Paradise, indeed.
Even for a college football team that had never led in any road game this entire season, Aloha Stadium was the perfect getaway to cure Air Force’s road struggles.
The Falcons outgained Hawaii by nearly 500 yards on the ground and forced four turnovers to hand Hawaii its worst home loss ever with a 58-7 drubbing on Saturday evening at Aloha Stadium.
Air Force (5-3, 4-1 MWC) remained tied for first in the Mountain Division with its first road win of the season and controls its own destiny with its next two conference games against Utah State and Boise State.
Fullback Jacobi Owens was one of five Falcons to run for at least 60 yards, leading the way with 137 and two touchdowns. The 51-point margin of victory is the sixth-largest in school history.
"It means a lot to us because we’ve obviously struggled a lot with road games," said Owens, a 6-foot, 202-pound junior. "It’s big for us to be able to come out and actually get a road win, especially coming to Hawaii with a beach five minutes from our hotel."
Air Force, 4-0 at home this season, looked like an entirely different team on the road in a 22-point loss to Navy and a 15-point defeat to Colorado State.
That changed against Hawaii, which lost for the eighth time in 10 home games since joining the Mountain West Conference in 2013.
"It’s not an easy trip and you never know how teams are going to respond to the travel and I thought it showed some maturity on our guys’ part to do that because I’ve seen teams go both ways," Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said.
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The Falcons showed no mercy against a lifeless UH team. Already ahead 24-0 late in the second quarter, Air Force went for it on fourth-and-1 from its own 29 and converted.
On the very next play, quarterback Karson Roberts dropped a dime in the hands of receiver Garrett Brown for a 61-yard gain that led to the Falcons’ fourth touchdown run in the first half with 1:03 remaining.
If that wasn’t enough, Air Force cornerback Roland Ladipo intercepted Max Wittek four plays later and the Falcons added a field goal to take a 34-0 halftime lead.
Air Force finished with seven rushing touchdowns.
"The game is not over no matter how far you’re ahead (in the first half), so we’re not going to take our foot off the gas because we’re up," Owens said. "You let somebody back in the game when you start thinking like that."
Air Force was crisp from the opening drive, a 15-play, 90-yard jaunt that saw five different Falcons rush for positive yards.
Owens capped the drive with one of two first-quarter touchdown runs and Roberts and Benton Washington plunged in for 1-yard scores in the second quarter.
Sophomore Timothy McVey, who was the fifth running back the Falcons used, scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns and racked up 113 yards on only seven carries.
Air Force averaged 6.3 yards on its 92 plays from scrimmage and scored on all eight trips to the red zone.
