It was a longer-than-usual wait outside the opposing locker room after Hawaii’s 35-23 win over Tulane on Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.

The stadium lights had already begun to shut off when interim coach Mark Hutson finally emerged from behind closed doors.

Junior defensive back Shakiel Smith, who had six tackles and an interception, had already talked about how to turn around the Wave’s disappointing 2-11 season next year.

Sophomore running back Orleans Darkwa, who ran for 71 yards and two touchdowns, said, "Next season begins the moment we get to New Orleans."

But for Hutson, who finished 0-6 as the interim coach following Bob Toledo’s resignation on Oct. 18, there is no next season.

For him, the postgame locker room was a final chance to address a team that gave UH a scare before eventually losing its 10th straight game.

"I told them I’ve been fortunate to coach some championship teams, but those teams didn’t have the character like this group," said Hutson, who won’t be back as head coach next season. "Even though we were 0-6 over this stretch, the guys stayed together, they believed in one another and they never stopped competing."

With four key defensive players out, including starting middle linebacker Trent Mackey, who had his appendix removed earlier in the week, things looked bleak against a Hawaii offense averaging more than 32 points a game.

Three of those players were defensive backs, forcing Tulane to use third-string sophomore Kendrell Washington. Washington replaced his brother, Kendrick, who rolled an ankle after the team arrived on Tuesday.

After losing six of its previous nine by at least 21 points, Tulane never trailed by more than 14 and was within five at 28-23 midway through the fourth quarter.

"We expected to win," Darkwa said. "Even though our record doesn’t show it, we expected to win and came out here and played our tails off."

Down 21-14 late in the second quarter, sophomore Zach Davis and Smith ended consecutive UH drives with interceptions.

Tulane had a chance to make it 21-17 before the half but Cairo Santos had his 40-yard field goal blocked —his second miss of the game.

"That’s six points we left on the field, and to win a game on the road against a talented group like Hawaii we have to take opportunities like that and cash it in," Hutson said.

Hawaii failed on three drives to improve a seven-point lead before scoring on its opening possession of the second half to go up 28-14.

With less than a minute left in the third quarter, the Wave cashed in on a safety after a fumble by Joey Iosefa.

A touchdown less than 2 minutes later had the Wave within five before Iosefa’s second 1-yard scoring run put the game out of reach.

"We had to adjust extremely fast with guys getting hurt this week in Hawaii," Smith said. "(UH quarterback David Graves) was a slippery guy and got away from us at times, but we made some big plays and had a chance near the end."