Warriors want at least 1 more
POSTED: Monday, November 24, 2008
Several times this season, Hawaii head coach Greg McMackin highlighted a particular phase of the game as a point of emphasis for the Warriors.
Last week, it was big plays on defense.
| WARRIORS FOOTBALL Washington State (2-10, 1-8 Pac-10) at Hawaii (5-3, 6-5 WAC), 6:05 p.m. Saturday. TV: Oceanic PPV Ch. 255; Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM |
After giving up 13 plays of 25 yards or longer—including six measuring more than 60 yards—in the previous three games, the Warriors tightened up the coverage in last Saturday's win over Idaho.
Idaho's longest play of the night went for 17 yards as the Warriors rolled to a 49-17 victory.
“;We knew they would try to go deep on us and (the Warrior defense) wouldn't allow it,”; McMackin said. “;I give these guys credit. If I ask them to fix something, they fix it.”;
The Warriors (6-5, 5-3 Western Athletic Conference) delivered a solid performance in the secondary despite losing two starting safeties to injuries.
Ryan Mouton, who moved from cornerback to free safety to help address the big-play issue, suffered a sprained ankle in the first quarter and is questionable for Saturday's game against Washington State (2-10) at Aloha Stadium.
Erik Robinson's tight hamstring didn't allow him to play beyond the Vandals' first offensive possession of the game, but could be back this week.
“;We got a little banged up and the guys who came in did a good job and played well,”; McMackin said.
With Robinson and Mouton out, the Warriors still had ample experience in the defensive backfield with Desmond Thomas and Keao Monteilh taking over.
The seniors had been starters earlier this season and were involved in three of the four turnovers the Warriors produced.
Thomas forced a fumble and came up with an interception off a tipped pass. Monteilh also pulled in a tipped pass in the second half for his fourth pick of the season.
“;Desmond and Keao played their best game of the year,”; UH defensive backs coach Rich Miano said. “;They played responsible and made plays.”;
Richard Torres, an undersized but technically sound freshman, also saw his most extensive action of the season at nickel back, finishing with three tackles.
Bowl picture hazy
David Matlin, executive director of the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, expected last weekend's games to provide some clarity to the bowl's situation.
But “;it got about as clear as mud,”; Matlin said.
While Hawaii moved to within one win of securing a spot in the Christmas Eve game, the Hawaii Bowl's Pac-10 affiliation could leave organizers looking to other conferences to fill a berth.
The Hawaii Bowl is contracted to take the sixth-place team from the Pac-10, but the league could end up short of bowl-eligible teams. Stanford's loss to California knocked the Cardinal out of consideration. Arizona State and UCLA (both 4-6) remain in contention, but need to win out.
The Sun Devils and UCLA play each other this week in an elimination game. Arizona State then closes with Arizona, and UCLA finishes out against USC.
But even if ASU or UCLA are eligible, the Pac-10 could still end up short if both Oregon State and USC earn BCS berths.
“;We'll probably have to wait until the last game,”; Matlin said.
If the Pac-10 can't provide a team, the Hawaii Bowl would dip into a pool of at-large teams from other conferences. Matlin said there could be seven bowls that will have to go outside of its affiliations to fill spots.
Matlin said the conference commissioners are expected to hold a teleconference this week to discuss an order for such a contingency. Other leagues the bowl could look at include the Mid-American, Conference USA and Mountain West.
Even Notre Dame (6-5) hasn't been ruled out as an option, though the Fighting Irish have been mentioned as likely headed to the Sun Bowl following their loss to Syracuse on Saturday.
