Before it could raise the pineapple trophy awarded to the winning Hawaii Bowl team, before the defense Heimlich’d the nation’s eighth-best offense with a flurry of turnovers, before the punt fake and wounded-knee touchdowns, the University of Hawaii football team had to get over the hump.
The Rainbow Warriors’ 52-35 rout of Middle Tennessee was constructed on Wednesday morning, a day after they checked into the Moana Surfrider.
Nick Rolovich, who was completing his first season as the Warriors’ head coach, was concerned about … well, everything.
“I wasn’t sure,” Rolovich said of the players’ response to the first bowl appearance since 2010. “The newness of a bowl game, people patting them on the back. Were they going to lose sight of the goal at hand?”
But those concerns were alleviated during Wednesday’s practice. “They had a great practice,” Rolovich said. “And I think they handled themselves in Waikiki very well, and at the (bowl) banquet very well. They were here for one reason, and that was good for them.”
That confidence did not wane — not after the Warriors managed minus-7 yards in their first two possessions, not when the Blue Raiders bolted to a 14-0 lead behind a quarterback whose collarbone injury prevented him from playing in the regular season’s final three games.
“We weren’t worried,” UH quarterback Dru Brown said. “We knew how good we could be. Offensively, we just got off to a slow start. We’ve done that before, unfortunately. We knew we had the capability of scoring points. We knew our defense was going to come in clutch like they always do.”
In studying hours of videos, UH defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa believed the way to match the Raiders’ speed was with quick counterattack. Lempa decided to start freshman Ikem Okeke at outside linebacker.
“Nobody knew he was going to play,” Lempa said. “That team was fast. We needed some fast guys. Ikem’s fast. That’s why we played him.”
On second-and-10 from the MT 33, Okeke raced in and stripped the football from quarterback Brent Stockstill. Middle linebacker Jahlani Tavai scooped the football and ran 12 yards to the 18. On the ensuing play, Brown found tight end Tui ‘Unga in the end zone to close the deficit to 14-7.
When a lineman stepped out to block defensive end Makani Kema-Kaleiwahea, Okeke figured, “I knew I had a shot at (Stockstill). I saw him pull the arm back and I said, ‘Ooh, I might not be able to get this tackle.’ So I tried to hit the ball out. I got lucky enough to where it was just perfect timing. I hit the ball out, and saw my teammate picking it up, and I tried to block for him.”
On the Raiders’ next possession, Stockstill threw toward wideout Dennis Andrews. Cornerback Jalen Rogers and Andrews appeared to each grab the ball, but it was Rogers who was ruled to have gained possession. “I went for it,” Rogers said.
Brown’s 44-yard pass to slotback John Ursua advanced the ball to the 1, from where running back Steven Lakalaka scored his 13th touchdown of the season. Lakakala, a senior, appeared to have suffered a knee injury on that play. “I was going to play until the wheels fell off,” said Lakalaka, who eventually returned to the game.
The Warriors went ahead 21-14 when Lakalaka went left and Brown, who kept the ball, went right on the 2-yard scoring run.
Soon after, safety Trayvon Henderson intercepted Stockstill, then raced 68 yards for the pick-six and 28-14 lead. The Warriors were in full control after that.
Brown was 20-for-30 for 274 yards and four touchdowns. The Warriors did not have any turnovers.
Running back Diocemy Saint Juste gained 170 yards on 25 carries. Ursua finished with 120 receiving yards.
But it was UH’s defense that made the key plays, despite Stockstill’s 432 passing yards, including 162 to Richie James and 100 to Ty Lee.
“We asked them for three turnovers,” Rolovich said of the defense, “and they got three in first half. Maybe I should start asking more often for them.”
The Raiders are built on balance — I’Tavius Mathers’ tough running and Stockstill’s mix of play-action and roll-out passes. Lempa’s strategy was to blitz often.
“That quarterback was good,” Lempa said. “We wanted to pressure the quarterback. After the beginning, we said we had to pressure that guy.”
Stockstill was sacked once, but he tossed away five passes to avoid backfield tackles.
While the defensive intent was clear, the Warriors were creative in the other phases. On fourth-and-3 from the MT 47, the Warriors called for the punt unit. They were a player short when wideout Makoa Camanse-Stevens was summoned. Camanse-Stevens appeared to be confused when he wandered about 10 yards behind punter Rigo Sanchez. But it was a ruse. Camanse-Stevens took the very long snap from Noah Borden, then threw 21 yards to Ammon Barker for the first down. That set up Brown’s second scoring pass to ‘Unga.
“We practiced it all week,” said Camanse-Stevens, whose previous acting experience was a theater class when he was a Kamehameha Schools student. “That was a long time ago. I felt everyone on our side executed. It was a good Hollywood performance by everybody.”
