Warriors come up empty with attendance and wins in MWC

Despite a dramatic second half, the overall production — and result — was the same as the University of Hawaii football team fell to San Jose State 42-23 at Aloha Stadium on Saturday night.

A crowd of 11,625 saw the Rainbow Warriors suffer their ninth consecutive loss to free fall to 2-10 overall and finish 0-8 in the Mountain West Conference.

"It was too late," UH interim head coach Chris Naeole of the late surge that could not overcome a 35-0 halftime deficit. "We can’t start how we started in the first half."

While focusing on SJSU running back Tyler Ervin, the Warriors lost track of quarterback Kenny Potter, who was 23-for-32 for 312 yards and three touchdowns. Potter also scrambled for 74 non-sack yards, and scored twice on 9-yard runs.

"Tyler makes it easy for me," Potter said. "Everybody focuses on him. I have to take advantage of that."

Potter was particularly effective on third down, converting all seven times in the first half, and finishing 10-for-15 in those situations. The Spartans scored touchdowns on each of their five first-half possessions.

"I’ve got to make plays for my team," Potter said. "We can’t have punts. That’s the plan. Whatever it takes to convert on third down, that’s the goal. No punts."

The Warriors went with their cinco defense — three down linemen, five linebackers — to slow the Spartans on the first two downs. But they struggled with their nickel coverages despite blitzing between 60 and 70 percent.

"The problem we had was we couldn’t get them off the field on third down," UH defensive coordinator Tom Mason said. "We get them in the medium and third-and-long situations, and it was first down, first down, first down. That’s what killed us."

At one point, Mason, who calls the plays from the coaches’ booth on the loge level, pleaded through the headsets: "Somebody give me a third-down call. Hell, I’ve run out of them."

But in the first half, a frustrated Naeole threw down his headsets.

"I’m tired of hearing people in my ear," said Naeole, who gives autonomy to the coordinators to call plays. "Make plays. It’s about making plays. Coaches gotta make the calls. Make plays, make plays. That’s all we gotta do to win the game."

The Warriors extended two SJSU drives with defensive penalties.

Running back Paul Harris rushed for 179 yards, including a 27-yard score — his third consecutive 100-plus-yard game. But on UH’s first possession, he tweaked his leg. Ryan Tuiasoa then ran 8 yards before he was stripped of the football for a lost fumble.

"They drove down the first (quarter), they scored," Naeole said. "We turned over the ball, they scored. … It keeps snowballing."

Later in the first half, the Warriors drove to the SJSU 10. Ikaika Woolsey tried to fire to Devan Stubblefield in the right corner of the end zone. But the pass was short, and intercepted by Andre Chachere.

"I made a dumb play with the interception in the end zone," said Woolsey, who was 13-for-25 for 202 yards. "Worst comes to worst, we should have come away with three points. We were in the red zone a couple of times, and I couldn’t get it done."

But Woolsey did manage to connect, off a deflection, with Stubblefield, who raced the rest of the way for a 77-yard touchdown. "I saw the ball tip up in the air," Stubblefield said. "I caught it, and I tried to run as fast as I could. I had some space in front of me. The biggest thing in my head was not to get caught from behind at the finish."

On the play, Woolsey suffered an injury to his right Achilles. He hobbled the length of the field to serve as holder on the point-after kick.

"I have to battle through it," said Woolsey, who remained in the game. "It wasn’t that serious. I couldn’t really feel my Achilles for a minute. But it’ll be all right."

Woolsey is the Warriors’ only experienced quarterback. Max Wittek, who started eight games, is done for the season because of an injured right knee. Beau Reilly, who was promoted to No. 2, has not taken a snap in game in his two UH seasons. Aaron Zwahlen is redshirting.

The two touchdowns — by Stubblefield and Harris — and Jahlani Tavai’s sack for a safety were not enough to boost the Warriors, who appeared to be flat in the first quarter.

"It’s the same thing every week," linebacker Lance Williams said. "The lecture is repeating itself. In the second half, everybody is hyped up, everybody is doing their job. (But) we didn’t even make them punt in the first half. Why do we always start slow? That’s the problem."

Mason accepted the blame for the defensive blahs.

"I can’t find the switch that turns on," Mason said. "I tried to do everything I could in practice. I backed off a little bit on Wednesday and Thursday to let them get their legs fresh. … I don’t know. I don’t have a magic answer for it. We came in at halftime, told them what they were doing wrong, and all of a sudden they’re playing pretty decent. But then it was too late."

Naeole praised the efforts of several players. But he also voiced his frustration, noting: "The tape doesn’t lie. You can kid yourself, but at the end of the day, the tape doesn’t lie. If guys don’t want to be here, or … if coaches don’t want to be here …"

Julian Gener, a co-captain, said Naeole is "extremely frustrated." Naeole was named interim head coach after Norm Chow was fired on Nov. 1.

"He’s the one trying to get this thing going, and it’s tough for him," Gener said of Naeole. "He’s putting everything he has into this. He didn’t have to take the job. He could have said, ‘I’ve got four weeks, and that’s that.’ But he stepped up to the challenge. We want to come back and play for him. We can play for the seniors. We have to keep working."

FIRST PERIOD

SAN JOSE state

>> Score: Kenny Potter 9-yard run. Austin Lopez kick.

>> Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:29 elapsed time. Time: 11:31. Score: San Jose State 7, UH 0

SAN JOSE state

>> Score: Tim Crawley 7-yard pass from Potter. Lopez kick.

>> Drive: 7 plays, 45 yards, 3:07 elapsed time. Time: 6:23. Score: San Jose State 14, UH 0

SAN JOSE state

>> Score: Hansell Wilson 36-yard pass from Potter. Lopez kick.

>> Drive: 7 plays, 78 yards, 3:30 elapsed time. Time: 1:51. Score: San Jose State 21, UH 0

SECOND PERIOD

SAN JOSE state

>> Score: Potter 9-yard run. Lopez kick.

>> Drive: 8 plays, 62 yards, 4:37 elapsed time. Time: 9:45. Score: San Jose State 28, UH 0

SAN JOSE state

>> Score: Brad Kuh 1-yard pass from Potter. Lopez kick.

>> Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards, 3:33 elapsed time. Time: 0:07. Score: San Jose State 35, UH 0

THIRD PERIOD

HAWAII

>> Score: Paul Harris 27-yard run. Rigo Sanchez kick.

>> Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:10 elapsed time. Time: 13:50. Score: San Jose State 35, UH 7

SAN JOSE state

>> Score: Tyler Ervin 1-yard run. Lopez kick.

>> Drive: 12 plays, 79 yards, 6:04 elapsed time. Time: 6:22. Score: San Jose State 42, UH 7

HAWAII

>> Score: Devan Stubblefield 77-yard pass from Ikaika Woolsey. Sanchez kick.

>>
Drive: 3 plays, 74 yards, 1:48 elapsed time. Time: 4:28. Score: San Jose State 42, UH 14

FOURTH PERIOD

HAWAII

>> Score: Jahlani Tavai tackles Potter in end zone. Sanchez kick.

>> Time: 11:41. Score: San Jose State 42, UH 16

HAWAII

>> Score: Makoa Camanse-Stevens 5-yard pass from Woolsey. Sanchez kick.

>> Drive: 8 plays, 67 yards, 1:44 elapsed time. Time: 0:12. Score: San Jose State 42, UH 23

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

DEFENSIVE STATISTICS