RENO, Nev. >> Two football teams try to turn their seasons around today at Mackay Stadium. But the home of the Nevada Wolf Pack has almost always been a house of horrors for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, who are seven-point underdogs.
Last week, Nevada (3-4) lost at Wyoming and Hawaii (2-5) fell in excruciating fashion at New Mexico.
Usually, Nevada is where Hawaii loses a game every other year. The one exception was 2007, when UH went undefeated in the regular season. Dan Kelly had to kick two field goals to win it, as Nevada coach Chris Ault tried to ice "The Ice Man" with a timeout. But Kelly coolly split the uprights twice, and the march to 12-0 and the Sugar Bowl continued with a 28-26 win.
And UH beat Nevada almost completely without star quarterback Colt Brennan. He had suffered a concussion the previous Saturday against Fresno State. In the week leading up to the game, few knew if Brennan or backup Tyler Graunke would start. Coach June Jones ended up using three quarterbacks on the first drive: Brennan, Graunke and Inoke Funaki.
So even after UH’s first offensive series, Ault still didn’t know who the quarterback would be. It was Graunke who led the Rainbows to the win.
Recent history here hasn’t been so kind to Hawaii, contributing two defeats to Norm Chow’s 10-34 overall record that has him on the hot seat.
Two years ago, Nevada won 31-9. It was an early turning point in UH’s 1-11 season. Going in, the Pack seemed somewhat vulnerable with starting quarterback Cody Fajardo hobbled. But the Warriors had their own problems at QB, and this time used four in the game — Taylor Graham, Jeremy Higgins, Sean Schroeder and Ikaika Woolsey.
Tyler Stewart, Nevada’s starter today and a freshman then, completed 14 of 20 passes in place of Fajardo. That included eight of his first nine for two touchdowns.
Graham — shaking off rust from inactivity due to injuries and transferring — was beginning to play effectively when he injured a shoulder. He never truly recovered, and Schroeder started most of the rest of the season.
It’s unlikely Hawaii will use more than two QBs today. Chow said on the radio Tuesday that Max Wittek, who sat out last week against the Lobos with an injured knee, is ready to go against Nevada. Woolsey played well in the first half against New Mexico. But he was picked off twice after the break, including to stunt a desperation drive after the Lobos took the lead with 55 seconds left.
Wittek, the big rifle-armed transfer from USC, is the kind of quarterback Chow prefers. But his passing percentage is just 45 percent with eight interceptions and five touchdowns. Woolsey isn’t much better at 50 percent with three picks and one TD, but he is more mobile.
Some of those terrible numbers are due to receivers dropping balls, but too many passes have been off-target regardless.
It’s easy to see that Wittek and/or Woolsey must improve if Hawaii is to end its four-game losing streak today — and with it, its three-game skid here in Reno.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.
