Lempa’s defense fought back to make the difference for UH

It was one of those thousand-yard college football games, both teams running up and down the field making big plays, both teams crossing the goal line seemingly at will.

But don’t be fooled. Defense made the difference in the Hawaii Bowl at Aloha Stadium on Saturday.

Middle Tennessee took an early two-touchdown lead, and rolled up 542 yards of offense. But Hawaii’s defense dominated enough of the first half to turn the tide.

It resembled some games when Kevin Lempa was on his first tour as defensive coordinator here more than a decade ago … high-scoring by both teams, but an interception or a fumble being the difference-maker. In this case, it was three of them.

“I don’t care about yards. … Well, yeah, I do care,” Lempa amended. Then he pointed at the scoreboard. “But that’s the only thing that counts.”

It read 52-35, Hawaii.

It could’ve been the other way around, but three Blue Raiders turnovers in the first half turned the tide and the score the Rainbow Warriors’ way. MTSU, which was favored by seven points, never got that close after halftime.

True, Hawaii’s explosive and diverse offense befuddled Middle Tennessee, which was not known for defense coming in, anyway.

Early on, though, it seemed the Blue Raiders might run the Rainbow Warriors out of their own stadium on national TV. It had started the way too many UH games did this season for the taste of its fans. Running late? No problem. It’s like being a few minutes late for the movies in the old days … you only missed the cartoons.

But after going up 14-0, the Raiders’ next series went lost fumble, interception, punt and interception. Meanwhile, UH responded with touchdown, touchdown, touchdown and — yeah, you guessed it — touchdown.

“After those two scores, we came together and said enough is enough,” Hawaii senior defensive tackle Kory Rasmussen said.

The first two turnovers gave Hawaii the ball on the MTSU side of the field, and the third — Trayvon Henderson’s 68-yard interception return — put it in the end zone.

“We struggled early with their blitzes,” MTSU coach Rick Stockstill said.

Cashing in on all of the turnovers — and not making any of their own — gave the Rainbow Warriors the cushion they needed.

Lempa said the defense started out “soft” on purpose, because UH had to figure out what MTSU would do. Because of starting quarterback Brent Stockstill’s broken collarbone from last month, the Rainbow Warriors didn’t know who would be lining up behind center.

“You always want to be aggressive,” Lempa said. “But we didn’t know who would start. They had four quarterbacks (who might play).”

Stockstill was healed up enough to start. The Warriors eventually adjusted and went after him. Hard.

“Then we put on some pressure,” Lempa said. “He didn’t want to get hit, and I don’t blame him.”

Stockstill said afterward he had “no issues” with the collarbone injury.

“Give credit to them, they were physical and changed up on us a little,” he said.

I’ll give Stockstill and Dru Brown credit for toughness.

Brown absorbed one of the biggest hits anyone had ever seen near the UH sideline late in the first half. It depends on your perspective if the shot from MSU linebacker Darius Harris was clean or not.

Lempa said it helped fire up the Warriors.

After the resulting offsetting penalties, just two plays later Brown hit Marcus Kemp for a 39-yard touchdown and UH led 35-21 at the break.

The second half was fairly even, and Hawaii never lost momentum to the point of panic. The goal-line stand to end it was a fitting touch.

This is the first UH football team to finish with a non-losing record since 2010. It’s the first bowl win for the program since 2006.

Hawaii football was back Saturday to looking like what it did when it went 9-3 with Nick Rolovich at quarterback and Kevin Lempa at defensive coordinator in 2001.

The first year of Rolovich as head coach exceeded all reasonable expectations.

How much can the Rainbow Warriors build from this?

“I’m just glad it worked out,” Rasmussen said. “(Rolovich is) going to take it to great heights. Sit back and watch.”

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.