Ordinarily it would have been close-your-eyes-and-cringe time, if not a moment for urgent prayer, as the defense closed in on a freshman quarterback trying to get off a last-gasp pass in the waning seconds of his first game with everything on the line.
But this was Chevan Cordeiro, no ordinary freshman, and he was in Aloha Stadium, where we’re accustomed to seeing him perform magic and pull out victories.
So, when Cordeiro eluded the grasp of defensive lineman Sidney Malauulu, buying just enough time to cock his right arm and launch a desperation pass, well, what was there for the assembled 20,507 to worry about?
Not much, as it turned out, unless you were the University of Wyoming defense, as Cordeiro uncorked a 38-yard pass that JoJo Ward climbed the ladder for in the end zone with 1 minute, 26 seconds left to supply Hawaii’s winning touchdown in a 17-13 victory over Wyoming.
Eleven months after he hit Jonah Panoke with a 53-yard touchdown pass for Saint Louis School with 37 seconds left in a 31-28 Hawaii High School Athletic Association Open Division championship game against Kahuku, Cordeiro delivered the blow that lifted the Rainbow Warriors to a 6-1 record and their first 3-0 start in seven years of Mountain West Conference membership.
On a night when he stepped in for the injured Cole McDonald, the nation’s passing yardage and touchdowns leader, Cordeiro let his play speak for itself.
But, then, it had to, since UH rigidly held to its policy of not letting freshmen speak to the media afterward.
Never mind that he was the man of the hour and, given his experience at Saint Louis, hardly inexperienced with the media, Cordeiro was declared off-limits.
It would be left to his exploits — rebounding from throwing a pick-6 in the third quarter to steely author two touchdown passes and complete 19 of 29 passes for 148 yards overall, including five of seven for 61 yards in the fourth quarter — to say what he could not. And they said plenty.
That and the praise of his teammates and coaches.
“He didn’t flinch, not one bit,” said assistant coach Craig Stutzmann. “This is what he does. He’s a gamer. And the players behind him didn’t flinch, either.”
Running back Dayton Furuta said, “He (Cordeiro) is all about making plays.”
“We’ve seen him scramble and make plays,” Ward said.
When Ward got loose from a cornerback and looked back, he said he saw Cordeiro shake the would-be tackler. “I knew he’d get it to me and I just had to go up and secure the win,” Ward said.
Cordeiro and a defense that played its game of the year so far rose to the occasion when McDonald, who stood on the sidelines in street clothes, was announced as unavailable for the game less than six minutes before kickoff due to an unannounced injury.
History tells us that true freshman quarterbacks had not fared well in their first starts for UH. Josh Skinner, the last UH freshman to debut against Wyoming, completed seven of 19 passes in a 66-0 demolition in 1996.
Even Tim Chang, who would go on to set NCAA records, suffered a loss to Tulsa in 2000, the last true freshman to start at the position.
But Cordeiro was not about to suffer a similar fate. “Even against a great defense in his first start, the game was not too big for him,” head coach Nick Rolovich said.
Even if mum was the word.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
