Warriors run out of gas on road
POSTED: Sunday, September 20, 2009
HENDERSON, Nev. » Like so many before, the Hawaii football team rolled the dice praying for that big payoff.
And like so many visitors to this town, the Warriors left town with heartache.
Protecting a five-point lead and 15 yards with less than a minute left, the Warriors took a calculated gamble in blitzing UNLV quarterback Omar Clayton.
Drop Clayton to the Sam Boyd Stadium turf—as they had done a play earlier—and the Warriors' odds of escaping town victorious shoot north.
But as he'd done numerous times earlier, Clayton got the throw off before the rush could reach him. And it was UNLV that came out the big winner when Phillip Payne pulled in the lob just inside the boundary with 36 seconds left to send the Rebels to a dramatic 34-33 victory.
“;We blitzed and put them back (with a sack) and blitzed again and maybe we went to the well one too many times,”; UH head coach Greg McMackin said.
“;We had a full-out blitz and we hit him two times before. He got that one off.”;
Payne scored two touchdowns in the second half on similar plays and the Rebels came up with the final answer in a fourth-quarter shootout to improve to 2-1 before a crowd of 29,717.
NEXT GAME
Who: Hawaii (2-1) at Louisiana Tech (1-2) When: 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30.
TV/Radio: ESPN2/ KKEA, 1420-AM
Last meeting: October 11, 2008. Hawaii won, 24-14, at Aloha Stadium.
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After a weeklong stay in Las Vegas, the Warriors left the twinkling neon behind in the dark of morning at 2-1 after settling for a split on their two-game road trip.
The Warriors generated 505 yards, 361 in the first half as they took a 20-14 lead into the break.
In the second half, the Rebels' best defense was its offense as UNLV ran 45 plays to UH's 22 after the break, leaving the Warriors' defense on the field in the heat of the desert night.
Clayton came back from a knee injury that knocked him out of the previous week's loss to Oregon State and continually evaded the UH rush to complete 28 of 43 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns.
Ryan Wolfe led the Rebels with nine catches for 130 yards and Payne finished with 94 yards and the decisive score.
“;Omar didn't have a very good first half and came back in the second half and had a tremendous second half,”; UNLV coach Mike Sanford said. “;He made a lot of plays and his cool and composure was awesome.”;
With the 6-foot-3 Payne matched up with 5-foot-9 UH cornerback Tank Hopkins, the Rebels twice called for Clayton to lob him the ball in the end zone. Both times Hopkins appeared to be in position, but Payne was able to make the catch.
“;That guy does a great job, he goes up they throw him the alley-oop,”; McMackin said. “;We felt we had time to get to him before (Clayton) could get to that. The receiver just went up and got the ball.”;
Clayton's production was just enough to outlast UH quarterback Greg Alexander's career-high 477-yard passing night as three UH receivers ended the night in triple-digits, led by Rodney Bradley's 189 yards.
With Alexander connecting with Kealoha Pilares 12 times for 143 yards, the Warriors racked up yards in the first half, but points were harder to come by as they settled for field-goal attempts on their first two possessions, with Scott Enos hitting the first and missing the second.
“;We have to do a better job in the red zone,”; slotback Greg Salas said after catching six passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns. “;We didn't get it done when we had to get it done.”;
After UNLV took a 7-3 lead in the first quarter, Alexander rolled to his right and found Salas behind the Rebels' coverage and Salas outran the secondary for a 54-yard score.
The Warriors' lead grew to 17-7 when Bradley snared Alexander's dart over the middle for a 39-yard touchdown at the 3:24 mark of the second quarter.
UNLV closed to within three when Clayton's pass sailed over a leaping Lametrius Davis and into the hands of Jerriman Robinson for a 42-yard touchdown.
UH took a 20-14 when Enos nailed a season-long 47-yard field goal on the last play of the first half.
The Rebels' 16-play march to open the third quarter came up empty when Kyle Wilson's first field-goal attempt clanged off the left upright. But they weren't denied on their second trip into the red zone, as Payne outfought Hopkins on an 8-yard touchdown reception.
The roller coaster hit full speed in the fourth quarter.
