‘Bows dominate Aggies

With a Hemingway-like storyline — gradually and then suddenly — the University of Hawaii football team surged to a 47-27 rout of UC Davis on Saturday night.

An Aloha Stadium crowd of 22,738 witnessed the Rainbow Warriors score 27 points in a row to transform a 10-6 deficit to a 33-10 leaden route to improving to 2-1.

"I thought it was a good win," UH coach Norm Chow said soon after exiting the celebration in the postgame locker room.

The Aggies tried to play keep-away, eating yards while draining the clock, and, at one point, built a possession advantage of 11:57 to 5:45.

The Aggies "had a nice game plan," Chow said. "They wanted to keep the ball away from us. They did it to (Nevada two weeks ago), they did it to us."

But there were two pulled strings that unraveled the Aggies. The Warriors, ahead 13-10, started their second possession of the second half on their 2. Paul Harris, who transferred from Ventura College two months ago, rushed for 3 yards, to the 5.

Then offensive coordinator Don Bailey called for "hammer," an inside-zone run. Harris took the handoff, rubber-necked the clutter inside,and headed for the right edge. He turned the corner, found additional room on wideout Devan Stubblefield’s block, then sprinted along the right sideline to complete the 95-yard touchdown and boost the lead to 20-10.

Along the way, Harris told himself: "Don’t get tackled because I’m the quote-unquote fastest guy on the team."

Right tackle RJ Hollis said: "I thought No. 28 (Ryan Paranteau) was going to catch him. Then (Harris) got a second wind nobody knew about and — whoosh — he was gone."

On the ensuing possession, the Aggies drove to the UH 35, where they faced a fourth-and-1. For the fourth consecutive play, Manusamoa Luuga took the handoff and broke left. Strong safety Daniel Lewis charged to slow Luuga. Then inside linebacker Jerrol Garcia-Williamsspun free from a guard to hit Luuga and the football. Whether Luuga got the needed yard was moot after the football fell to the turf and free safety Marrell Jackson recovered.

"I saw the ball pop out," Jackson said. "I did my assignment. Everybody did their assignment. It was a team play."

After that, running back Melvin Davis scored from a yard out, and left wideout Marcus Kemp made a leaping catch in the end zone to move the Warriors out of reach.

Davis joined the Warriors two weeks into training camp after completing work on his associate degree, an NCAA eligibility requirement fora junior college transfer. Davis, who reported at 251 pounds, now weighs 233 thanks to extra workouts and fewer meal servings.

"One word describes my feelings — starving," said Davis, who also scored on a 5-yard run. "I’m starving for the end zone."

For Kemp, he sought redemption after failing to secure potential touchdown passes. On one, he fell helmet first while extending for a Max Wittek pass. He headed to the sideline, slightly dazed, before passing a concussion assessment and, a few minutes later, a second test.

"Everything was good," said Kemp, who made three big plays. On one, a pass sailed high, ricocheting off wideout Makoa Camanse-Stevens’ hands, and fell toward Kemp. "I thought he was going to catch it," Kemp said. "I saw it come my way, and I reacted."

Kemp also soared to catch a 39-yard pass on a drive that concluded with his touchdown catch. On second down from the UCD 19, Wittek noticed the Aggies were in a cover-2 defense. That left Kemp to face single coverage on the left side.

"(Wittek) saw there was a hole," Kemp said. "It was a great way for the offense to click when the play went where it wasn’t supposed to go.The ball came my way, and I made sure I caught it. … I felt I had to make up for the two (missed scoring) plays. I should have had three touchdowns."

"If he feels that way, I’ll accept them," Wittek said, smiling.

Wittek was 17-for-24 for 272 yards. He was not intercepted, and assembled a 35-yard play when he scrambled for 20 yards and was awarded an additional 15 yards on a pair of penalties, including being hit out of bounds.

Stubblefield, who filled in for injured Quinton Pedroza and Vasquez Haynes, caught six passes for 108 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown.

It was the breakout performance for Stubblefield, who missed the 2014 season after suffering a torn ACL and meniscus in his left knee on the first day of training camp. Stubblefield, who wears a brace on his surgically repaired knee, said he no longer thinks about his injury.

"It was great," Stubblefield said. "Nothing crazy. Nothing I haven’t experienced before. Coming from Saint Louis (School), we played every game in this stadium. That environment, it’s like no other. I’m happy we could come out here and feed off each other."

