Wisconsin in the way
POSTED: Monday, November 30, 2009
One more.
As unlikely as it may have seemed a month ago, Hawaii's bowl hopes have survived into the final week of the regular season.
One more week of practice to prepare for one more considerable challenge in hopes of extending the campaign—and the careers of the senior class—by one more game.
“;Since (falling to 2-6) we've been taking it one day at a time, one practice at a time, one game at a time,”; slotback Kealoha Pilares said. “;We just believe in each other.”;
After four straight wins, the Warriors can now see the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl beckoning in the distance, but only by peeking around Wisconsin's broad shoulders.
Hawaii reached the .500 mark with a dramatic 24-17 win over Navy and closes the regular season on Saturday against Wisconsin (8-3), the Big Ten's highest-scoring offense. The game at Aloha Stadium will be televised on ESPN2, with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m.
“;Nobody thought, except my team and my coaches, that we were going to have a chance at this and now we do,”; UH head coach Greg McMackin said. “;Now we've got to go to work and give it our best shot.”;
The Warriors (6-6) added to the stakes on senior night by following six straight losses with a four-game winning streak, relying on their defense to close out the last two wins.
A week after the defense preserved an overtime victory at San Jose State, the Warriors shut out Navy in the second half. They closed the game by dropping the Midshipmen for losses on three of the game's final four plays. Blaze Soares ended it with a sack of quarterback Ricky Dobbs and was swarmed by his teammates.
Two breakdowns against the option contributed to Navy's two first-half touchdowns. But the Warriors adjusted at halftime, turning to a scheme called “;okie rebel robber”; to keep the Midshipmen off the scoreboard.
After the game, McMackin praised defensive line coach Dave Aranda's role in developing the game plan against the spread option.
“;He's a genius in the defensive game,”; McMackin said. “;He had a lot to do with the planning, the adjusting, the calling of this ballgame.”;
Now, after containing an offense predicated on finesse and deception, the Warriors face Wisconsin's power-rushing offense.
The Badgers have visited Aloha Stadium three times since 1996, beating UH by an average score of 45-17. Wisconsin running backs powered all of those wins, led by Ron Dayne's 339 yards in 1996—a UH opponent record—Michael Bennett's 218 in 2000 and Brian Calhoun's 149 in 2005.
This year's Badgers feature sophomore running back John Clay, named the Big Ten's offensive player of the year after rushing for 1,251 yards and 13 touchdowns through 11 games. Wisconsin had a bye week to regroup following a loss at Northwestern that knocked the Badgers out of the polls.
This week's scenario is similar to 2004, when the Warriors beat Northwestern and Michigan State in the final two weeks to become bowl eligible.
“;Since I've been involved with Hawaii football, the end of the year, something special happens on this island,”; UH quarterbacks coach Nick Rolovich said. “;Especially when teams come from far away. I don't think they can take it very lightly. I think they understand what this team and field can do, especially come December.”;
Mustangs eye Hawaii Bowl
The Warriors' victory over Navy means Sheraton Hawaii Bowl executive director David Matlin will have to wait until Saturday night before the game's Western Athletic Conference representative can be determined.
The other half of the matchup could be settled as early as today, with all signs pointing to SMU and head coach June Jones being invited as the representative from Conference USA. The Mustangs (7-5) closed their regular season with a win over Tulane on Saturday. Matlin attended the game in Dallas and met with SMU officials, though an invitation had yet to be extended.
Having Jones, the Warriors' head coach from 1999 to 2007, return to Aloha Stadium was part of the vision when the Hawaii Bowl entered into its deal with Conference USA.
Record watch
Greg Salas needs six more receptions to break Hawaii's single-season record. His 10 catches against Navy pushed his season total to 103. Davone Bess holds the record of 108 set in 2007.
Salas is the fourth UH receiver to break the century mark in receptions in a season, joining Bess, Ryan Grice-Mullins (106 in 2007) and Chad Owens (102 in 2004).
