Warriors Replay
POSTED: Monday, December 01, 2008
1. Greg to Greg
The Setup: Hawaii 0, Washington State 0, 9:10 remaining first quarter, Hawaii ball, first and 10 at Washington State 19
The Play: WR Greg Salas gets one-on-one coverage and exploits it by catching an on-target pass from QB Greg Alexander and bulling his way into the end zone.
The Impact: Hawaii jumps out to a 7-0 lead with a 97-yard drive on its first possession and never trails. Salas has a game-high seven receptions for 131 yards.
Salas: “;The curl was wide open. The safety had bailed. I knew I had room to run. We definitely wanted to jump on them fast.”;
2. Fonoti's sack
The Setup: Hawaii 7, Washington State 0, 6:59 remaining, first quarter, Washington State ball, third and 3 at Washington State 29
The Play: DE John Fonoti catches QB Kevin Lopina for a 10-yard sack.
The Impact: Washington State fails to get a first down. The first of Hawaii's five sacks forces a punt, and the Warriors up their first-quarter lead to 14-0 when RB Daniel Libre caps a 61-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.
Fonoti: “;We got off to a good start and then we began to feed off the crowd. We couldn't have done it without them.”;
3. Josh on the spot
The Setup: Hawaii 14, Washington State 3, 2:42 remaining, second quarter, Washington State ball, second and 9 at Washington State 4
The Play: DT Josh Leonard recovers a fumbled snap at the Washington State 4.
The Impact: With time running down before the half, Hawaii converts the turnover into a Dan Kelly field goal for a 17-3 lead at intermission. It is Leonard's fourth career fumble recovery in two seasons.
Leonard: “;All of a sudden I saw a ball right between my legs, so I sat back and just grabbed it.”;
4. Washington State(ment)
The Setup: Hawaii 17, Washington State 10, 6:42 remaining, third quarter, Hawaii ball, second and 20 at Washington State 44
The Play: SB Mike Washington lines up as the middle man in a trips right formation. He gets open on a skinny post route and Alexander hits him in stride for a 44-yard touchdown.
The Impact: Washington State had gotten itself back into the game with Dwight Tardy's 1-yard touchdown run to cap a 53-yard drive early in the quarter. This strike in a daunting down-and-distance situation returned control of the game to Hawaii.
Washington: “;I was thinking touchdown from the way the defense was playing me. So I just ran my route and executed.”;
5. Giving it back
The Setup: Hawaii 24, Washington State 10, 6:43 remaining, fourth quarter, Hawaii ball, fourth and 17 at Washington State 31
The Play: Matt Eichelberger blocks Kelly's 47-yard field-goal attempt. Washington State's Devin Giles recovers, and, as he is being tackled, tries to pitch to Chima Nwachukwu. Nwachukwu doesn't catch the high toss, and UH's Clarence Tuioti-Mariner recovers at the WSU 23.
The Impact: Instead of taking over with enough time to conceivably score twice, Washington State fritters away a big play. Hawaii fails to score, but takes 3:04 off the clock, severely crippling possibilities of a comeback.
Washington State coach Paul Wulff: “;We teach that, you know. No. That was a microcosm of our whole deal this year.”;