 47.5 points in the last four meetings with UH—dropped its fourth straight and had its flickering bowl hopes all but snuffed.
Brennan lit up the Aggies in the previous three years, and Alexander followed by piloting Hawaii to touchdowns on five of their first six possessions yesterday as the Warriors rolled up a season-high 447 yards.
“;We had an excellent game plan,”; Alexander said. “;We knew what they were doing, we got what we saw on film and exploited it.”;
Alexander—who described himself as “;slow as dirt”;—also ran for 66 yards, though four sacks resulted in a net of 37. He scored on a quarterback sneak to open UH's 21-point second quarter that gave the Warriors a 35-17 lead.
He capped the half with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Kealoha Pilares, then dove into the end zone on the 2-point conversion, spun in midflight by a big hit at the goal line.
“;Greg pulled a John Elway out there,”; McMackin said.
Alexander took full advantage of Pilares' return to the lineup from a sprained foot, connecting with the sophomore 10 times for 90 yards. Running back Daniel Libre provided ground support with 88 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
The offense's output overshadowed the stats New Mexico State produced in the shootout. Aggies quarterback Chase Holbrook threw for 394 yards and four touchdowns. Three of the scores went to receiver Chris Williams, who had touchdown receptions of 84, 23 and 83 yards on his way to a 221-yard day.
But the Warriors held the Aggies to 6 yards rushing in the game and contributed to the scoring with Ryan Mouton's 91-yard interception return in the second quarter.
The Aggies stunned the Warriors on their second play from scrimmage, when Holbrook faked a handoff and hit Williams running free in the secondary for an 84-yard touchdown 44 seconds into the game.
But Hawaii responded on its first possession with a seven-play drive that ended with Aaron Bain breaking tackles near the goal line to complete a 17-yard touchdown pass.
“;One of our goals was to come out to a quick start offensively,”; Alexander said. “;After they scored that first touchdown it was good to come right back down and respond, I think that gave us a lot of confidence.”;
Alexander's quarterback sneak to open the second quarter gave UH the lead for good at 21-14. The defense then gave the Warriors control when Mouton came up with a deflected pass and raced down the sideline for his second touchdown of the season.
“;We knew we had to win three of the next four (after the Utah State loss),”; Mouton said, “;and this is a great start.”;
Hawaii 42, New Mexico State 30
At Aggie Memorial Stadium
| Hawaii (4-6, 4-3) | 14 | 21 | 7 | 0 | — | 42 |
| New Mexico State (3-6, 1-4) | 14 | 3 | 7 | 6 | — | 30 |
| First Quarter |
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| NMSU | 14:16 | Chris Williams 84 pass from Chase Holbrook |
|
| (Kyle Hughes kick) | 0-7 |
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| UH | 09:39 | Aaron Bain 17 pass from Greg Alexander |
|
| (Dan Kelly kick) | 7-7 |
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| NMSU | 07:23 | Williams 23 pass from Holbrook (Hughes kick) | 7-14 |
| UH | 03:31 | Daniel Libre 4 run (Kelly kick) | 14-14
|
| Second Quarter |
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| UH | 14:57 | Alexander 1 run (Kelly kick) | 21-14 |
| UH | 08:33 | Ryan Mouton 91 interception return |
|
| (Kelly kick) | 27-14 |
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| NMSU | 03:59 | FG Hughes 29 | 27-17 |
| UH | 01:02 | Kealoha Pilares 6 pass from Alexander |
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| (Alexander run) | 35-17
|
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| Third Quarter |
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| NMSU | 04:09 | Williams 83 pass from Holbrook (Hughes kick) | 35-24 |
| UH | 00:39 | Libre 3 run (Kelly kick) | 42-24
|
| Fourth Quarter |
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| NMSU | 01:11 | Marcus Anderson 23 pass from Holbrook |
|
| (Holbrook pass failed) | 42-30 |
Attendance: 10,861. Time: 3:28.
Officials—Referee: Clair Gausman; Umpire: Rick Orsot; Linesman: Tim Schlenvogt; Line judge: Robert Blair; Back judge: Victor Firth; Field judge: Brad Robinson; Side judge: Mike Cuttone.
