Nevada threatens to add to UH losing streak
POSTED: Monday, October 26, 2009
At the end of an otherwise bleak night, Greg McMackin made a point to provide an encouraging word for just about everyone he passed.
The Hawaii head coach had a “;good job”; for players as they headed out of Aloha Stadium, thanked assistant coaches for their efforts and had more of the same for the support staff packing up the quickly emptying locker room.
Finally finding a quiet moment, he took a big-picture outlook on the Warriors' struggles stretching over the last five weeks.
“;So many people have so many adverse things happening, I can't gripe about our situation because everyone else is going through a lot tougher things than we are,”; McMackin said in the wake of a 54-9 home loss to Boise State.
That's not to say Hawaii's five-game losing streak doesn't weigh on the second-year head coach, evidenced by a generally grim countenance after witnessing a second straight blowout at home.
Thus, maintaining a positive tone amid the discontent of the program's longest drought in more than a decade and a mounting list of injuries has become part of the challenge for a team ready to close out an ominous October.
“;The main thing is for us just to stay together,”; running back Alex Green said. “;We're on a five-game losing streak ... through all this adversity, staying together is going to be the biggest part for us.”;
The now-weekly mission to turn out of the skid doesn't figure to get any easier this week.
The Warriors (2-5, 0-4 Western Athletic Conference) head back to the mainland to face Nevada (4-3, 3-0 WAC) in Reno on Saturday, taking on the nation's second-ranked offense led by dynamic quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Hawaii's quarterback position again took a hit after a concussion sidelined starter Bryant Moniz, forcing sophomore Shane Austin—who wasn't part of the practice rotation as the fourth-string quarterback to begin the season—to play the final three quarters against Boise State.
The Wolf Pack unloaded on Idaho—which beat UH two games ago—scoring a 70-45 win in Reno on Saturday, extending its winning streak to four following an 0-3 start.
Running out of the Pistol offense, the Pack averages more than 320 yards per game on the ground to lead the bowl subdivision, well ahead of the triple-option attacks of Georgia Tech (291.6 ypg) and Navy (286.4).
Running back Vai Taua averages 101.5 yards, followed by the long-striding Kaepernick at 98.7. Both went over the century mark in Nevada's loss to UH in Honolulu last season.
Certainly not a favorable on-paper matchup for a Hawaii unit that dipped to 103rd nationally in total defense and 110th in rushing defense after surrendering 472 yards to Boise State.
The Warriors also fell to 114th in turnover margin by giving the ball away six times on Saturday. They've managed just three takeaways while committing 16 turnovers over the last five games, six coming against the Broncos.
All of which leaves the Warriors with one place to go ... back to work.
“;We had some busted coverages, a lot of assignments were blown, that led to some big plays and that's on us. Now we just have to go back and correct those and get ready for Nevada,”; safety Richard Torres said.
University of Hawaii Football Statistics
| Team Statistics | ||
| Hawaii | OPP | |
| SCORING | 151 | 232 |
| Points Per Game | 21.6 | 33.1 |
| FIRST DOWNS | 145 | 160 |
| Rushing | 34 | 81 |
| Passing | 101 | 71 |
| Penalty | 10 | 8 |
| RUSHING YARDAGE | 524 | 1396 |
| Yards gained rushing | 668 | 1555 |
| Yards lost rushing | 144 | 159 |
| Rushing Attempts | 145 | 295 |
| Average Per Rush | 3.6 | 4.7 |
| Average Per Game | 74.9 | 199.4 |
| TDs Rushing | 5 | 18 |
| PASSING YARDAGE. | 2442 | 1510 |
| Att-Comp-Int | 306-186-10 | 200-129-5 |
| Average Per Pass | 8.0 | 7.6 |
| Average Per Catch | 13.1 | 11.7 |
| Average Per Game | 348.9 | 215.7 |
