Words often meant different things than they previously did in this strangest of football seasons completed by the University of Hawaii with Saturday’s 38-21 victory over UNLV at Aloha Stadium.
Due to COVID-19, this was a year when “staying healthy” was more about not displaying flu symptoms than avoiding sprains and concussions.
Maintaining a “perfect record” wasn’t always about scoring more points than your opponent. It was also about doing what was necessary to have the opportunity for your team to play a game at all. In wins and losses, UH finished 4-4. But in the latter category, it posted a perfect record. Discipline and teamwork, always paramount in football, had to be taken to an entirely different level.
“It was utter chaos at times,” Warriors first-year head coach Todd Graham said. “But what we went through will pay great dividends.”
Of course the Warriors would have preferred to play their nonconference games, too. But, unlike other Mountain West Conference teams, UH stayed healthy enough (just one player tested positive for COVID-19 all season) so that it could play all eight scheduled conference games. Many programs around the nation have had to cancel games on short notice.
>> PHOTOS: Hawaii beats UNLV
“We managed it as good as anyone in the country. Our medical staff, our players. They did an unbelievable job of staying healthy,” Graham said. “Anytime anyone got any kind of symptom at all they didn’t practice and it was frustrating. But every Saturday when I woke up, I could thank the Lord that we would get to play football.”
Graham indicated that being in the middle of the Pacific Ocean helped.
“It’s great to be in Hawaii,” he said.
Tradition salvaged
There was no Senior Walk after UH’s final regular-season home game for the first time in decades. But, there were no fans in the stands to honor the players who had completed their eligibility, anyway. Then again, there were no “seniors,” either, since the NCAA has dictated that everyone gets another year to play.
Mountain West schools were not allowed to hold on-field presentations this season.
Trophy won
A week after not capturing the Dick Tomey Legacy Trophy because of their loss to San Jose State, the Warriors earned the hardware this time. The winner of the UNLV-Hawaii game gets to take home the Island Showdown Trophy.
First-timers
Koali Nishigaya’s 4-yard touchdown run was his career first. Safety Donovan Dalton’s interception staving off UNLV’s drive deep into UH territory in the closing minutes was the first pick of his career.
Turner a returner?
When asked if do-it-all offensive standout Calvin Turner would be back in a Warriors uniform next season and not jumping to the NFL, Graham answered with a question. “Why wouldn’t he?”
