Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
LARAMIE, Wyo. >>
Several minutes following the Hawaii football team’s 28-21 overtime loss to Wyoming, middle linebacker Jahlani Tavai punched a padded wall in the recreation center neighboring the visiting locker room.
Quarterback Dru Brown, whose tipped pass was intercepted in the extra period, took a long shower that could not wash away the painful ending.
In this nationally televised game that ended shortly before midnight Mountain time, there would be no 11th-hour miracle for the Rainbow Warriors.
“I don’t think there is a single person who isn’t burning right now,” running back Ryan Tuiasoa said. “It was a game we knew we could have put away. The what-ifs and mistakes we made put us behind at the end. But we’ll come back. There’s still a season to play.”
“We’ve got a quick turnaround for Colorado State,” Brown said of the upcoming game at Aloha Stadium. “We can’t sulk on it. We can’t have a hangover. We have to learn from our mistakes and be better next week.”
The Warriors had contained Josh Allen, Wyoming’s heralded quarterback, and rallied to tie it on a 50-yard pass from Brown to slotback John Ursua.
But Allen, who was 8-for-18 for 67 yards in regulation, needed only one play in overtime to help the Cowboys win the Mountain West Conference opener for both teams.
With the score tied at 21 after four quarters, the Warriors won the coin toss and opted to receive the ball second. Per overtime rules, the Cowboys started their possession at the 25. Allen faked a handoff, scooted to his right, then lofted a pass to James Price near the back of the end zone. It was Price’s first reception of the season.
“There’s a reason he’s one of the best quarterbacks,” UH defensive coordinator Legi Suiaunoa said of the Mountain West’s preseason offensive player of the year. “We had him a little flustered for the most part. He’s not a good quarterback because he gives up. He competes. And he made a nice throw in the back of the end zone. He made a play.”
’Bows get the ball
On UH’s overtime possession, running back Diocemy Saint Juste, who had battled leg cramps, ran 10 yards to the Wyoming 15. Brown then tried to pass to the left side. But 6-foot-4 defensive end Garrett Crall tipped the 6-foot Brown’s pass to the left side. Weak-side linebacker Cassh Maluia made the interception, triggering a wild celebration on War Memorial Stadium’s artificial surface.
You want answers to UH football? Just ask
You’ve got UH football questions? We’ll try to find the answers. Submit your questions to beat writer Stephen Tsai either on his popular blog — at hawaiiwarriorworld.com — or via email at stsai@staradvertiser.com. Every Wednesday during football season, Tsai will answer a few of the questions in the print edition of the Star-Advertiser.
“I was making my read, and the guy made a good play,” Brown said. “The ball pops up like that, you don’t know who’s going to come down with it. … It’s tough to prepare for these gut-wrenching losses. There’s no preparation. There’s a purpose for it, and that’s how we have to look at it. … We’ll learn from it, and it’ll make us a better team in the long run.”
The Warriors had their opportunities in a game played in 40-degree temperatures. Tuiasoa tied it at 7 when he leaped into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown.
“The offensive linemen did their job, but the defensive linemen kind of submarined them,” Tuiasoa said. “They’re all on the ground. I did what I had to do. It was a crucial part of the game.”
Near the end of the third quarter, Alex Trifonovitch converted a field goal from 28 yards to give the Warriors an apparent 10-7 lead. But Trifonovitch was floored after launching his kick. The roughing penalty gave UH coach Nick Rolovich two choices: 1) decline the penalty and keep the 10-7 lead, or 2) take the first down at the 5. Rolovich, who successfully called two fourth-down plays in the first half, had no doubts about taking the penalty.
On the ensuing play, from the 5, Saint Juste raced up the middle for a 14-7 lead with 54 seconds left in the third quarter.
Soon after, Wyoming’s Tyler Hall fielded the kickoff at the 3 and sprinted 97 yards for the tying touchdown.
“That kickoff return hurt,” Rolovich said. “Kudos to them. That’s going to hurt you in a close game.”
That sequence also epitomized a game in which the Cowboys made the most of a few big plays.
Through the first three games, the Cowboys struggled to develop a complementary running attack for Allen. They entered averaging 80.3 rushing yards per game, with 14 yards as their longest carry. But this week, Wyoming coach decided to pare the back-by-committee approach. Trey Woods, who moved from defense, would be given more work.
Opening touchdown
Woods opened the scoring with a 34-yard run. Woods’ 59-yard run set up wideout Austin Conway’s 5-yard touchdown on a jet sweep that moved the Cowboys ahead 21-14 with 11:53 left in the fourth quarter.
“We can’t let those big runs hit like they did,” Suiaunoa said. “We have to be able to shut those things down when we have the opportunity.”
Woods finished with 135 yards on 15 carries.
“It was simple mistakes,” Tavai said. “and great teams gotta capitalize, and they did. … It was the little things. Everything is about the little things. If you don’t get the little things down, it’ll bite you on the butt. … It’s always the simple mistakes that bite you on the butt. My hat’s off to Wyoming.”
72