Salas broke Bess' record for receptions in a game with 16 against New Mexico State on Nov. 14.
Salas' 1,559 receiving yards is the second-highest, single-season total in school history, trailing only Ashley Lelie's 1,713 set in 2001. Salas remains second in the FBS with 129.9 yards per game behind Missouri's Danario Alexander (137).
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOOTBALL STATISTICS
| Team Statistics | ||
| Hawaii | OPP | |
| SCORING | 286 | 332 |
| Points Per Game | 23.8 | 27.7 |
| FIRST DOWNS | 266 | 248 |
| Rushing | 70 | 135 |
| Passing | 180 | 105 |
| Penalty | 16 | 8 |
| RUSHING YARDAGE | 1,289 | 2,323 |
| Yards gained rushing | 1,558 | 2,624 |
| Yards lost rushing | 269 | 301 |
| Rushing Attempts | 275 | 485 |
| Average Per Rush | 4.7 | 4.8 |
| Average Per Game | 107.4 | 193.6 |
| TDs Rushing | 12 | 26 |
| PASSING YARDAGE | 4,184 | 2,382 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 324-535-15 | 198-314-12 |
| Average Per Pass | 7.8 | 7.6 |
| Average Per Catch | 12.9 | 12.0 |
| Average Per Game | 348.7 | 198.5 |
| TDs Passing | 24 | 16 |
| TOTAL OFFENSE | 5,473 | 4,705 |
| Total Plays | 810 | 799 |
| Average Per Play | 6.8 | 5.9 |
| Average Per Game | 456.1 | 392.1 |
| KICK RETURNS: #-Yards | 62-1,373 | 46-965 |
| PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards | 22-145 | 6-7 |
| INT RETURNS: #-Yards | 12-69 | 15-134 |
| KICK RETURN AVERAGE | 22.1 | 21.0 |
| PUNT RETURN AVERAGE | 6.6 | 1.2 |
| INT RETURN AVERAGE | 5.8 | 8.9 |
| FUMBLES-LOST | 29-16 | 30-10 |
| PENALTIES-Yards | 71-579 | 60-570 |
| Average Per Game | 48.2 | 47.5 |
| PUNTS-Yards | 36-1,352 | 48-1,965 |
| Average Per Punt | 37.6 | 40.9 |
| Net punt average | 35.1 | 35.4 |
| TIME OF POSSESSION/Game | 29:33 | 30:25 |
| 3RD-DOWN Conversions | 64/138 | 65/152 |
| 3rd-Down Pct | 46% | 43% |
| 4TH-DOWN Conversions | 2/17 | 14/20 |
| 4th-Down Pct | 12% | 70% |
| SACKS BY-Yards | 17-129 | 30-179 |
| MISC YARDS | 0 | 88 |
| TOUCHDOWNS SCORED | 36 | 43 |
| FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS | 11-18 | 11-15 |
| ON-SIDE KICKS | 2-3 | 0-1 |
| RED-ZONE SCORES | 34-56 61% | 42-47 89% |
| RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS | 24-56 43% | 31-47 66% |
| PAT-ATTEMPTS | 33-33 100% | 39-39 100% |
| RUSHING | ||||||||
| G | Att | Net | Avg | TD | Long | |||
| Wright-Jackson | 12 | 69 | 512 | 7.4 | 7 | 62 | ||
| Green | 12 | 83 | 450 | 5.4 | 2 | 44 | ||
| Moniz | 9 | 51 | 161 | 3.2 | 1 | 31 | ||
| Alexander | 4 | 37 | 103 | 2.8 | 0 | 23 | ||
| Dimude | 5 | 11 | 67 | 6.1 | 0 | 17 | ||
| Funaki | 12 | 7 | 18 | 2.6 | 1 | 8 | ||
| Rego | 8 | 4 | 17 | 4.2 | 0 | 9 | ||
| Pilares | 12 | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 0 | 13 | ||
| Austin | 4 | 6 | -29 | -4.8 | 1 | 3 | ||
| Taylor | 12 | 1 | -3 | -3.0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| TEAM | 11 | 5 | -20 | -4.0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Totals | 12 | 275 | 1,289 | 4.7 | 12 | 62 | ||
| PASSING | ||||||||
| G | Comp | Att | Int | Yds | TD | Long | ||
| Moniz | 9 | 167 | 285 | 8 | 2,199 | 13 | 71 | |
