Under a full moon, the University of Hawaii football team was left howling at the one that got away.
The Rainbow Warriors could not get in sync early nor maintain a grip late in a 41-38 loss to UNLV before 28,729 camera-flashing, wave-making fans at Aloha Stadium.
Long after UNLV’s Evan Pantels kicked the decisive 28-yard field goal with 49 seconds to play, UH coach Nick Rolovich apologized to the homecoming crowd.
“That place began to rock,” said Rolovich, a former UH quarterback and offensive coordinator who was hired as head coach in November 2015. “That environment started to be reminiscent of what we remember. We’ve got more work to do.”
After a 1-3 start in which they traveled more than 24,000 miles, the Rainbow Warriors appeared to have redirected their way, opening Mountain West competition with consecutive victories against Nevada and San Jose State.
“It was a big lesson for us,” running back Diocemy Saint Juste said. “We can’t get too complacent with the two wins prior to this. I thought it was a wake-up call that we didn’t really make it, and that we need to keep working.”
The teams matched serves with six ties, the last at 38 when UNLV’s Lexington Thomas sprinted 34 yards for a touchdown with 3:57 to play.
On the ensuing possession, the Warriors faced third-and-3 from their 47. Dru Brown, whose 2-0 record as a starting quarterback inspired T-shirt slogans, scrambled for 6 yards. But weakside linebacker Tau Lotulelei sneaked from behind to knock free the football from Brown. Cornerback Darius Mouton scooped the football and raced 13 yards, although the return — but not the fumble — was negated because of an illegal block.
“I can’t remember that play,” said Lotulelei, a 2013 Maui High graduate who was raised as a UH fan. “Seriously, there were so many things going through my head when I saw the ball.”
Brown, who lost a fumble for the fourth game in a row, said he felt he held the football securely, just as he had practiced each day the past week.
“There was a guy who came up from behind and knocked it out,” Brown said. “I thought I was holding it tight. Apparently not enough.”
Fueled by a 31-yard pass from freshman Dalton Sneed to Devonte Boyd, the Rebels advanced to the UH 10. After UH called a nerve-chilling timeout, Pantels coolly connected on the go-ahead field goal.
“Man, what a miracle,” Lotulelei said of the Rebels’ first road victory of the season. “For real, what a win. Congratulations to the boys.”
In the hallway outside the locker room, Brown sagged against the wall.
“I have to look at the tape,” Brown said, but “there were a lot of plays I could have made and the game would have turned out much differently. I’ll take the blame.”
Brown was 17-for-32 for 217 yards and two touchdowns. He has not been intercepted in 112 consecutive throws. Four of his passes were dropped, and two times he intentionally tossed away passes to avoid losses.
Told of Brown’s mea culpa, wideout Marcus Kemp strongly disagreed, saying, “Nobody is going to blame Dru. There are things that go our way and things that don’t. There are plays I could have made, and plays the defense or specific players could have made. (Brown) made some good plays. He did some good things. Nobody is going to blame anybody. Nobody is going to point the finger at anybody. We have to keep the confidence up for everybody.”
Rolovich said Brown did not “lose the game. He lost a fumble. There’s enough blame to go around, no doubt about that, starting with me. We didn’t get the message we needed to come ready to play.”
Rolovich said there were warning signals during pregame warm-ups. The Warriors missed passes, mishandled exchanges and missed tackles.
“That’s the worst we’ve started a football game mentally as a team,” Rolovich said. “I was worried about it. I don’t think this team got ahead of themselves at all. I don’t want that to be a thought process. I just think we didn’t come, like we had the past couple weeks, ready to play. I saw it in warm-ups, and worried about it. It led to a pretty bad first quarter.”
Still, it was tied at 7 at the end of the first quarter, at 21 at the intermission, and at 24 entering the final quarter. Running back Steven Lakalaka rushed for two touchdowns. Tight end Dakota Torres scored his first college touchdown on Brown’s roll-right, throw-left play. Paul Harris rushed for 94 yards and a 7-yard touchdown. The Warriors extended a drive when Kemp caught a pass and fumbled near the right sideline. But UNLV’s Mouton’s cleat was out of bounds when he touched the football, allowing the Warriors to retain possession.
But the Warriors could not slow the Rebels, who were without three injured receivers and No. 1 quarterback Johnny Stanton. Sneed, who exited training camp as the third-string quarterback, was 19-for-27 for 279 yards and two touchdowns. Thomas, who slumped the previous two games, gained 102 yards and Charles Williams contributed 85 rushing yards.