Team Statistics
| UH | NMSU |
|
| FIRST DOWNS | 24 | 15 |
| Rushing | 10 | 3 |
| Passing | 14 | 12 |
| Penalty | 0 | 0 |
| NET YARDS RUSHING | 144 | 6 |
| Rushing Attempts | 37 | 21 |
| Average Per Rush | 3.9 | 0.3 |
| Rushing Touchdowns | 3 | 0 |
| Yards Gained Rushing | 182 | 41 |
| Yards Lost Rushing | 38 | 35 |
| NET YARDS PASSING | 303 | 394 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int | 27-35-0 | 24-38-2 |
| Average Per Attempt | 8.7 | 10.4 |
| Average Per Completion | 11.2 | 16.4 |
| Passing Touchdowns | 2 | 4 |
| TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS | 447 | 400 |
| Total offense plays | 72 | 59 |
| Average Gain Per Play | 6.2 | 6.8 |
| Fumbles: Number-Lost | 4-3 | 2-1 |
| Penalties: Number-Yards | 11-95 | 2-10 |
| PUNTS-YARDS | 3-109 | 4-152 |
| Average Yards Per Punt | 36.3 | 38.0 |
| Net Yards Per Punt | 18.3 | 38.0 |
| Inside 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 50+ Yards | 0 | 0 |
| Touchbacks | 2 | 0 |
| Fair catch | 0 | 1 |
| KICKOFFS-YARDS | 7-427 | 5-172 |
| Average Yards Per Kickoff | 61.0 | 34.4 |
| Net Yards Per Kickoff | 39.3 | 26.2 |
| Touchbacks | 2 | 0 |
| Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD | 2-0-0 | 1-14-0 |
| Average Per Return | 6.8 | 28.0 |
| Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD | 5-125-0 | 2-33-0 |
| Average Per Return | 25.0 | 16.5 |
| Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD | 2-123-1 | 0-0-0 |
| Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Miscellaneous Yards | 0 | 0 |
| Possession Time | 35:03 | 24:57 |
| 1st Quarter | 10:35 | 4:25 |
| 2nd Quarter | 4:02 | 10:58 |
| 3rd Quarter | 11:22 | 3:38 |
| 4th Quarter | 9:04 | 5:56 |
| Third-Down Conversions | 9 of 12 | 6 of 14 |
| Fourth-Down Conversions | 0 of 0 | 2 of 3 |
| Red-Zone Scores-Chances | 5-8 | 1-2 |
| Sacks By: Number-Yards | 5-26 | 4-19 |
| PAT Kicks | 4-5 | 3-3 |
| Field Goals | 0-1 | 1-1 |
Individual Offensive Statistics
RUSHING—Hawaii, Libre 13-88, Alexander 13-37, Pilares 4-19, Wright-Jackson 1-4, Farmer 1-2, Rego 1-1, Peoples 2-(-4), Team 2-(-3). NMSU, Colston 5-11, Glynn 7-9, Holbrook 9-(-14).
PASSING—Hawaii, Alexander 26-32-0-288, Rausch 1-2-0-15, Funaki 0-1-0-0. NMSU, Holbrook 24-38-2-394.
RECEIVING—Hawaii, Pilares 10-90, Salas 7-91, Bain 6-64, Washington 3-40, Lane 1-18. NMSU, Williams 7-221, Anderson 7-91, Harris 4-18, Buckley 3-51, Nelson 1-8, Lee 1-3, Colston 1-2.
Western Athletic Conference Standings
| Conference | Overall |
|||||||
| W | L | PF | PA | W | L | PF | PA |
|
| Boise St. | 5 | 0 | 196 | 40 | 9 | 0 | 326 | 93 |
| San Jose St. | 4 | 2 | 127 | 116 | 6 | 4 | 197 | 194 |
| Louisiana Tech | 3 | 2 | 122 | 111 | 5 | 4 | 192 | 194 |
| Nevada | 3 | 2 | 210 | 145 | 5 | 4 | 344 | 289 |
| Hawaii | 4 | 3 | 174 | 181 | 5 | 5 | 227 | 299 |
| Fresno St. | 2 | 3 | 167 | 171 | 5 | 4 | 292 | 276 |
| Utah St. | 2 | 4 | 138 | 184 | 2 | 8 | 203 | 369 |
| New Mexico St. | 1 | 4 | 106 | 187 | 3 | 6 | 216 | 303 |
| Idaho | 1 | 5 | 121 | 226 | 2 | 8 | 208 | 419 |
Friday
Nevada 41, Fresno St. 28
Yesterday
Boise St. 49, Utah St. 14
Hawaii 42, New Mexico St. 30
Louisiana Tech 21, San Jose St. 0
Saturday
Utah St. at Louisiana Tech
San Jose St. at Nevada
Boise St. at Idaho
New Mexico St. at Fresno St.
Individual Defensive statistics
| HAWAII |
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| Tackles |
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| Player | Solo | Ast | Tot |
| Elimimian | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| A. Leonard | 1 | 7 | 8 |
| Maka | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Robinson | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Dowling | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Roberts | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Fonoti | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Mouton | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Meatoga | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| C.J. Allen-Jones | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Thomas | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Ahmad | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Kiesel-Kauhane | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Rice | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Veikune | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Lolotai | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Purcell | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Watson | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Laeli | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| J. Leonard | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Satele | 0 | 1 | 1
|
| NMSU |
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| Tackles |
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| Player | Solo | Ast | Tot |
| Paden | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| Anderson | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Richardson | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| Powell | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Fonoti | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Scott | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Baiamonte | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Alford | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Betts | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Conner | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Moss | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Bradley | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Nwoko | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Butler | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| King | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Fils | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Hatchett | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Diaz | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| House | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Davenport | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Fasavalu | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Tackles for loss-yards—Hawaii, Maka 2-7, Meatoga 1.5-9, Elimimian 1-6, Veikune 1-4, Mouton 1-2, Fonoti 0.5-4. NMSU, Fonoti 2-15, Scott 2-7, Paden 1-4, Anderson 103.
Sacks-yards—Hawaii, Maka 1.5-5, Meatoga 1-7, Elimimian 1-6, Veikune 1-4, Fonoti 0.5-4. NMSU, Fonoti 2-15, Anderson 1-3, Scott 1-1.
Interceptions—Hawaii, Mouton 1-91, Robinson 1-32. NMSU, none.
Kicks blocked—Hawaii, none. NMSU, none.
Quarterback hurries—Hawaii, none. NMSU, Fonoti, Scott.