Wittek said he had confidence in Stubblefield and the other fill-ins.

"Those are our guys," Wittek said. "We knew Stubs would step up. He had a great ballgame. We know what he can do."

UH offensive coordinator Don Bailey, who called the game from the coaches’ booth, admittedly had to be patient against the Aggies’ deliberate pace.

"It’s almost like playing against an option," Bailey said. "You get anxious wanting to get the ball back. We scored three out of four times(in the first half), but got two field goals. You have to stay the course. I think in the second half, our tempo wore them down in the third quarter. They scrambled a lot more trying to get lined up, trying to get personnel out there. They were trying to search for answers then."

Bailey added: "We’re 2-1. We’re right where we want to be, and going to Wisconsin. Let’s play."

FIRST PERIOD

UC Davis

>> Score: Brady Stuart 21-yard field goal.

>> Drive: 10 plays, 26 yards, 5:25 elapsed time. Time: 5:08. Score: UC Davis 3, Hawaii 0.

HAWAII

>> Score: Rigoberto Sanchez 27-yard field goal.

>> Drive: 9 plays, 71 yards, 3:02 elapsed time. Time: 2:02. Score: Hawaii 3, UC Davis 3.

SECOND PERIOD

HAWAII

>> Score: Sanchez 46-yard field goal.

>> Drive: 10 plays, 62 yards, 3:37 elapsed time. Time: 8:41. Score: Hawaii 6, UC Davis 3.

UC Davis

>> Score: Derek Baljeu 8-yard pass from Ben Scott. Stuart kick

>> Drive: 12 plays, 75 yards, 6:45 elapsed time. Time: 1:56. Score: UC Davis 10, Hawaii 6.

HAWAII

>> Score: Devan Stubblefield 14-yard pass from Max Wittek. Sanchez kick

>> Drive: 4 plays, 35 yards, :44 elapsed time. Time: 0:56. Score: Hawaii 13, UC Davis 10.

THIRD PERIOD

HAWAII

>> Score: Paul Harris 95-yard run. Sanchez kick

>> Drive: 2 plays, 98 yards, :36 elapsed time. Time: 8:18. Score: Hawaii 20, UC Davis 10.

HAWAII

>> Score: Melvin Davis 1-yard run. Kick blocked

>> Drive: 6 plays, 66 yards, 1:43 elapsed time. Time: 3:31. Score: Hawaii 26, UC Davis 10.

FOURTH PERIOD

HAWAII

>> Score: Marcus Kemp 19-yard pass from Wittek. Sanchez kick

>> Drive: 9 plays, 97 yards, 3:42 elapsed time. Time: 13:02. Score: Hawaii 33, UC Davis 10.

UC Davis

>> Score: Chris Martin 69-yard pass from Scott. Stuart kick

>> Drive: 4 plays, 83 yards,1:58 elapsed time. Time: 10:52. Score: Hawaii 33, UC Davis 17.

HAWAII

>> Score: Davis 5-yard run. Sanchez kick

>> Drive: 5 plays, 65 yards, 1:24 elapsed time. Time: 9:28. Score: Hawaii 40, UC Davis 17.

HAWAII

>> Score: Dejaun Butler 26-yard blocked punt return. Sanchez kick

>> Time: 7:54. Score: Hawaii 47, UC Davis 17.

UC Davis

>> Score: Joshua Kelley 14-yard run. Stuart kick

>> Drive: 8 plays, 58 yards, 4:52 elapsed time. Time: 3:04. Score: Hawaii 47, UC Davis 24.

UC Davis

>> Score: Stuart 27-yard field goal.

>> Drive: 4 plays, minus-3 yards, 2:03 elapsed time. Time: :53. Score: Hawaii 47, UC Davis 27.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

DEFENSIVE STATISTICS

TACKLES FOR LOSS-YARDS: UC Davis—Ryan Bua 2-9, Kyle DeVaughn 1-6.
Hawaii—Julian Gener 2-9, Kennedy Tulimasealii 2-6, Jeremy Castro 1-2.

SACKS-YARDS: UC Davis—Ryan Bua 1-8, Kyle DeVaughn 1-6. Hawaii—none.

INTERCEPTIONS: UC Davis—none. Hawaii—none.

KICK BLOCKED: UC Davis—none. Hawaii—Dejaun Butler. 

QUARTERBACK HURRIES: UC Davis—none. Hawaii—Kennedy Tulimasealii, Luke Shawley, Jeremy Castro.