Five big plays from Hawaii’s 17-16 loss to No. 25 Washington

1. Nice start

» The setup: Hawaii 0, Washington 0, 14:42 remaining, first quarter, Hawaii ball, first-and-10 at own 42

» The play: After Diocemy St. Juste takes the opening kickoff 40 yards to the Hawaii 42, QB Ikaika Woolsey fakes a handoff and throws a 21-yard pass to WR Scott Harding.

» The impact: Hawaii grabbed the initiative and used a 10-play, 58-yard drive capped by RB Joey Iosefa’s 1-yard TD run to go up 7-0. Woolsey completed his first six passes.

» Woolsey: "The boys came out hot. I wasn’t really surprised about it. We had a good tempo, we just came out firing and we sustained that drive."

2. Roughing

» The setup: Hawaii 10, Washington 0, 1:20 remaining, first quarter, Washington ball, third-and-12 at Hawaii 41

» The play: QB Jeff Lindquist throws a 3-yard completion, but blitzing DB Ne’Quan Phillips is called for roughing the passer.

» The impact: Instead of the Hawaii defense coming off the field and Washington punting, the Huskies kept the ball with a fresh set of downs at the UH 23. Two plays later speedy WR John Ross scored on a 20-yard run.

» Phillips: "The ref said I had two seconds to ease up. I don’t really agree with the call. The refs made it. I have to deal with it. … That hurt the team a lot."

3. Too tricky

» The setup: Hawaii 10, Washington 7, 12:00 remaining, second quarter, Hawaii ball, fourth-and-2 at Washington 9

» The play: Instead of going for a 27-yard field goal, Hawaii elects to go for it and runs a trick play that ends with WR Marcus Kemp throwing a poor pass off a reverse for an incompletion and Washington taking over on downs.

» The impact: Lindquist immediately threw a long pass to Ross behind the Hawaii secondary for a 91-yard touchdown. In two plays, Hawaii lost the momentum and the lead and Washington never trailed again.

» UH coach Norm Chow: "Gosh, dang, I thought going for it on fourth down surprised them a little bit."

4. Field position

» The setup: Washington 17, Hawaii 10, 12:47 remaining, third quarter, Hawaii ball, fourth-and-4 at Hawaii 40

» The play: P Scott Harding, using his unorthodox rugby style, boots a 58-yarder that is downed at the Washington 2.

» The impact: With both defenses stiffening, the game had become a field-position battle. After a Washington three-and-out, Harding returned a punt 4 yards to the Washington 41. Four plays later Tyler Hadden kicked a 38-yard field goal.

» Harding: "Every coach comes up to me after and says it’s a nightmare to scout, which is good for us."

5. Closing time

» The setup: Washington 17, Hawaii 16, 1:10 remaining, fourth quarter, Washington ball, third-and-9 at Hawaii 43

» The play: RB Lavon Coleman carries for the sixth consecutive time as UW tries to run out the clock. His 9-yard run gives the Huskies a first down at the UH 34.

» The impact: With less than a minute left and Hawaii’s timeouts expended, Lindquist took a knee twice to end it. The Hawaii defense allowed just five first downs in the second half before the three on UW’s final clock-killing drive. The Rainbow Warriors allowed no points in the second half.

» UH defensive coordinator Kevin Clune: "If our offense scores 16 we’ve got to find a way to hold them to 15. That’s our job."