| TDs Passing | 13 | 12 |
| TOTAL OFFENSE | 2966 | 2906 |
| Total Plays | 451 | 495 |
| Average Per Play | 6.6 | 5.9 |
| Average Per Game | 423.7 | 415.1 |
| KICK RETURNS: #-Yards | 44-963 | 25-495 |
| PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards | 15-128 | 3-23 |
| INT RETURNS: #-Yards | 5-22 | 10-42 |
| KICK RETURN AVERAGE | 21.9 | 19.8 |
| PUNT RETURN AVERAGE | 8.5 | 7.7 |
| INT RETURN AVERAGE | 4.4 | 4.2 |
| FUMBLES-LOST | 20-13 | 20-8 |
| PENALTIES-Yards | 41-310 | 36-337 |
| Average Per Game | 44.3 | 48.1 |
| PUNTS-Yards | 21-767 | 23-974 |
| Average Per Punt | 36.5 | 42.3 |
| Net punt average | 34.5 | 36.8 |
| TIME OF POSSESSION/Game | 27:50 | 32:10 |
| 3RD-DOWN Conversions | 37/78 | 44/92 |
| 3rd-Down Pct | 47% | 48% |
| 4TH-DOWN Conversions | 1/8 | 10/12 |
| 4th-Down Pct | 12% | 83% |
| SACKS BY-Yards | 8-54 | 20-108 |
| MISC YARDS | 0 | 67 |
| TOUCHDOWNS SCORED | 18 | 30 |
| FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS | 8-10 | 8-11 |
| ON-SIDE KICKS | 2-3 | 0-0 |
| RED-ZONE SCORES | 18-30 60% | 31-34 91% |
| RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS | 11-30 37% | 23-34 68% |
| PAT-ATTEMPTS | 15-16 94% | 28-28 100% |
| RUSHING | ||||||||
| G | Att | Net | Avg | TD | Long | |||
| Wright-Jackson | 7 | 27 | 160 | 5.8 | 1 | 45 | ||
| Green | 7 | 32 | 143 | 4.5 | 2 | 44 | ||
| Alexander | 4 | 37 | 103 | 2.8 | 0 | 23 | ||
| Moniz | 5 | 25 | 42 | 1.7 | 1 | 21 | ||
| Dimude | 3 | 7 | 40 | 5.7 | 0 | 7 | ||
| Funaki | 7 | 7 | 18 | 2.6 | 1 | 8 | ||
| Rego | 4 | 4 | 17 | 4.2 | 0 | 9 | ||
| Pilares | 7 | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 0 | 13 | ||
| Austin | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Taylor | 6 | 1 | -3 | -3.0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| TEAM | 7 | 3 | -6 | -2.0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Totals | 6 | 145 | 524 | 3.6 | 5 | 45 | ||
| PASSING | ||||||||
| G | Comp | Att | Int | Yds | TD | Long | ||
| Alexander | 4 | 98 | 150 | 4 | 1,433 | 9 | 73 | |
| Moniz | 5 | 65 | 117 | 3 | 828 | 3 | 42 | |
| Austin | 1 | 22 | 36 | 3 | 174 | 1 | 30 | |
| TEAM | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Funaki | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | |
| Totals | 7 | 186 | 306 | 10 | 2,442 | 13 | 73 | |
| RECEIVING | ||||||||
| G | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | |||
| Salas | 7 | 51 | 881 | 17.3 | 5 | 66 | ||
| Pilares | 7 | 45 | 395 | 8.8 | 1 | 32 | ||
| Bradley | 6 | 31 | 575 | 18.5 | 5 | 73 | ||
| Taylor | 7 | 14 | 147 | 10.5 | 0 | 35 | ||
| Pollard | 5 | 13 | 142 | 10.9 | 0 | 21 | ||
| Medeiros | 4 | 11 | 146 | 13.3 | 2 | 36 | ||
| Wright-Jackson | 7 | 9 | 65 | 7.2 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Avery | 4 | 5 | 57 | 11.4 | 0 | 16 | ||
| Dimude | 3 | 3 | 21 | 7.0 | 0 | 13 | ||
| Green | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 4 | ||
| Blount | 2 | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| Funaki | 7 | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| Totals | 7 | 186 | 2,442 | 13.1 | 13 | 73 | ||
| TOTAL OFFENSE | ||||||||
| G | Plays | Rush | Pass | Tot | Avg | |||
| Alexander | 4 | 187 | 103 | 1,433 | 1,536 | 384.0 | ||
| Moniz | 5 | 142 | 42 | 828 | 870 | 174.0 | ||
| Austin | 1 | 37 | 0 | 174 | 174 | 174.0 | ||
| Wright-Jackson | 7 | 27 | 157 | 0 | 157 | 22.4 | ||
| Green | 7 | 32 | 143 | 0 | 143 | 20.4 | ||
| Dimude | 3 | 7 | 40 | 0 | 40 | 13.3 | ||
| Funaki | 7 | 8 | 18 | 7 | 25 | 3.6 | ||
| Rego | 4 | 4 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 4.2 | ||
| Pilares | 7 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 1.9 | ||
| Taylor | 7 | 1 | -3 | 0 | -3 | -0.4 | ||
| TEAM | 7 | 5 | -6 | 0 | -6 | -0.9 | ||
| Totals | 7 | 451 | 524 | 2,442 | 2,966 | 423.7 | ||
| SCORING | ||||||||
| TD | FG | 1XP | 2XP | Tot | ||||
| Enos | 0 | 8 | 15 | 0 | 39 | |||
