Hawaii football team puts blowout loss behind it

Disappearing in a fraction of the time of Instagram Stories, the University of Hawaii football team was quick to move on from Saturday’s season-opening loss to UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

Twenty minutes after the final whistle of the 44-10 outcome, the Rainbow Warriors were looking to this weekend’s game against Portland State, their first at the newly retrofitted Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex.

“We’re not losing after this,” defensive end Jonah Laulu said in a pathway outside the visitors’ locker room on Saturday. “We’re going to bounce back next week, and the week after that, and the week after that, and the rest of the season.”

The Rainbow Warriors returned to Honolulu on Sunday morning, and were scheduled for conditioning drills later in the day. They did not report any injuries. But the Warriors did experience several cases of cramps from the 95-degree heat of the early-afternoon game. In worst-case anticipation, UH’s traveling party included a registered nurse in charge of administering rehydration IVs.

“No excuses,” head coach Todd Graham said. “We just played poorly. We coached poorly. And we got beat by a team that was better than us today. But we made them look a lot better by playing poorly.”

The Warriors had difficulty repelling UCLA’s early pass rush; establishing a running attack and slowing the Bruins’ ground game, and finding all-purpose Calvin Turner. Turner had five official touches — five receptions on eight targets. Turner did not return UCLA’s eight kickoffs and five punts. He also was affected by the dry heat.

“We started really slow offensively,” Turner said. “Next time, we’ve got to come out a little more on fire, and start off better.”

Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro acknowledged the uncomfortable conditions, but noted that did not factor in UH’s performance.

“It’s not like Hawaii weather,” Cordeiro said. “It was hot, muggy. Even the wind blowing was hot. It wasn’t the reason why we played like we did. It wasn’t the weather. We’re going to go back to the film, the playbook, and learn from it.”

But there were some promising aspects. Wideout Aaron Cephus, who transferred from Rice a year ago, caught a 49-yard pass from Cordeiro. Linebacker Darius Muasau made 10 tackles, and safety Chima Azunna, who transferred from Iowa State, added seven tackles, including five solo stops. Cornerback Cameron Lockridge relinquished one catch. And Stanford transfer Caleb Phillips caught a 1-yard scoring pass in his debut at tight end, a position he had not played since high school.

“To do it in the Rose Bowl was special,” Phillilps said of his touchdown.

Phillips grew up in San Diego rooting for USC. “I’d always go to the USC-UCLA games,” said Phillips, noting he and his friends sat between Sections 17 and 18 at the Rose Bowl. “We always talked about wanting to be playing on that field one day.”

Phillips and Stanford played there in 2018 and 2020.

“We didn’t get the outcome we wanted,” Phillips said of Saturday’s loss. “But we fought hard, and we’re going to come back and make the most out of this season. First game, put it behind us, and let’s go win the Mountain West.”