LAS VEGAS » In the chill of the night, Hawaii defensive back Trayvon Henderson endured the heat.
Henderson, a freshman, took responsibility for a face-mask penalty assessed against him during UNLV’s final drive in a 39-37 victory over UH at Sam Boyd Stadium.
Down 37-36, the Rebels faced a third-and-10 situation at their 45. Henderson tried to "make a play" on a 2-yard pass from Caleb Herring to Marcus Sullivan.
"I was kind of going for the ball," Henderson said. "As I was going for it, I started to drift away, and my hands caught his face mask."
A few years ago, it would have been ruled inadvertent contact resulting in a 5-yard penalty. But now all face-mask hooks are 15-yard penalties.
Defensive coordinator Thom Kaumeyer did not fault Henderson.
"He was trying to make a play," Kaumeyer said. "It was third and 10. He was trying to make it fourth and long. If we get off the field, the game’s over.
"With that type of effort, you can’t fault him for trying to get the second and third effort and try to pull the guy down. It was just an unfortunate error in grabbing the mask."
Kaumeyer said Henderson played well in an expanded role. Henderson intercepted Herring on the final play of the first half.
Henderson was part of an ensemble helping to replace safety Marrell Jackson, who suffered an arm injury in the first half.
In the second half, the Rebels were in a 10 formation — one running back and no tight end. At first, the Warriors tried to use linebacker Jerrol Garcia-Williams as a rover in pass coverages.
Eventually, it was decided to go with six defensive backs, a strategy that meant pulling a linebacker and down lineman.
"We kept trying to take from Peter to pay Paul," Kaumeyer said of replacing part of the front with defensive backs.
On the final drive, Kaumeyer called for a scheme in which safeties John Hardy-Tuliau and Charles Clay were in a zone coverage. The other four — cornerbacks Ne’Quan Phillips and Anthony Pierce, and inside defenders Henderson and Dee Maggitt — were in man coverage. The idea is the four could take chances going for the ball knowing they had two back as safety nets.
"We thought they could jump the underneath routes," Kaumeyer said.
As it turned out, Sullivan was able to elude bump-and-run coverage and find the gray area outside the immediate reach of the safety zone. Sullivan’s 9-yard catch and sprint out of bounds paved the way for the winning kick.
Kaumeyer said he likes that his defensive backs are willing to become playmakers.
"We want to be aggressive," Kaumeyer said. "We want to go after people. And that way, when we play tighter coverage, it’s harder for those quarterbacks to throw in."
