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The University of Hawaii football team took a turn in the right direction early in its game against Nevada on Saturday.
For the first time this season, UH looked like a properly functioning machine for the entire first half.
The Rainbow Warriors weren’t perfect by any means. But they mixed effective passes and runs in conducting and finishing scoring drives. And on defense they kept the visiting Wolf Pack from doing the same.
Missed tackles, blocks, receivers and opportunities were at a minimum, and the Warriors never trailed in their 31-16 victory at Ching Complex.
Maybe some of this had to do with UH head coach Timmy Chang’s familiarity with the tendencies of Nevada’s personnel, since he was on the staff there the previous five seasons. Maybe it’s because the Wolf Pack have struggled this season as much as the Warriors have. Both are now 2-5.
The loyal fans at the Ching Complex held their breath after the first half. Although it ended with a 21-13 Hawaii lead, there was some apprehension that the Warriors might make another turn, a wrong one — and fritter away that eight-point lead.
And it seemed that was exactly what was happening, as Nevada drove 86 yards on 14 plays, taking up nearly half of the third quarter in doing so.
But the Pack were turned away three times at the UH 2-yard line, and settled for Matthew Killam’s 20-yard field goal.
“It’s always huge to stop them to a field goal,” linebacker Penei Pavihi said. “Just huge for us to build momentum on.”
That’s exactly what the Warriors did. It was clear that it was a rejuvenated Nevada team that came out for the second half, but that goal-line stand pumped up UH — on both sides of the ball.
“The game always comes down to the trenches. Without the defense we can’t win,” running back Dedrick Parson said. “Holding those guys to three instead of six … without that defense we’d be having a different conversation.”
Hawaii’s ensuing drive consumed even more time, 8 minutes and 6 seconds, and the Warriors showed that not all red-zone scores are created equal. Parson, who rushed for 136 yards, scored one of his three touchdowns, and the UH lead was up to 28-16.
“(Nevada) coming away with just three points, that’s huge,” Chang said. “That defense just hunkers in there, and they don’t break. The mentality of not breaking, that’s them playing for each other, and that’s the mentality we want.”
The silliest stat in football is red-zone scores; Nevada was 3-for-3 and Hawaii 4-for-4 … it really should be red-zone points — which was 13 for the Pack, and 24 for the Warriors.
The numbers — other than points — that really matter? Coaches universally first say turnovers. But immediately after they almost always say third-down conversions. Hawaii dominated that one Saturday, 8-for-17 to 4-for-13 — plus, UH was 4-for-4 on fourth down.
Hawaii has been one of the most unconventional college football programs in the nation, going back to when Chang was its passing-records-setting quarterback in the early 2000s.
But on the night of his first conference victory as a head coach, the Warriors won in a “normal” way. They ran the ball and they stopped the run (223 yards to 89), and they got their defense off the field on third down.
The Warriors did display enough of a passing threat, with Brayden Schager finding Zion Bowens twice long, once for a TD.
This win was a lot prettier than the only other one this season, against FCS Duquesne back in September. This one gives the Warriors more to build on as they head to Colorado State, and that’s another winnable game — the Rams are 1-5.
“I thought these guys had a great week of preparation,” Chang said. “That taste in their mouth of losing at San Diego State stuck with them.”
The Warriors took a turn in the right direction early Saturday — and unlike some young teams, they managed to stay on the right path throughout the entire game.
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