| Alexander | 4 | 98 | 150 | 4 | 1,433 | 9 | 73 | |
| Austin | 4 | 58 | 93 | 3 | 545 | 2 | 30 | |
| TEAM | 11 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Funaki | 12 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | |
| Totals | 12 | 324 | 535 | 15 | 4,184 | 24 | 73 | |
| RECEIVING | ||||||||
| G | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | |||
| Salas | 12 | 103 | 1,559 | 15.1 | 8 | 66 | ||
| Pilares | 12 | 63 | 651 | 10.3 | 4 | 32 | ||
| Bradley | 6 | 31 | 575 | 18.5 | 5 | 73 | ||
| Medeiros | 9 | 44 | 559 | 12.7 | 3 | 57 | ||
| Taylor | 12 | 30 | 398 | 13.3 | 3 | 71 | ||
| Pollard | 7 | 15 | 157 | 10.5 | 0 | 21 | ||
| Wright-Jackson | 12 | 15 | 109 | 7.3 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Avery | 8 | 6 | 64 | 10.7 | 0 | 16 | ||
| Green | 11 | 7 | 39 | 5.6 | 0 | 16 | ||
| Dimude | 5 | 4 | 27 | 6.8 | 0 | 13 | ||
| Blount | 4 | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| Henry | 11 | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| Funaki | 12 | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| Totals | 12 | 324 | 4,184 | 12.9 | 24 | 73 | ||
| TOTAL OFFENSE | ||||||||
| G | Plays | Rush | Pass | Tot | Avg | |||
| Moniz | 9 | 336 | 161 | 2,199 | 2,360 | 262.2 | ||
| Alexander | 4 | 187 | 103 | 1,433 | 1,536 | 384.0 | ||
| Wright-Jackson | 12 | 69 | 512 | 0 | 512 | 42.7 | ||
| Green | 12 | 83 | 450 | 0 | 450 | 37.5 | ||
| Austin | 4 | 99 | -29 | 545 | 516 | 129.0 | ||
| Dimude | 5 | 11 | 67 | 0 | 67 | 13.4 | ||
| Funaki | 12 | 9 | 18 | 7 | 25 | 2.1 | ||
| Rego | 8 | 4 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 2.1 | ||
| Pilares | 12 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 1.1 | ||
| Taylor | 12 | 1 | -3 | 0 | -3 | -0.2 | ||
| TEAM | 11 | 10 | -20 | 0 | -20 | -1.8 | ||
| Totals | 12 | 810 | 1,289 | 4,184 | 5,473 | 456.1 | ||
| SCORING | ||||||||
| TD | FG | 1XP | 2XP | Tot | ||||
| Enos | 0 | 11 | 33 | 0 | 66 | |||
| Salas | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | |||
| Wright-Jackson | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | |||
| Bradley | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | |||
| Pilares | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | |||
| Taylor | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | |||
| Medeiros | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | |||
| Green | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | |||
| Moniz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |||
| Funaki | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |||
| TEAM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |||
| Alexander | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Totals | 36 | 11 | 33 | 2 | 286 | |||
| PUNTING | ||||||||
| No. | Yds | Avg | Long | |||||
| Dunnachie | 36 | 1,352 | 37.6 | 65 | ||||
| Totals | 36 | 1,352 | 37.6 | 65 | ||||
| PUNT RETURNS | ||||||||
| No. | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | ||||
| Ryan Henry | 17 | 88 | 5.2 | 0 | 16 | |||
| Salas | 5 | 57 | 11.4 | 0 | 32 | |||