“;There's a lot of conjecture out there, but it's hard to say at this point,”; Matlin said. “;That's one of a list of many possibilities.”;
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOOTBALL STATISTICS
Team Statistics
| Hawaii | OPP |
|
| FIRST DOWNS | 204 | 208 |
| Rushing | 71 | 85 |
| Passing | 114 | 102 |
| Penalty | 19 | 21 |
| RUSHING YARDAGE | 1,183 | 1,665 |
| Yards gained rushing | 1,496 | 2,042 |
| Yards lost rushing | 313 | 377 |
| Rushing attempts | 335 | 411 |
| Average per rush | 3.5 | 4.1 |
| Average per game | 107.5 | 151.4 |
| Touchdowns rushing | 16 | 16 |
| PASSING YARDAGE | 2,602 | 2,391 |
| Att-Comp-Int | 370-215-19 | 336-192-13 |
| Average per pass | 7.0 | 7.1 |
| Average per catch | 12.1 | 12.5 |
| Average per game | 236.5 | 217.4 |
| Touchdowns passing | 17 | 20 |
| TOTAL OFFENSE | 3,785 | 4,056 |
| Total plays | 705 | 747 |
| Average per game | 344.1 | 368.7 |
| KICK RETURNS: No-Yds | 55-1,129 | 41-969 |
| PUNT RETURNS: No-Yds | 22-36 | 22-241 |
| INT. RETURNS: No-Yds | 13-230 | 19-202 |
| FUMBLES-LOST | 25-13 | 24-12 |
| PENALTIES-YARDS | 97-859 | 71-579 |
| PUNTS-Yards | 53-2,099 | 47-2,067 |
| TIME OF POSSESION/GAME | 30:33 | 29:27 |
| 3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS | 49/139 | 57/164 |
| 4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS | 5/11 | 15/25 |
| RUSHING |
||||||
| G | Att | Net | Avg | TD | Long |
|
| Libre | 10 | 79 | 378 | 4.8 | 5 | 48 |
| Pilares | 9 | 54 | 281 | 5.2 | 5 | 34 |
| Funaki | 10 | 73 | 200 | 2.7 | 1 | 33 |
| Alexander | 6 | 49 | 109 | 2.2 | 3 | 16 |
| Wright-Jackson | 9 | 27 | 101 | 3.7 | 1 | 16 |
| Rego | 11 | 17 | 87 | 5.0 | 0 | 19 |
| Farmer | 8 | 12 | 50 | 4.2 | 1 | 9 |
| Washington | 11 | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 0 | 12 |
| Chopp | 1 | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 6 |
| Rausch | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 4 |
| Santos | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mouton | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM | 7 | 6 | -8 | -1.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Peoples | 7 | 4 | -9 | -2.2 | 0 | 2 |
| Graunke | 4 | 5 | -20 | -4.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | 11 | 335 | 1,183 | 3.5 | 16 | 48 |
| PASSING |
|||||||
| G | Att | Comp | Int | Yds | TD | Long |
|
| Funaki | 10 | 168 | 95 | 12 | 1,119 | 6 | 53 |
| Alexander | 6 | 130 | 84 | 2 | 1,044 | 8 | 82 |
| Graunke | 4 | 58 | 30 | 4 | 388 | 3 | 42 |
| Rausch | 3 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 51 | 0 | 15 |
| Total | 11 | 370 | 215 | 19 | 2,602 | 17 | 82 |
| RECEIVING |
|||||||
| G | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
||
| Washington | 11 | 45 | 548 | 12.2 | 4 | 39 |
|
| Salas | 11 | 41 | 593 | 14.5 | 2 | 41 |
|
| Bain | 11 | 34 | 343 | 10.1 | 4 | 33 | |
| Lane | 11 | 28 | 518 | 18.5 | 5 | 82 |
|
| Pilares | 9 | 26 | 230 | 8.8 | 2 | 23 |
|
| Wright-Jackson | 9 | 10 | 70 | 7 | 0 | 20 | |
| Mouton | 11 | 8 | 71 | 8.9 | 0 | 18 | |
| Libre | 10 | 8 | 41 | 5.1 | 0 | 16 |
|
| Medeiros | 8 | 7 | 62 | 8.9 | 0 | 24 | |
| Pollard | 7 | 4 | 71 | 17.8 | 0 | 29 |
|
| Taylor | 3 | 2 | 38 | 19 | 0 | 26 |
|
| Farmer | 8 | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 10 |
|
| Nasca | 6 | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
|
| Total | 11 | 215 | 2,602 | 12.1 | 17 | 82 |
| TOTAL OFFENSE |
|||||||
| G | Plays | Rush | Pass | Tot | Avg |
||
| Funaki | 10 | 241 | 200 | 1,119 | 1,319 | 131.9 |
|
| Alexander | 6 | 179 | 109 | 1,044 | 1,153 | 192.2 |
|
| Libre | 10 | 79 | 378 | 0 | 378 | 37.8 |
|
| Graunke | 4 | 63 | -20 | 388 | 368 | 92.0 |
|
| Pilares | 9 | 54 | 281 | 0 | 281 | 31.2 |
|
| Wright-Jackson | 9 | 27 | 101 | 0 | 101 | 11.2 | |
| Rego | 11 | 17 | 85 | 0 | 85 | 7.7 |
|
| Rausch | 3 | 16 | 0 | 51 | 51 | 17.0 |
|
| Farmer | 8 | 12 | 50 | 0 | 50 | 6.2 |
|
| Washington | 11 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0.8 |
|
| Chopp | 1 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7.0 | |
| TEAM | 7 | 6 | -8 | 0 | -8 | -1.1 |
|
| Peoples | 7 | 4 | -9 | 0 | -9 | -1.3 | |
| Total | 11 | 705 | 1,183 | 2,602 | 3,785 | 344.1 |
| SCORING |
|||||
| TD | FG | 1XP | 2XP | Tot |
|
| Kelly | 0 | 8 | 32 | 0 | 56 |
| Pilares | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 |
| Libre | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| Lane | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| Washington | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 26 |
