Nevada hands Hawaii first Mountain West loss

Heading back to the coaches’ locker room following his final interview, Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich narrowly avoided running into the T-shirt-spewing bazooka that was parked in the corridor.

It was a metaphorical image in a night of misguided paths that resulted in the Rainbow Warriors’ 40-22 loss to Nevada at Aloha Stadium.

“I don’t think we executed very well at all,” Rolovich said. “We dropped balls. We missed reads, missed throws. Penalties. Third downs … ”

The Warriors also missed tackles and failed to fully capitalize on a 3-0 advantage in turnovers.

“It just wasn’t our day today,” Rolovich said.

And the collective misstep prevented the Warriors from locking up a winning 13-game regular season and accompanying berth in the Dec. 22 Hawaii Bowl. In losing at home for the first time this season, the Warriors fell to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in the Mountain West. Their next two opponents are two of the league’s best teams — Fresno State on the road next week and Utah State at home the following week.

“It’s a horrible feeling,” rush end Kaimana Padello said of the outcome. “It was the little things that were getting us. This one hurts. This one hurts a lot.”

It was an unsettling third reunion for Rolovich, who was Nevada’s offensive coordinator for four seasons through November 2015.

Slotback John Ursua said it was a particularly difficult loss based on “how dialed in we were this week. Rolo just came from there, and we had some pointers on what we were going to see. We capitalized early on, and then it just kind of slowed down. It was definitely frustrating.”

The Wolf Pack set the tone with a power running game that took on many forms. Toa Taua, a freshman who was the most valuable player in last year’s Polynesian Bowl, rumbled and twisted his way for 126 yards and an untouched touchdown. Taua initiated his runs on handoffs from quarterback Ty Gangi or on direct shotgun snaps as the wildcat.

Wideout Elijah Cooks also accounted for a rushing touchdown when he took a lateral from Gangi and sprinted 40 yards into the end zone.

And when Nevada runners appeared trapped, they pirouetted or juked free for additional yards. The Pack rolled up 220 rushing yards.

“We have to finish,” UH defensive coordinator Corey Batoon said of the missed tackles. “I thought our people, for the most part, were where they should be. But we have to get those guys down. We have to continue to work on the fundamentals of tackling and being in body position.”

Gangi was 21-for-29 for 247 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked once, and nearly strip-sacked a second time. With Nevada ahead 20-14 in the second quarter, Gangi was hit by Padello while attempting to pass. Linebacker Jahlani Tavai scooped the football and raced into the end zone, where he was knocked hard to the turf. Upon review, the officials ruled that Gangi was making a throwing motion, resulting in an incompletion and not a fumble.

“I think I flipped too early,” Padello said. “I was kind of batting at the air, batting blindly. I wasn’t really focused on where the ball was. If I did, I think I would have been able to get (the ball before it was thrown). It’s a game of inches.”

The play proved to be further costly. Tavai was escorted to the medical room, with 3:42 left in the first half, and did not play the rest of the game. Tavai, who is considered to be the Warriors’ best defensive player, was expected to rotate as an inside linebacker and rush end.

Cooks’ touchdown increased the Pack’s lead to 26-14 in the third quarter. The Pack made it 33-14 on Taua’s 13-yard run to cap a 23-0 surge from a 14-10 deficit.

“It was the little things,” Padello said. “We weren’t wrapping. We were going for the big hit. It really damaged us.”

UH’s offense could not counter. The Warriors came up empty three times in the red zone. They converted only once in five fourth-down plays.

Cole McDonald completed 19 of 37 passes for 259 yards and three touchdowns. But he misfired to open receivers and was victimized by five drops, including four in the first half. There were times McDonald waited … and waited … and waited for routes to ripen. He was sacked four times.

In the fourth quarter, Rolovich replaced McDonald with Chevan Cordeiro for a series. The intent was for McDonald “to get a look from the sideline,” Rolovich said. “Maybe it was a spark Chevan could give us, just let (McDonald) take a breather. (Former Nevada coach) Chris Ault used to do that. … We weren’t doing much with the ball. We put the defense in some terrible positions in the first half.”

The Warriors attempted three onside kicks, two of which backfired because of penalties. On one, Kalen Hicks soared to catch the kick from Ryan Meskell. But Hicks was called for interfering with the returner.

“He was offsides, anyway,” Rolovich said. “You can argue that (interference) penalty, but if you can’t even be onside on an onside kick, and we go over these rules. We got called for two of them. I know we talk about those things.”

Ursua caught seven passes for 123 yards, surpassing 1,000 receiving yards this season, and tossed a 2-point-conversion pass to Marcus Armstrong-Brown.

But in the postgame gloom, Ursua said: “We have to take it up a notch. We can be so much better.”