The Warriors finished 2016 with a 7-7 record, their first non-losing season since 2010.
To Rolovich, the bowl outcome means “after Santa comes (today), we get back at it. We start putting together next year’s team, and we start challenging our seniors next year to do something similar.”
As for his Christmas plans, Rolovich, a father of four, said: “I have to build a basketball hoop. It’s Christmas. Santa is bringing a basketball hoop.”
FIRST QUARTER
MTSU
>> I’Tavius Mathers 20 rush (Canon Rooker kick)
>> Drive: 4 plays, 74 yards, 1:26 elapsed time
>> Time: 12:09. Score: MTSU 7, HAWAII 0
MTSU
>> Brent Stockstill 51 pass to Richie James. (Rooker kick)
>> Drive: 2 plays, 70 yards, 0:45 elapsed time
>> Time: 9:46. Score: MTSU 14, HAWAII 0
HAWAII
>> Dru Brown 18 pass to Metuisela Unga (Rigo Sanchez kick)
>> Drive: 1 play, 18 yards, 0:03 elapsed time
>> Time: 4:09. Score: MTSU 14, HAWAII 7
HAWAII
>> Steven Lakalaka 1 rush (Sanchez kick)
>> Drive: 3 plays, 45 yards, 0:22 elapsed time
>> Time: 2:39. Score: MTSU 14, HAWAII 14
SECOND QUARTER
HAWAII
>> Brown 2 rush (Sanchez kick)
>> Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards, 4:01 elapsed time
>> Time: 11:43. Score: HAWAII 21, MTSU 14
HAWAII
>> Trayvon Henderson 68 interception return (Sanchez kick)
>> Drive: 8 plays, 29 yards, 4:13 elapsed time
>> Time: 7:30. Score: HAWAII 28, MTSU 14
MTSU
>> Stockstill 3 pass to Ty Lee (Rooker kick)
>> Drive: 6 plays, 82 yards, 1:40 elapsed time
>> Time: 1:41. Score: HAWAII 28, MTSU 21
HAWAII
>> Brown 39 pass to Kemp (Sanchez kick)
>> Drive: 5 plays, 55 yards, 1:19 elapsed time
>> Time: 0:22. Score: HAWAII 35, MTSU 21
THIRD QUARTER
HAWAII
>> Sanchez 23 field goal
>> Drive: 7 plays, 54 yards, 3:32 elapsed time
>> Time: 9:46. Score: HAWAII 38, MTSU 21
MTSU
>> Stockstill 10 pass to Dennis Andrews (Rooker kick)
>> Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 1:55 elapsed time
>> Time: 7:51. Score: HAWAII 38, MTSU 28
HAWAII
>> Brown 12 pass to Unga (Sanchez kick)
>> Drive: 12 plays, 75 yards, 6:36 elapsed time
>> Time: 1:15. Score: HAWAII 45, MTSU 28
FOURTH QUARTER
MTSU
>> James 13 rush (Rooker kick)
>> Drive: 3 plays, 55 yards, 1:15 elapsed time
>> Time: 10:09. Score: HAWAII 45, MTSU 35
HAWAII
>> Brown 4 pass to Dylan Collie (Sanchez kick)
>> Drive: 11 plays, 84 yards, 6:38 elapsed time
>> Time: 3:31. Score: HAWAII 52, MTSU 35
TEAM STATISTICS
|
HAW |
MTS |
|
| First downs |
19 |
29 |
| Rushes-yards |
42-205 |
23-110 |
| Passing |
295 |
432 |
| Comp-Att-Int |
21-31-0 |
30-51-2 |
| Return Yards |
125 |
61 |
| Punts-Avg. |
3-44.0 |
3-38.0 |
| Fumbles-Lost |
0-0 |
2-1 |
| Penalties-Yards |
11-114 |
9-90 |
| Time of Possession |
36:36 |
23:24 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–HAWAII, Saint Juste 25-170, P.Harris 4-31, D.Brown 9-23, Lakalaka 2-1, (Team) 2-(minus 20). Middle Tennessee, Mathers 12-57, James 6-39, Stockstill 3-8, Andrews 2-6.
PASSING–HAWAII, Camanse-Stevens 1-1-0-21, D.Brown 20-30-0-274. Middle Tennessee, Stockstill 30-51-2-432.
RECEIVING–HAWAII, Ursua 6-120, Collie 4-17, Kemp 3-64, ‘Unga 3-54, Barker 1-21, Ewaliko 1-12, Camanse-Stevens 1-6, Saint Juste 1-2, Allen 1-(minus 1). Middle Tennessee, Lee 10-100, James 8-162, Andrews 4-58, Mathers 4-44, Bruce 2-31, Windham 1-25, West 1-12.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.
