University of Hawaii football team finishes strong with win over UNLV

The University of Hawaii football team hit the ground running and then raced to a whistle-to-whistle, 38-21 victory over UNLV at Aloha Stadium.

Saturday’s night finale to an abbreviated eight-game season featured the revival of a dormant running game and jump-start to the Rainbow Warriors’ usually procrastinating run-and-gun offense.

The Warriors rolled up 278 yards — 293 when adjusted for only non-sack rushes and excluding the victory-formation kneel.

“I was really proud of our guys,” said Todd Graham, who completes his first season as UH head coach at 4-4. “Great effort. We focused today. … I challenged our guys to start fast.”

This season, the Warriors have struggled early. They entered with seven opening drives resulting in one touchdown, a lost fumble and five punts. But after short-circuiting the Rebels’ first drive, the Warriors took over at their 42.

On the first play, Chevan Cordeiro hit running back Miles Reed, who found an opening on an inside screen, for a 4-yard gain. On the next play, Cordeiro noticed a UNLV defensive end setting his aim at Reed. Cordeiro pulled back the handoff to Reed, and then raced up the gut … and kept going for a 54-yard touchdown run.

“The O-line gave me the big hole,” Cordeiro said.

The improvised play actually fit the blueprint. “That was our goal the whole week to score in the first quarter all the way to the fourth quarter,” Cordeiro said.

>> PHOTOS: Hawaii beats UNLV

That was the first of the Warriors’ five rushing touchdowns, two of them by Cordeiro.

Running back Dae Dae Hunter, who was aligned on the right side, made it 14-0 when he took a handoff on the jet sweep and sprinted around left end for the 1-yard score.

The UH lead ballooned to 21-0 when Calvin Turner scored his team-high ninth touchdown of the season. From the UNLV 28, Turner went to his right and, when left tackle Micah Vanterpool sprinted across the formation to clear out the rush end, Turner cut up and ran untouched into the end zone.

“We really focused on thinking about the holes,” Turner said.

Turner nearly scored again to open the second half. But his 96-yard return was voided because of a holding penalty. Three plays later, Turner caught a pass on the left side from Cordeiro, zigged toward the middle, then zagged to the left. He was chased down after a 71-yard gain, to the UNLV 9. A false-start reset the line of scrimmage to the 14.

Cordeiro then connected with slotback Koali Nishigaya, who had replaced Turner, for a 10-yard gain. Then Nishigaya got the ball on a fly sweep and raced the final 4 yards for the touchdown and a 28-7 UH lead.

“I love him,” Graham said of Nishigaya, who graduated from Saint Louis School seven months earlier “Here’s a guy that walks on, comes out here. He’s another young man, you just look at his eyes, he just wants an opportunity. He’s not that big. He’s not this, he’s not that. All’s I know when he gets in there, the guy makes plays. And let me tell you this, he loves this place. He loves Hawaii. Those are the guys you build your program on. When you go out there every day, he’s not asking for anything. He’s not for asking for extra gear. He’s not entitled at all. Man, he’s just thrilled to death to put that ‘H’ on his chest, and go out and compete every day. He’s impressed this old coach.”

Graham also praised the heart of the defense. Like a baseball defense, the spine is down the middle — nose tackle Blessman Ta‘ala and linebacker Darius Muasau. Ta‘ala absorbed double and triple blocks to open the way for the linebackers.

Muasau, a sophomore from Mililani, made 18 tackles, including 12 solo stops. He accrued 2.5 sacks and almost was awarded another except quarterback Max Gilliam managed to make it back to the line of scrimmage. In one four-and-done sequence, Muasau factored in each play.

“Heart of a lion,” Graham said of Muasau. “Heart of a champion.”

The Warriors had lapses. There were three pass routes — which the Warriors had practiced against all week — that Doug Brumfield and Gilliam exploited on tosses to wideout Kyle Williams and tight end Giovanni Fauolo. The Warriors, who had averaged five penalties in the first seven games, committed 10 on Saturday, including a targeting call that led to an ejection.

But the Warriors made two fourth-down stops, and safety Donovan Dalton ended the Rebels’ for-pride drive with an interception with 37 seconds left. Each week, UH practices end-of-the-game scenarios — Hail Mary passes, trick plays and the victory formation. Cordeiro had the latter’s honor.

“The victory formation is the best formation in football,” Cordeiro said.