Game Day: Fresno State
The best of foes — Hawaii and Fresno State — meet for the 50th time.
Yes, they have had quite a history, particularly in the June Jones-Pat Hill rivalries. There was even that bizarre time when Jones invited Hill to a UH spring practice. Ah, memories …
But the past is the past, and here’s the current situation:
> The Bulldogs are off to a nice start at 4-1 in the Mountain West. They already are bowl eligible. Although Fresno owns the tie-breaker over 4-2 San Diego State, the Bulldogs are not a lock for the West title. After tonight’s game, the Bulldogs have to play at Wyoming (forecast is 44/30 for Nov. 18) and finish against Boise State. The Aztecs final two games are against Nevada (1-4) and New Mexico (1-5). (Whoops. I earlier had the San Jose State game this week. Hey, jet lag. lol.)
> If this were fantasy football, the Warriors win the rushing battle because they have the best running back in Diocemy Saint Juste (1,245 yards, 5.7 yards per carry). But the Bulldogs are very good collectively, with the Ronnie Rivers rejoining the mix after missing two games because of an injury. Rivers, Jordan Mims and Josh Hokit have combined for 1,166 yards, 17 TDS and only one lost fumble. They have been tackled for a loss eight times in 241 carries.
> Fresno’s Marcus McMaryion doesn’t throw picks — OK, he has one this year, but that was 118 passes ago — and he rarely gets sacked. He also has not thrown a TD pass the past three games.
> The Bulldogs have a defense with a lot of movement — loops, stunts, shifts. But I really like the two defensive tackles. Unlike UNLV’s space eaters last week, Fresno’s Malik Forrester and Nathan Madsen (as well as Kevin Atkins) create havoc with power moves and first-step quickness. They open the way for the linebackers and safeties to rack up tackles.
> Rolovich has had three levels of success against Fresno. As a quarterback, he led the Warriors to the comeback victory in 2001. As quarterbacks coach in 2008, he mentored Inoke Funaki, who led the Warriors to their first road victory over a ranked team. And last year, in the stayin’-alive game, Viane Moala made the game-saving block.
It’s game day. Please add to the discussion.
I repeat my late prediction – UH 38 Dogs 35. Can with Rolo calling the plays. And I like the 3-4 defensive scheme.
Sad to say I think we will lose in a close game, hope I’m wrong.
Excellent game day analyst of both schools Steven, I will be watching for some of the things you wrote about. The 3-4 defense is a good move because linebacker is our strongest position. We still lose but take the points if you like to bet on the games, just not more than you can afford to lose, haha.
Re: Prior day posts, BYU beating UNLV 31-21 may not bode well for UH.
Huff shot 2 for 2 on 3 pt FG’s too.
UH Fresno
56 14 Akamai Okole
38 35 H-Man
21 17 Ipu Man
21 20 SangmonKeith
14 56 What?
0 24 Trunks420
Akamai Okole standing (and reserved) guess has been 56-14 for 10 years. What he actually puts real money on might vary.
Considering the state of our overworked defense, I think UH has to break the 30 point barrier to win any game. I like H-Man’s guess.
UH 34 – Fresno 31
Mitchell Quinn offered ……
“Just a few hours after Saint Louis’ 47-23 comeback victory over Mililani in the Division I-Open semifinals of the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA State Football Championships, wide receiver Mitchell Quinn had some news to share.
Quinn, who caught eight passes for a state-tournament record 307 yards and five touchdowns, announced that he has received his first college scholarship offer: Hawaii.
The story that passed through the press box after the game at Aloha Stadium is that UH passing-game coordinator and wide receivers coach Craig Stutzmann made his way through the north tunnel and talked to Quinn during the game. That’s when he made the offer.
Whatever the process was, Quinn confirmed the offer via Twitter just after 1 a.m. on Saturday.
In addition to his heroics in the semifinal win over Mililani, Quinn was invited to play in the Polynesian Bowl on Friday. “
There are a lot of Georgia Tech fans who want Paul Johnson out.
Whoops!
They just upset a top 25 team.
Sorry.
The forecast is for rain in Halawa.
3rd qrtr. UNR 52 – 7 over SJS.
whoa
I think this game will go like the UNLV game.
Fresno 34
UH 24
Cautiously optimistic for a high energy competitive game- on anther note Georgia goes down Washington Michigan State Iowa all have tough days. Game of the day the battle Iowa State gave OSU with a freshman Qb before succumbing. ThevUNLV BYU game eerily similar to ours except we took FG’s andt they got TD’s. The stats are almost identical. That Stanton kid is responsible for them being in these contests. GoWarriors!!!!