A 23-yard touchdown reception by Salas was answered by Clayton's 11-yard run. That was followed by a 2-yard touchdown run by UH running back Alex Green giving the Warriors' a 33-28 lead with 5:27 left. The Warriors' 2-point conversion attempt failed and UNLV mustered a 14-play drive culminating in the winning score.
“;It means a lot to me,”; said UNLV defensive end Malo Taumua, an Aiea graduate. “;We lost to them in '06 and '07 and this win tonight means a lot to me and all the other players on this team.”;
WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
| Conference | Overall | |||||||
| W | L | PF | PA | W | L | PF | PA | |
| Boise State | 1 | 0 | 51 | 34 | 3 | 0 | 118 | 42 |
| Idaho | 1 | 0 | 21 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 78 | 68 |
| Hawaii | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 96 | 74 |
| Louisiana Tech | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 75 | 82 |
| Utah State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 47 | 73 |
| Nevada | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 70 |
| San Jose State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 34 | 122 |
| New Mexico State | 0 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 39 | 77 |
| Fresno State | 0 | 1 | 34 | 51 | 1 | 2 | 116 | 85 |
FRIDAY'S RESULT
Boise St. 51, Fresno St. 34
SATURDAY'S RESULTS
UNLV 34, Hawaii 33
LaTech 48 Nicholls St. 13
Stanford 42, San Jose St. 17
Texas A&M 38, Utah St. 30
Idaho 34, San Diego St. 20
UTEP 38, N.M. St. 12
Colorado St. 35, Nevada 20
UNLV 34, HAWAII 33
At Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas
| Hawaii | 10 | 10 | 0 | 13 | — | 33 |
| UNLV | 7 | 7 | 7 | 13 | — | 34 |
| First Quarter | |||
| UH | 11:23 | Scott Enos 23 FG | 3-0 |
| UNLV | 4:12 | Mike Clausen 2 run (Kyle Watson kick) | 3-7 |
| UH | 1:55 | Greg Salas 54 pass from Greg Alexander (Enos kick) | 10-7 |
| Second Quarter | |||
| UH | 3:24 | Rodney Bradley 39 pass from Alexander (Enos kick) | 17-7 |
| UNLV | 1:35 | Jerriman Robinson 42 pass from Omar Clayton (Watson kick) | 17-14 |
| UH | 0:00 | Enos 47 FG | 20-14 |
| Third Quarter | |||
| UNLV | 00:29 | Phillip Payne 8 pass from Clayton (Watson kick) | 20-21 |
| Fourth Quarter | |||
| UH | 11:34 | Salas 23 pass from Alexander (Enos kick) | 27-21 |
| UNLV | 08:53 | Clayton 11 run (Watson kick) | 27-28 |
| UH | 05:27 | Alex Green 2 run (pass failed) | 33-28 |
| UNLV | 00:36 | Payne 15 pass from Clayton (pass failed) | 33-34 |
Attendance —29,717. Time: 3:11.
Officials — Referee: Randy Smith; Umpire: Michael Ross; Back judge: Larry Neal Jr.; Field judge: Shane Standley; Scorer: Jim Shaffe.