“They deserve a lot of credit for being physical,” Rolovich said of the Rebels. “They’re a very physical team on the offensive front and the defensive front.”
FIRST QUARTER
UNLV
>> Devonte Boyd 2 pass from Dalton Sneed. Evan Pantels kick.
>> Drive: 10 plays, 64 yards, 4:34 elapsed time. Time: 3:37. Score: UNLV 7, HAWAII 0
HAWAII
>> Steven Lakalaka 1 rush. Rigoinfox0ASanchez kick.
>> Drive: 6 plays, 69 yards, 2:53 elapsed time. Time: 0:35. Score: UNLV 7, HAWAII 7 second quarter
SECOND QUARTER
HAWAII
>> Dakota Torres 3 pass from Dru Brown. Sanchez kick.
>> Drive: 8 plays, 71 yards, 3:51 elapsed time. Time: 10:26. Score: HAWAII 14,infox0AUNLV 7
UNLV
>> Lexington Thomas 37 from Sneed. Pantels kick.
>> Drive: 11 plays, 90 yards, 4:12 elapsed time. Time: 6:07. Score: HAWAII 14, UNLV 14
HAWAII
>> Lakalaka 1 rush. Sanchez kick.
>> Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 3:41 elapsed time. Time: 2:26. Score: HAWAII 21, UNLV 14
UNLV
>> David Greene 1 rush. Pantels kick.
>> Drive: 10 plays, 76 yards, 1:46 elapsed time. Time: 0:34. Score: HAWAII 21, UNLV 21
THIRD QUARTER
UNLV
>> Pantels 18 field goal.
>> Drive: 13 plays, 81 yards, 5:15 elapsed time. Time: 5:10. Score: UNLV 24, HAWAII 21
HAWAII
>> Sanchez 24 field goal.
>> Drive: 8 plays, 74 yards, 2:49 elapsed time. Time: 2:15. Score: UNLV 24, HAWAII 24
FOURTH QUARTER
HAWAII
>> Diocemy Saint Juste 7 pass from Brown. Sanchez kick.
>> Drive: 5 plays, 45 yards, 1:57 elapsed time. Time: 13:47. Score: HAWAII 31,infox0AUNLV 24
UNLV
>> Greene 1 rush. Pantels kick.
>> Drive: 6 plays, 78 yards, 2:51 elapsed time. Time: 10:50. Score: HAWAII 31, UNLV 31
HAWAII
>> Paul Harris 7 run. Sanchez kick.
>> Drive: 4 plays, 79 yards, 1:41 elapsed time. Time: 9:02. Score: HAWAII 38, UNLV 31
UNLV
>> Thomas 34 rush. Pantels kick.
>> Drive: 10 plays, 80 yards, 3:57 elapsed time. Time: 4:58. Score: HAWAII 38, UNLV 38
UNLV
>> Pantels 28 field goal.
>> Drive: 7 plays, 45 yards, 2:07 elapsed time. Time: 0:49. Score: UNLV 41, HAWAII 38
TEAM STATISTICS
|
UNLV |
HAW |
| First downs |
29 |
20 |
| Rushes-yards |
50-257 |
33-229 |
| Passing |
279 |
217 |
| Comp-Att-Int |
19-29-0 |
17-32-0 |
| Return Yards |
122 |
160 |
| Punts-Avg. |
4-41.0 |
3-38.7 |
| Fumbles-Lost |
0-0 |
1-1 |
| Penalty-Yards |
8-86 |
7-61 |
| Time of Possession |
32:01 |
27:59 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-UNLV: D. Sneed 11-61, L. Thomas 21-102, C. Williams 14-85, D. Greene 4-9. HAWAII: P. Harris 7-94, D. Saint Juste 10-81, D. Brown 8-32, S. Lakalaka 7-25.
PASSING-UNLV: D. Sneed 19-27-0-279, K. Palandech 0-1-0-0, A. Cui III 0-1-0-0. HAWAII: D. Brown 17-32-0-217.
RECEIVING-UNLV: D. Boyd 6-83, T. Holt 2-53, A. Price 2-44, L. Thomas 2-43, M. Stevenson 4-31, J. Flowers 3-25. HAWAII: M. Kemp 6-126, D. Collie 4-23, J. Ursua 1-21, D. Torres 2-17, K. Timoteo 2-15, A. Barker 1-8, D. Saint Juste 1-7.