Ghost of June Jones: Let them score.
Ken Niumatalolo: Don’t score.
Hercules Mataafa is lighting it up for WAZZU vs Utah. This is a former D-II player from Lahainaluna HS who is regarded as the top D-lineman in the Pac-12 and in the nation. He’s a very active and disruptive player for the Cougars. If you’re good, the scouts will find you, regardless of the level, IMHO.
The Casino commercials on the Pac-12 Washington channel are interesting.
Of course I’m nowhere near the island but accuweather shows single digit chance of any rain thru the entire evening. A fan at LV wife told me no matter what her husband goes to every game and always in a tAnk top! He had that on in Vegas! My kind of guy!
A non-football friend told me that a couple who have been going to all UH home games for 30 years were hit by a stadium cart recently and the wife was injured. An ambulance was called, and after seeing his wife loaded, he went in for the game. That’s a fan.
Time to make like a fan and brave the rain. tally ho!
You never know?
UH 30
FSt. 28
It’s why you play the game
15. i think it is raining out there now.
UH Fresno
56 14 Akamai Okole
38 35 H-Man
34 31 SteveM
24 34 What’s up
21 17 Ipu Man
21 20 SangmonKeith
14 56 What?
0 24 Trunks420
UH 21 – FSU 38
In 3-4 defense you still need the studs up front to eat up the blockers. This will be a very physical game and a good test of where we are up front.
I didn’t go to the game because of the rain, crappy food and $21 a beer. I’m watching it at BED. Go WAR!
Bobby said lightning over the stadium.
Win or lose. Gotta make D coaching changes.
Coaching is almost everything. Look at the LA Rams
Flash flood warning until at least 10 pm.
Just like pre-half time. I wonder what kind of adjustments the coaches are making?
Oh well. One team came out ready to play. Not us. Now olineman goes down. Oh boy.
Our offense is predictable and sucks…
OUTPLAYED
OUT COACHED
Way too conservative on offense. Not going for it on 4th and 1 last week at UNLV and again tonight cost us the game. Coaches- what do you have to lose? Other than the game… again…
Same d. We crowd the line of scrimmage they throw to the tightend or back out of the backfield and we get burned. Man their receivers are wide open.
UH last 4 drives before half-time :
PUNT …3 plays = 0 yds …0:25
PUNT …6 plays = 5 yds…..3:30
PUNT …3 plays = 9 yds…..2:05
PUNT …3 plays = minus 8 yds …..0:34
—————————————————————–
……………Fresno… UH
Total Yds.. 237 …….99
Pass Yds ..122…….43
Rush Yds.. 115…… 56
I can’t listen anymore. We are not very good.
We lost
We pau.
I’ll keep coming to games, but this is really sad to watch.
Being outcoached is quite apparent. Did we look this bad with our past coaching staff? Yes! Different faces same outcomes. The entire staff needs to be changed.
Time to re-evaluate the program.
This game crowd is the smallest I’ve seen it in 40yrs
We need a 2 qb system starting next year. Hire June as OC.
Hope can win the last two games, still gotta play’um…
If June Jones was our head coach, Art Briles would be our offensive coordinator.
No.
No I mean June as oc not head coach
I have to say June Jones can still coach. He is doing a good job coaching in the CFL taking over a team that had won one game and loss 8 and are now 6 and 12. I wonder what are team would look like if JJ was hired as our UH coach. I like Rolo but something is missing with this coaching staff.
Well, I was at the game tonight and there were lots of parking. Attendance was 13,742. Let’s all enjoy the spacious parking.
I thought it would take at several games into next season to get that low of a turnout.
Next game, guess the score, I also pick 56-14 UH. Das it!
Well being that bowling is pretty much out the door I don’t expect the final game against BYU will any better in attendance. Also our Offense has proven to be anemic almost all season. The last two games will be loses. Coach Rolo should give those underclassmen who are not redshirting or whatever color shirts they have a chance of playing the rest of the season. Start preparing for next year already.
I think Dru has a hard time seeing over the linemen, so he rolls out of the pocket to see his receivers better. You can blame the O-line all you want, but Dru simply takes too long to execute and release the ball (he cannot see what’s going on).. If Dru is our best QB, then we’re in more trouble than I thought. And what was that empty-set, backfield series? Dru actually did pretty good in that series. Next game should be even worse with Dejon Allen and Matt Norman sustaining what appears to be season ending injuries. Defense starts out good, but has trouble retaining the intensity through the 4th quarter. Overall though, I thought they did good.
