University of Hawaii head coach Greg McMackin blamed the weather for the sparse Aloha Stadium crowd Saturday night that saw Hawaii hold off Tulane 35-23.
The announced turnstile count of 21,542 in cold and sometimes rainy weather was the smallest home turnout for the Warriors at Aloha Stadium since 1998.
That was when 18,028 turned out to watch Northwestern beat UH 47-21 in the penultimate game of the 0-12 season.
Freshman receiver Davis breaks through
Hawaii quarterback David Graves and wide receiver Trevor Davis connected on two touchdowns on Saturday, perhaps offering a glimpse of the future for the Warriors offense.
Graves, a sophomore, found Davis on a post pattern for a 17-yard touchdown pass on the game’s opening drive.
"I was thinking to watch the ball in the whole way. I was wide open and I was thinking, ‘don’t drop it, just watch it in,’ " said Davis, a true freshman.
"First touchdown, it was slow motion catching it."
Davis later caught a 12-yard scoring pass on UH’s first possession of the third quarter to give the Warriors a 28-14 lead.
Davis was initially slated to redshirt this season, but was pressed into action when injuries depleted the receiver corps. In his fifth start, he turned in his most productive game of the season with seven receptions for 81 yards and the two scores.
"It means a lot, but even with no touchdowns, as long as we win, I’m perfectly fine," Davis said. "Getting touchdowns did feel nice though."
Hardy-Tuliau blocks fourth kick
Sophomore safety John Hardy-Tuliau continued to be a special teams terror. His fourth blocked kick of the season was UH’s fifth overall in 2011, the most since the Warriors had five in 2004.
He rejected Cairo Santos‘ 40-yard field-goal attempt at the close of the first half.
"Aaron Brown and Tank Hopkins crashed really hard (into the gap), made me free off the edge, and I got my left hand on it," Hardy-Tuliau said. "I thank God I had the opportunity to block the kick and spark the team."
Hardy-Tuliau needs two more blocks to match Mike Akiu‘s UH single-season record of six in 1982. He is the first Warrior with four blocks in a season since Sean Butts in 2001.
UH fails to cover point spread again
More attention than usual was paid to the point spread when Hawaii played Tulane. On Tuesday, UH revealed it had notified law enforcement and the NCAA about an anonymous allegation of point-shaving.
Hawaii led by seven points at halftime and won the game by 12 on Saturday, and did not cover the spread in either case. Game spreads had Hawaii favored from 161⁄2 to 18 points. One publicized halftime spread was 10 points.
UH is 0-6-1 in its last seven games against the spread for the game. It is 2-8-1 against the spread for the season against Football Bowl Subdivision competition.
No empty threat
The Hawaii offense found success with an empty backfield in the first half.
The first time the Warriors went with the look, David Graves scored on a 15-yard quarterback draw to give UH a 14-7 lead.
UH stayed with the set on its next possession and slotback Corey Paclebar, the fifth receiver in the alignment, helped extend the drive with a 5-yard reception on fourth down from the Tulane 19.
The Warriors went to their normal set to finish the 12-play drive and reclaimed a 21-14 lead on Joey Iosefa‘s first touchdown run of the game.
"It gave us a different look, it worked out well," Graves said. "I had a little less time, but we found some things that worked."
Kelley finishes strong
Tulane’s Robert Kelley finished his inaugural collegiate season as the school’s single-season record-holder in kick-return yardage.
The 5-foot-11, 223-pound freshman brought back five kickoffs for 62 yards on Saturday night, finishing the year with 64 returns for 1,305 yards.
The previous record was 44 returns for 1,038 yards by Jeff Liggon in 1994.
Kelley was also the Green Wave’s leading rusher against Hawaii, running for 92 of the team’s 185 total yards on 16 carries.
