Rolovich to arrive with a long ‘to-do’ list waiting for him

Nick Rolovich’s plane is scheduled to touch down in Honolulu early this evening.

After Saturday night it is apparent that the new Hawaii head football coach can’t get here soon enough. Or begin his reclamation efforts fast enough.

While the Rainbow Warriors put an end to a nine-game losing streak, the more adventurous than necessary 28-26 victory over lowly Louisiana-Monroe served as a last-glimpse reminder that change can’t come too soon for the 3-10 ’Bows.

Ultimately the remnants of a hardy senior night gathering of 15,001 cheered the end of the third-longest losing streak in school history and the band played on, signalling the conclusion of this arduous 13 games in as many weeks, 87-day season.

But not before several choruses of boos greeted the conservative offensive play-calling and head-shaking mistakes that had put the now 1-11 Warhawks a dropped 2-point conversion pass from coming back from an 18-point deficit to tie the game with 3 minutes and 3 seconds remaining.

If not for tight end Harley Scioneaux’s drop in the end zone of the pass from quarterback Earnest Carrington and UH running back Ryan Tuiasoa’s determined fourth-quarter running, it could have been the most bitter of finales.

Very little has come easy for these Rainbow Warriors, and the final minutes were a reminder of why. For the new look that white helmets provided, there were too many of the ragged edges they have endured all season.

UH led 28-10 in the third quarter and then watched the Warhawks improbably score the final 16 points.

It did not help that running back Paul Harris, who ran for 166 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries to become a 1,000-yard rusher this season, left the game with a head injury with 6 minutes, 37 seconds remaining in the third quarter and the ’Bows offense ground to a halt in his absence.

Thereafter UH punted on four consecutive ground-hugging possessions and would have on a fifth had a snap not gone between two players and into the end zone, where ULM’s Lorenzo Jackson recovered for a touchdown to close to 28-26.

But Scioneaux, with help from defensive back Marrell Jackson, was unable to hold onto the 2-point attempt.

Even after that, UH was in danger of turning the ball back to ULM until Tuiasoa broke loose and quarterback Ikaika Woolsey hit a key third-down pass to Makoa Camanse-Stevens. Still, UH had to overcome a nonsensical unsportsmanlike conduct penalty before finally securing the first victory since Sept. 19.

Rolovich arrives with a block-long “to-do” list and somewhere high on it has to be reinvigorating the stale, staid offense and an undisciplined penalty situation.

An offense that was supposed to produce 75 touchdowns this season managed 27 and averaged but 17.6 points per game, worst since 1998.

Then there is the matter of ridding the ’Bows of their penchant for penalties.

UH has been flagged for an average of 8.2 a game this season, 123rd among 127 Football Bowl Subdivision teams. The season total of 107 — including eight for 74 yards Saturday night — is the fourth-highest total in its history.

And, in what would be part and parcel of this season, they haunted UH to the end.