| Salas | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | |||
| Bradley | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | |||
| Green | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |||
| Medeiros | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |||
| Pilares | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |||
| Wright-Jackson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |||
| Moniz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |||
| Funaki | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |||
| TEAM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Totals | 18 | 8 | 15 | 1 | 149 | |||
| PUNTING | ||||||||
| No. | Yds | Avg | Long | |||||
| Dunnachie | 21 | 767 | 36.5 | 55 | ||||
| Totals | 21 | 767 | 36.5 | 55 | ||||
| PUNT RETURNS | ||||||||
| No. | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | ||||
| Ryan Henry | 11 | 68 | 6.2 | 0 | 16 | |||
| Salas | 4 | 60 | 15.0 | 0 | 32 | |||
| Totals | 15 | 128 | 8.5 | 0 | 32 | |||
| KICK RETURNS | ||||||||
| No. | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | ||||
| Taylor | 17 | 417 | 24.5 | 0 | 48 | |||
| Pollard | 13 | 287 | 22.1 | 0 | 47 | |||
| Pilares | 7 | 156 | 22.3 | 0 | 32 | |||
| Blount | 3 | 51 | 17.0 | 0 | 21 | |||
| Lolotai | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 0 | 13 | |||
| Green | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 0 | 17 | |||
| Stutzmann | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 0 | 16 | |||
| Totals | 44 | 963 | 21.9 | 0 | 48 | |||
| TACKLES | ||||||||
| G | UT | AT | Tot | |||||
| Soares | 7 | 24 | 32 | 56 | ||||
| Smith | 7 | 36 | 16 | 52 | ||||
| Kiesel-Kauhane | 7 | 31 | 15 | 46 | ||||
| Paredes | 7 | 22 | 15 | 37 | ||||
| Silva | 7 | 20 | 15 | 35 | ||||
| Bryant | 7 | 19 | 14 | 33 | ||||
| Tufaga | 7 | 17 | 15 | 32 | ||||
| Purcell | 7 | 11 | 13 | 24 | ||||
| Davis | 7 | 17 | 3 | 20 | ||||
| Torres | 7 | 9 | 10 | 19 | ||||
| Satele | 7 | 10 | 5 | 15 | ||||
| Savaiigaea | 7 | 7 | 7 | 14 | ||||
| Hopkins | 7 | 8 | 6 | 14 | ||||
| Heun | 7 | 10 | 3 | 13 | ||||
| Fonoti | 4 | 5 | 6 | 11 | ||||
| Brown | 3 | 7 | 3 | 10 | ||||
| Falemalu | 6 | 5 | 4 | 9 | ||||
| Clore | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | ||||
| Walker | 7 | 5 | 1 | 6 | ||||
| Lolotai | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||||
| Ornellas | 7 | 4 | 2 | 6 | ||||
| Wadsworth | 7 | 4 | 2 | 6 | ||||
| Meatoga | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | ||||
| Hanohano | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||||
| Correa | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||
| Rice | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Enos | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| Ahmad | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Black | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| K. Estes | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Bradley | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Gomes | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Alexander | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Funaki | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Wright-Jackson | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Henry | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Medeiros | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| J. Estes | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Totals | 7 | 298 | 207 | 505 |
Miscellaneous
Interceptions (No.-Yds.): Mana Silva 3-2, Richard Torres 1-17, Spencer Smith 1-3. Totals: 5-22.
Sacks (No.-Yds.): Corey Paredes 3-17, Aaron Brown 1-11, Jake Heun 1-9, Liko Satele 1-8, Tuika Tufaga 1-8, R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane 1-1. Totals: 8-54.
Fumbles (No.-Yds.): John Fonoti 1-5, R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane 1-0, Richard Torres 1-0, Paipai Falemalu 1-0, Mike Wadsworth 1-0, TEAM 1-0. Totals: 6-5.