| Bain | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Alexander | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Salas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Mouton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Funaki | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Wright-Jackson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Farmer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Fonoti | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Graunke | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 36 | 8 | 32 | 1 | 276 |
| PUNTING |
|||||
| No. | Yds | Avg | Long |
||
| Grasso | 52 | 2,098 | 40.3 | 55 |
|
| TEAM | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 |
|
| Total | 53 | 2,099 | 39.6 | 55 |
|
| Punt Returns |
|||||
| No. | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|
| Washington | 13 | -4 | -0.3 | 0 | 3 |
| Bain | 7 | 37 | 5.3 | 0 | 17 |
| Pilares | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 0 | 3 |
| Total | 22 | 36 | 1.6 | 0 | 17 |
| KICK RETURNS |
|||||
| No. | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|
| Mouton | 24 | 514 | 21.4 | 1 | 90 |
| Lane | 14 | 418 | 29.9 | 0 | 91 |
| Taylor | 9 | 134 | 14.9 | 0 | 30 |
| Farmer | 3 | 29 | 9.7 | 0 | 19 |
| Smith | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 4 |
| Paredes | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
| Allen-Jones | 1 | -2 | -2.0 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 55 | 1,129 | 20.5 | 1 | 91 |
| TACKLES |
||||
| G | UT | AT | Tot |
|
| Elimimian | 11 | 47 | 44 | 91 |
| Leonard, A. | 10 | 36 | 29 | 65 |
| Veikune | 11 | 40 | 20 | 60 |
| Dowling | 11 | 38 | 20 | 58 |
| Fonoti | 11 | 23 | 23 | 46 |
| Roberts | 11 | 36 | 10 | 46 |
| Robinson | 11 | 28 | 18 | 46 |
| Satele | 11 | 25 | 17 | 42 |
| Monteilh | 11 | 22 | 15 | 37 |
| Leonard, J. | 10 | 20 | 13 | 33 |
| Mouton | 11 | 24 | 9 | 33 |
| Watson | 11 | 14 | 12 | 26 |
| Thomas | 11 | 14 | 11 | 25 |
| Kiesel-Kauhane | 10 | 14 | 8 | 22 |
| Allen-Jones | 11 | 11 | 7 | 18 |
| Silva | 10 | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| Smith | 11 | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| Maka | 5 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Tufaga | 10 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Meatoga | 11 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Kafentzis | 11 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Laeli | 9 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Ahmad | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Porlas | 11 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Torres | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Lolotai | 11 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Rego | 11 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Paredes | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Ingram | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Galdeira | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Purcell | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Davis | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Clore | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Kelly | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Washington | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Bryant | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Salas | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Wong | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Funaki | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Savaiigaea | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kia | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Rice | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Grasso | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Libre | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Peoples | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Watson | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 11 | 465 | 291 | 756 |
MISC.
Sacks (No.-Yds): Veikune 6.5-40, Elimimian 2.5-15, Watson 2-18, Allen-Jones, C.J. 2-17, Leonard, J. 2-16, Fonoti 1.5-17, Meatoga 1.5-11, Dowling 1.5-6, Maka 1.5-5, Satele 1-16, Robinson 1-8, Leonard, A. 1-8, Mouton 1-7, Laeli 1-6, Kiesel-Kauhane 1-3. Total: 27-193.
Interceptions (No.-Yds): Monteilh 4-23, Dowling 2-34, Thomas 2-26, Mouton 1-91, Robinson 1-32, Bryant 1-11, Roberts 1-9, Satele 1-4. Total: 13-230.
Fumbles (Forced-Recovered): Veikune 4-0, Kiesel-Kauhane 2-1, Mouton 2-1, Dowling 1-1, Elimimian 1-1, Satele 1-0, Allen-Jones 1-0, Kafentzis 1-0, Lolotai 1-0, Fonoti 0-3, Roberts 0-1, Thomas 1-1, Tufaga 0-1, Porlas 0-1, Rego 0-1. Total: 15-12.
Blocked kicks: Watson, Mahaley. Total: 2.
