Warriors struggle with ‘moving forward’

For the University of Hawaii football team, disappointment has a brief shelf life.

Hours after Saturday’s 28-14 loss to San Diego State — an outcome that dropped the Rainbow Warriors to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the Mountain West — the UH coaches were preparing for yet another road game.

This coming Saturday’s opponent, New Mexico, uses a triple-option offense, the fifth different scheme the Warriors will face this season.

“It ain’t going to get any easier,” defensive coordinator Tom Mason said. “That’s what we signed up for.”

Relying on a running attack out of a power-I formation, the Aztecs rolled up 133 yards — 12.1 yards per play, 11.9 yards per rush — in racing to a 14-0 lead in the first 5 minutes, 50 seconds.

The Warriors adjusted, in part to a five-linebacker scheme, holding the Aztecs to 99 rushing yards on 55 carries in the next 10 full series. Donnel Pumphrey, who rushed six times for 83 yards in the first two drives, gained 65 yards on 24 carries after that.

“We settled right in,” Mason said. “We played pretty good the rest of the way.”

This week, the Warriors are focusing on strengthening their starts — opponents have scored first in the past five games — and cutting down on self-inflicted mistakes.

“The deal is to find more consistency, down in and down out,” offensive coordinator Don Bailey said. “I thought we were getting there. We’re running more plays. We’re putting more together. But you have to execute on third down, and not put the ball on the ground.”

Quarterback Max Wittek, a tri-captain, promised: “We’re going to get it together. We’ll get after it. We’ll be all right. It’s a long season. We have a tendency to fight our butts off. I love this team. I think we’ll be OK. We’ll see how everything is moving forward.”

“Moving forward” has become this year’s mantra.

“I’ve been battling through ‘moving forward’ for a long time now, injuries or all of that,” said linebacker Julian Gener, who overcame several ailments to amass a career-high 19 tackles. “There’s no excuse. We have to get better. We’re close. We’re almost there. But we’re not there yet. We have to keep pushing on.”

The Warriors played without several ailing players, including running back/returner Paul Harris, wideout/returner Keelan Ewaliko, and linebacker Benetton Fonua. Wittek, left guard Elijah Tupai, and tight ends Metuisela Unga and Harold Moleni exited with injuries. Ikaiaka Woolsey was 5-for-5 in 11⁄2 series before Wittek re-entered.

Wittek is expected to be ready for the New Mexico game.

Bailey said: “I’m not going to get down. The thing is to try to improve, and we’ve got to get that. Injuries or not, you’ve got to improve. … Let’s go. We’ve got to be ready for the next one.”