TEAM STATISTICS
| HAWAII | UNLV | |
| FIRST DOWNS | 23 | 28 |
| Rushing | 3 | 9 |
| Passing | 18 | 18 |
| Penalty | 2 | 1 |
| NET YARDS RUSHING | 28 | 120 |
| Rushing | 15 | 35 |
| Average per rush | 1.9 | 3.4 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 1 | 2 |
| Yards gained rushing | 38 | 138 |
| Yards lost rushing | 10 | 18 |
| NET YARDS PASSING | 477 | 340 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int | 31-48-1 | 28-43-2 |
| Average per attempt | 9.9 | 7.9 |
| Average per completion | 15.4 | 12.1 |
| Passing touchdowns | 3 | 3 |
| TOTAL OFFENSIVE YARDS | 505 | 460 |
| Total offensive plays | 69 | 78 |
| Average gain per play | 8.0 | 5.9 |
| Fumbles: Number-Lost | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Penalties: Number-Yards | 5-40 | 6-60 |
| PUNTS-YARDS | 1-39 | 2-89 |
| Average yards per punt | 39.0 | 44.5 |
| Net yards per punt | 39.0 | 42.5 |
| Inside 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 50-plus yards | 0 | 0 |
| Touchbacks | 0 | 0 |
| Fair catch | 0 | 1 |
| KICKOFF-YARDS | 6-415 | 6-409 |
| Average yards per kickff | 69.2 | 68.2 |
| Net yards per kickoff | 43.2 | 45.5 |
| Touchbacks | 1 | 1 |
| Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD | 1-4-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Average per return | 4.0 | 00.0 |
| Kickoff returns: Number-Yards-TD | 5-116-0 | 5-136-0 |
| Average per return | 23.2 | 27.2 |
| Interceptions: Number-Yards-TD | 2-17-0 | 1-0-0 |
| Fumbles returns: Number-Yards-TD | 0-00-0 | 0-00-0 |
| Miscellaneous yards | 0 | 0 |
| POSSESSION TIME | 25:46 | 34:14 |
| First Quarter | 8:28 | 6:32 |
| Second Quarter | 7:41 | 7:19 |
| Third Quarter | 2:09 | 12:51 |
| Fourth Quarter | 7:28 | 7:32 |
| Third-down conversions | 5 of 11 | 10 of 16 |
| Fourth-down conversions | 1 of 3 | 2 of 2 |
| Red-zone scores-chances | 2-3 | 4-6 |
| Sacks by: Number-Yards | 1-9 | 2-10 |
| PAT kicks | 3-3 | 4-4 |
| Field goals | 2-3 | 0-1 |
INDIVIDUAL DEFENSIVE STATISTICS
TACKLES FOR LOSS-YARDS —Hawaii, Jake Heun 1-9, Elliott Purcell -2, R.J. Kiesel-Kauhana 0.5-1, Corey Paredes 0.5-1, Blaze Soares 0.5-1, Vaughn Meatoga 0.5-1. UNLV, J. Beauchamp 2.5-8, Isaako Aaitui 0.5-4.
SACKS-YARDS —Hawaii, Heun 1-0. UNLV, Jason Beauchamp 1-1, Isaako Aaitui 0-1.
INTERCEPTIONS —Hawaii, Richard Torres 1-17, Mana Silva 1-0. UNLV, Mike Grant 1-0.
KICKS BLOCKED —Hawaii, None. UNLV, None.
QUARTERBACK HURRIES —Hawaii, None. UNLV, None.
| HAWAII | |||
| TACKLES | |||
| PLAYER | SOLO | AST | T |
| R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| Corey Paredes | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Blaze Soares | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| Elliott Purcell | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Spencer Smith | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Mana Silva | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Jeramy Bryant | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Richard Torres | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Liko Satele | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Jake Heun | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Aaron Brown | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Tuika Tufaga | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Vaughn Meatoga | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Mike Wadsworth | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Rocky Savaiigaea | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Lewis Walker | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Inoke Funaki | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Po'okela Ahmad | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Victor Clore | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Joshua Rice | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| UNLV | |||
| TACKLES | |||
| PLAYER | SOLO | AST | T |
| Terrance Lee | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| Quinton Pointer | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Ronnie Paulo | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Chris Jones | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Jason Beauchamp | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Isaako Aaitui | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Starr Fuimaono | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Ryan Wolfe | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Beau Orth | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Heiveha Mafi | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Deante Purvis | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Warren Zeigler | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Marquel Martin | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Mike Grant | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Beau Brence | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Chris Brogdon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Calvin Randleman | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Martin Tevaseu | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Malo Taumua | 0 | 1 | 1 |
INDIVIDUAL OFFENSIVE STATISTICS
