As he had all season following defeats, Hawaii coach Greg McMackin said he would give himself two days to get over the Warriors' loss to Notre Dame in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

Unlike most of Hawaii's previous six losses this season, McMackin and the Warriors will have to wait a lot longer than a week before their next opportunity.

After ending his first season as head coach at 7-7, McMackin preferred to take a wider view of the season rather than focus solely on its disappointing conclusion.

“;We reached some pretty neat things this year, so I'm not going to let that ruin the good things we've done,”; McMackin said after the game.

“;It's going to take me 48 hours to get over this thing and I'm probably not going to watch the film for a week.”;

Once the sting of the 49-21 bowl loss subsides, the Warriors coaches and returnees can begin looking ahead to the 2009 season, set to open Sept. 4 against Central Arkansas at Aloha Stadium.

“;Just have to train harder and come back strong next year,”; said sophomore running back/slotback Kealoha Pilares. “;We have a lot of good people coming back, so we just have to build on this year and just get better.”;

For the 35 seniors on the roster, the finality set in after the game as they reflected on the season - which included a 1-3 start and ended with UH's third straight bowl appearance - before putting college football behind them.

“;We stayed together as a team,”; said senior linebacker Solomon Elimimian, who finished with 434 tackles, nine shy of the Western Athletic Conference's career record.

“;We had Coach Mack's back and he had our back and I feel that's the best part of the season, just knowing there was a point where we could have quit and gone in a different direction, but we stayed together.”;

While the 48-hour rule still applies for the Warriors, the Fighting Irish will probably want to savor the program's most productive bowl performance in its storied history a bit longer.

Led by quarterback Jimmy Clausen and receiver Golden Tate, the Irish set school bowl records for points, total yards (478), passing yards (413) and passing touchdowns (five).

While Notre Dame's skill players put up dazzling numbers, the Irish's work at the line of scrimmage dictated the flow of the game.

Notre Dame's eight sacks of Hawaii quarterback Greg Alexander were the Irish's most since 2005 and a season high allowed by UH. Defensive end Ethan Johnson and linebacker Steve Quinn had two sacks each.

“;The coaches gave the defensive ends the green light to go,”; said Notre Dame safety David Bruton, who came up with two turnovers on an interception and a fumble recovery, both leading to Irish touchdowns.

“;They're all aware of the three-step drop, so they all put their hands up and batted down a lot of balls. That can easily rattle a quarterback.”;

Conversely, Clausen was sacked once and hurried just twice, though the Warriors had 10 tackles for losses.

“;Any team that max protects, you won't be able to get to him, and that's what they did most of the time,”; said UH defensive end David Veikune, who was limited to two tackles. “;Secondly that was the best tackle (Notre Dame's Sam Young) I've faced this year - he's a challenge. We didn't put on as much pressure as we should have.”;

Not done yet

Hawaii defensive back Ryan Mouton said he and Veikune will play in the East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 17. Both were also invited to the Texas vs. The Nation all-star game, but have decided to play in the Shrine Game. The Shrine Game is in Houston and Mouton is from nearby Katy, Texas.

Long snapper Jake Ingram said he has spoken to officials from the Senior Bowl and is awaiting official confirmation on an invitation.

WARRIOR REPLAY

Five big plays from Hawaii's 49-21 loss to Notre Dame

Chosen and described by the Star-Bulletin's Dave Reardon

  1. Grimes vs. Dowling

The Setup: Notre Dame 7, Hawaii 0, 10:40 remaining, second quarter, Notre Dame ball first and 10 at Hawaii 14

The Play: WR David Grimes runs an out pattern into the end zone and gets separation from CB Jameel Dowling. Dowling pleads to no avail for offensive interference as QB Jimmy Clausen easily hits Grimes for the touchdown.

The Impact: Notre Dame improves its lead to 14-0 on Clausen first of five touchdown passes. Notre Dame never trails.

Dowling: “;It was a push-off, and I didn't get the call, but you can't use that as an excuse.”;

  2. Acceleration

The Setup: Notre Dame 14, Hawaii 7, 7:03 remaining, second quarter, Notre Dame ball, first and 10 at own 31

The Play: WR Golden Tate streaks past CB Calvin Roberts. Clausen delivers the ball perfectly for a 69-yard touchdown.

The Impact: This play capped the drive following Hawaii's first score (a 10-yard pass from QB Greg Alexander to SB Aaron Bain). It returned the momentum and a 14-point lead to Notre Dame. Tate, voted game co-MVP with Clausen, caught six passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns.

Tate: ”;We came into the game knowing they were going to be in a cover-2. That leaves the ends open and we took advantage of it.”;

  3. Interception

The Setup: Notre Dame 21, Hawaii 7, 4:10 remaining, second quarter, Hawaii ball, third and 18 at Hawaii 42

The Play: Under pressure, Alexander makes a hasty throw that is intercepted by S David Bruton.

The Impact: Hawaii had driven into Notre Dame territory, but on the play before the interception, the Warriors were pushed back by a 9-yard sack by LB Steve Quinn. It was one of eight sacks by Notre Dame. Alexander never got in a good rhythm until it was too late.

Alexander: “;They did a great job defending our routes in the secondary and underneath coverage and that kind of factored into the pressure.”;

  4. Jump ball

The Setup: Notre Dame 21, Hawaii 7, 1:51 remaining second quarter, Notre Dame ball fourth and 1 at Hawaii 34

The Play: On play-action, Clausen evades DE David Veikune, steps to his right and throws high to TE Kyle Rudolph for a 29-yard gain despite three defenders around Rudolph, including S Keao Monteilh.

The Impact: Notre Dame loses yardage on successive running plays, but then Clausen finds Tate in the back-left corner of the end zone with 1 second left in the first half. The morale killer for Hawaii makes it 28-7 at halftime.

Monteilh: “;I was running with the tight end and I had pretty decent coverage. I turned and looked for the ball and he grabbed the back of my jersey.”;

  5. Allen's return

The Setup: Notre Dame 42, Hawaii 14, 4:22 remaining, third quarter, Hawaii kicking off from own 30

The Play: Armando Allen gathers Dan Kelly's kick at the 4, cuts toward the middle and then finds an opening on the right sideline.

The Impact: This play wraps the game for Notre Dame with nearly one third of it left to play out. Bain had just scored again on a 21-yard pass from Alexander, but once again the Fighting Irish come right back after briefly losing momentum. Allen also scored earlier on an 18-yard pass from Clausen. Notre Dame wins its first bowl season game since the 1994 Cotton Bowl.

Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis: “;This was a big step forward for us and leads us into 2009 with a good taste in our mouths.”;