| Totals | 22 | 145 | 6.6 | 0 | 32 | |||
| KICK RETURNS | ||||||||
| No. | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | ||||
| Taylor | 33 | 788 | 23.9 | 0 | 55 | |||
| Pollard | 13 | 287 | 22.1 | 0 | 47 | |||
| Pilares | 7 | 156 | 22.3 | 0 | 32 | |||
| Blount | 4 | 80 | 20.0 | 0 | 29 | |||
| Lolotai | 3 | 25 | 8.3 | 0 | 13 | |||
| Rego | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 0 | 20 | |||
| Green | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 0 | 17 | |||
| Totals | 57 | 1,254 | 22.0 | 0 | 48 | |||
| TACKLES | ||||||||
| G | UT | AT | Tot | |||||
| Soares | 12 | 49 | 47 | 96 | ||||
| Kiesel-Kauhane | 12 | 52 | 24 | 76 | ||||
| Smith | 12 | 45 | 22 | 67 | ||||
| Silva | 12 | 43 | 24 | 67 | ||||
| Paredes | 12 | 36 | 17 | 53 | ||||
| Tufaga | 12 | 24 | 22 | 46 | ||||
| Torres | 12 | 29 | 13 | 42 | ||||
| Bryant | 9 | 23 | 16 | 39 | ||||
| Davis | 12 | 32 | 7 | 39 | ||||
| Fonoti | 9 | 16 | 18 | 34 | ||||
| Purcell | 12 | 13 | 16 | 29 | ||||
| Ornellas | 12 | 19 | 4 | 23 | ||||
| Heun | 12 | 16 | 4 | 20 | ||||
| Satele | 12 | 12 | 7 | 19 | ||||
| Savaiigaea | 12 | 10 | 9 | 19 | ||||
| Falemalu | 11 | 14 | 4 | 18 | ||||
| Lolotai | 12 | 10 | 5 | 15 | ||||
| Hopkins | 8 | 8 | 6 | 14 | ||||
| Meatoga | 10 | 9 | 3 | 12 | ||||
| Wadsworth | 12 | 7 | 4 | 11 | ||||
| Brown | 3 | 7 | 3 | 10 | ||||
| Clore | 10 | 4 | 4 | 8 | ||||
| Walker | 10 | 7 | 1 | 8 | ||||
| Hanohano | 11 | 6 | 2 | 8 | ||||
| Rice | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | ||||
| Ahmad | 12 | 4 | 1 | 5 | ||||
| Correa | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||
| Enos | 12 | 4 | 0 | 4 | ||||
| Gomes | 9 | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||||
| Black | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| J. Estes | 12 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| K. Estes | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Funaki | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Henry | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Alexander | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Medeiros | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Wright-Jackson | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Bradley | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Taylor | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Salas | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Totals | 12 | 517 | 295 | 812 |
MISCELLANEOUS
Interceptions (No.-Yds.): Mana Silva 6-28, Richard Torres 1-17, Blaze Soares 1-21, Spencer Smith 1-3, Lametrius Davis 3-0. Totals: 12-69.
Sacks (No.-Yds.): Corey Paredes 4-29, Blaze Soares 2-20, Tuika Tufaga 2-16,Paipai Falemalu 2-14, Aaron Brown 1-11, R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane 2-11, Jake Heun 1-9, Liko Satele 1-8, Lewis Walker 1-8, Fetaiagogo Fonoti 1-3. Totals: 17-129.
Fumbles (No.-Yds.): Fetaiagogo Fonoti 1-5, Jeremy Bryant 1-0, R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane 1-0, Corey Paredes 1-0, Richard Torres 1-0, Paipai Falemalu 1-0, Mike Wadsworth 1-0, TEAM 1-0. Totals: 8-5.