| HAWAII | |||||||||
| RUSHING | No. | Gain | Loss | Net | TD | Lg | Avg. | ||
| Greg Alexander | 9 | 27 | 10 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 1.9 | ||
| Alex Green | 3 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 3.3 | ||
| Leon Wright-Jackson | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.3 | ||
| Totals | 15 | 38 | 10 | 28 | 1 | 9 | 1.9 | ||
| PASSING | Cmp-Att-Int | Yds | TD | Long | Sack | ||||
| Greg Alexander | 31-48-1 | 477 | 3 | 54 | 2 | ||||
| RECEIVING | No. | Yds | TD | Lg | |||||
| Kealoha Pilares | 13 | 146 | 0 | 32 | |||||
| Rodney Bradley | 8 | 189 | 1 | 39 | |||||
| Greg Salas | 6 | 104 | 2 | 54 | |||||
| Royce Pollard | 2 | 22 | 0 | 14 | |||||
| Leon Wright-Jackson | 2 | 16 | 0 | 18 | |||||
| Totals | 31 | 477 | 3 | 54 | |||||
| PUNTING | No. | Yds | Avg | Long | In20 | TB | |||
| Alex Dunnachie | 1 | 39 | 39.0 | 39 | 0 | 0 | |||
| ALL RETURNS | Punts | Kickoffs | Intercept | ||||||
| No | Yds | Lg | No | Yds | Lg | No | Yds | Lg | |
| Kealoha Pilares | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 33 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Royce Pollard | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 83 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Richard Torres | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 17 |
| Mana Silva | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Henry | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 116 | 41 | 2 | 17 | 17 |
| ALL PURPOSE | Rush | Rcv | KR | PR | IR | Total | |||
| Rodney Bradley | 0 | 189 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 189 | |||
| Kealoha Pilares | 0 | 146 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 179 | |||
| Royce Pollard | 0 | 22 | 83 | 0 | 0 | 105 | |||
| Greg Salas | 0 | 104 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 104 | |||
| Richard Torres | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 17 | |||
| Leon Wright-Jackson | 1 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | |||
| Greg Alexander | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | |||
| Alex Green | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |||
| Ryan Henry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |||
| Totals | 28 | 477 | 116 | 4 | 17 | 642 |
| UNLV | |||||||||
| RUSHING | No. | Gain | Loss | Net | TD | Lg | Avg. | ||
| ChanningTrotter | 15 | 70 | 2 | 68 | 0 | 15 | 4.5 | ||
| Omar Clayton | 9 | 33 | 14 | 19 | 1 | 11 | 2.1 | ||
| C.J. Cox | 4 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 11 | 3.0 | ||
| Ryan Wolfe | 2 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 5.0 | ||
| Mike Clausen | 2 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2.5 | ||
| Chris Brogdon | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1.5 | ||
| Michael Johnson | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3.0 | ||
| Totals | 35 | 138 | 18 | 120 | 2 | 15 | 3.4 | ||
| PASSING | Cmp-Att-Int | Yds | TD | Long | Sack | ||||
| Omar Clayton | 28-43-2 | 340 | 3 | 52 | 1 | ||||
| RECEIVING | No. | Yds | TD | Lg | |||||
| Ryan Wolfe | 9 | 130 | 0 | 52 | |||||
| Phillip Payne | 8 | 94 | 2 | 16 | |||||
| Jerriman Robinson | 3 | 69 | 1 | 42 | |||||
| Kyle Watkins | 2 | 17 | 0 | 9 | |||||
| Michael Johnson | 2 | 13 | 0 | 8 | |||||
| Channing Trotter | 2 | 7 | 0 | 6 | |||||
| Rodelin Anthony | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | |||||
| Jordan Barrett | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | |||||
| Totals | 28 | 340 | 3 | 52 | |||||
| PUNTING | No. | Yds | Avg | Long | In20 | TB | |||
| Kyle Watson | 2 | 89 | 44.5 | 46 | 0 | 0 | |||
| ALL RETURNS | Punts | Kickoffs | Intercept | ||||||
| No | Yds | Lg | No | Yds | Lg | No | Yds | Lg | |
| Michael Johnson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Grant | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Deante Purvis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 113 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 136 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| ALL PURPOSE | Rush | Rcv | KR | PR | IR | Total | |||
| Ryan Wolfe | 10 | 130 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 140 | |||
| Deante Purvis | 0 | 0 | 113 | 0 | 0 | 113 | |||
| Phillip Payne | 0 | 94 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 94 | |||
| Channing Trotter | 68 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75 | |||
| Jerriman Robinson | 0 | 69 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69 | |||
| Michael Johnson | 3 | 13 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 39 | |||
| Omar Clayton | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | |||
| Kyle Watkins | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | |||
| C.J. Cox | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |||
| Rodelin Anthony | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |||
| Mike Clausen | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |||
| Jordan Barrett | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |||
| Chris Brogdon | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| Totals | 120 | 340 | 136 | 0 | 0 | 596 |
