UH could use another Ault to spice up Nevada rivalry

Nothing against University of Nevada football coach Brian Polian, you understand, but couldn’t we get acerbic Chris Ault back here again?

At least one more game, for old time’s sake.

With irascible Pat Hill previously shown the door at Fresno State, Ault was the last in a string of a colorful cast of opponent coaches that Aloha Stadium fans loved to hate, and the 6 p.m. game with Nevada will be the Wolf Pack’s first visit here since he stepped down.

Hawaii vs. Nevada was a once-budding rivalry due in large part to the cocky, diminutive figure known as the "Little General." Perceived as smug in victory and whiny in defeat and always hat-waving animated, few on an opponent sideline so brought Aloha Stadium fans to a lather as Ault.

Now, as you may have noticed, that ire is often focused on the coach of the struggling home team.

Enter the 39-year-old Polian, an up-and-comer with a quick quip, a pedigree (father Bill is a Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist) and some local knowledge. He was the in-residence recruiter of Manti Te’o for Notre Dame, spending enough time to qualify for kamaaina rates and presumably appreciate Nick Rolovich. 

 Which brings up another point: Before Rolovich switched allegiances in 2012, Ault’s final season, Nevada just couldn’t win here. 

Until that turnaround game, the Wolf Pack hadn’t been victorious here against UH since 1948 and that really frosted Ault, whose tenure as a player and a coach at Nevada seemingly went back almost as far.

That Nevada also lost Hawaii Bowl games to Southern Methodist and Southern Mississippi made it all the more galling for Ault, a 28-year (233-109-1) head coach and College Football Hall of Fame honoree who had grown the program from the Division II level.

Nevada’s futility reached its deepest level in the 2010 game in which Corey Paredes punched the ball loose from quarterback Colin Kaepernick at the goal line in a 27-21 upset of the then-No. 19 Wolf Pack.

It was the highest Nevada had ascended in the polls and was the only game it lost in a 13-1 season, busting the would-be Bowl Championship Series busters and, of course, aggravating Ault to no end.

Ault’s place in Hawaii’s crosshairs was solidified earlier, in UH’s 2007 march to the Sugar Bowl when he sought to "ice" place-kicker Dan Kelly in Reno with two timeouts in the waning seconds.

Kelly was in the process of kicking what would be a 45-yard game-winning field goal with 11.7 seconds left when Ault called time in the nationally shown TV game. Kelly ended up making the kick — twice. The first one tumbled over the crossbar, and he nailed the second one down the middle to give UH an 11th consecutive victory.

"I don’t even know the guy’s name," Kelly said afterward, "but whoever coaches Nevada, ‘Thank you.’ "

After that, few at UH, or in the stands at Aloha Stadium, had trouble identifying the Wolf Pack’s coach again.

We can only hope that his successor is around long enough to make things half as interesting.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.