This would probably upset all of the diehard UH fans. But, here goes, maybe UH should think of ways to make better use of Aloha Stadium if the cost of running an fbs football team gets too costly. Of course, this will never happen. Or, you never know….
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.yahoo.com/amphtml/sports/news/ncaaf–how-one-small-texas-college-made-money-by-saying-no-to-football-065751785.html
I will be at the last home game of the season. And, then it’s back to PPV for next season. PPV is the best way to watch UH games! Although, I did enjoy the easy parking at the game with Fresno state.
Better luck next game and next season.
I forgot, aloha stadium is run by the state. So, there goes that idea. But, on a more disappointing note, I could see the players trying. The defense was not good all year. Now, without Ursa and Unga, the offense is not doing well.
For next season, let’s see if Rolo can keep at least some of the players to play for Hawaii. With the weather and UH not doing well, the attendance took a dive. We won’t see consistent 40,000 again.
Rolo should still look for a QB for next year along with a lot of other players on defense.
Matlin needs to change the name back to Hawaii Warriors and drop that Rainbow. While Rainbow might not effect local Hawaii recruiting as much but it does effect everywhere else i.e Mainland and International to include American Samoa. Rainbow is not meant for a rough gladiator type sport played in a coliseum type environment.
Change all the Mens Sports to Warriors and keep the Rainbow with Lady’s Sports. The Rainbow is the emasculation of Hawaii Mens sports and Men have the right to masculinity just as Women sports have the right to femininity.
It way to early to ask to fire Rolo outright but Rolo needs help to attract better talent and Matlin needs to man up and reach down and squeeze his olos and stand up to those donors that threaten Ben Jay. Those donors money cannot make up for the awful Rainbow Football product since the name change. Hawaii already has recruiting challenges geographically so why make it so much harder to pull in Mainland and international talent.
Just woke up, after turning off the radio broadcast. I couldn’t listen anymore. This team is pathetic. I’m still an ardent fan but I’m not going to stay up until the wee hours of the morning to listen to another loss.
Reardon’s article says to look at other QB options. Well, you can say all you want that DB gives us the best chance to win but the results do not bear it out. If something is not working you change it. Our offense is too predictable. Our defense continually gets torched.
Play all the reserves these next 2 games and see who steps up. It can be the springboard for next season.
Hire an experienced OC and DC, enuf said.
Props to the UH players who played their hearts out. LB Solomon Matautia continues to impress. Jahlani Tavai was all over the field. Hope the injuries aren’t that serious.
Need one Hawaiian Blessing of the entire UH Athletic Complex in the Lower Campus. Throw Hawaiian salt to purify and cleanse the facility of all of the bad luck down there. Also, scrub down the complex with some bleach to clean up all of the mold growing on the walls there.
Of course, you need funding to hire experienced coordinators (can’t just wish for it). Never mind what Tedford earns, Fresno State’s assistant coaches salary budget is $1.7 million to UH”s $1 million. Cheaper cost of living in the Valley, too. FSU is looking to increase the assistant’s salaries once they pay off former HC Tim DeRuyer (now the DC at Cal).
In the meantime at Manoa it’s:
“You like buy sweetbread and Portuguese sausage?”
49, it’s not just the donor’s that still want the Rainbows name. A lot of the long time fans want the Rainbows. When the football team were known as the Warriors, they had an attitude about them. They went on the field knowing they could win.
And, you’re right, It was the people behind Ben Jay that probably encouraged him to change the name back to Rainbows. I don’t know anything about recruiting. But, if negative recruiting to get a player does exist, you can bet other teams use it in their favor. Poll all the football players. A lot of them would prefer the Warrior name over the Rainbow Warriors.
On another topic, at last night’s game during the rain and lightening delay, we were told there were no re-entry during the delay. We then went to a different gate and they allowed us to leave and then re-enter. With the rain, the team losing, and the stadium staff, I can see why people stayed away from the game.
Since the score was UH 21 Fresno 31,
A View From Afar just before the game predicted:
UH 21 – FSU 38. You win…
Wonder if you are June Jones. Just a thought.
Why are we limited in the number of scholarships?
Can’t the Governor sign an executive order giving
the coach 500 extra?…
Yes, let’s have a lottery.
But no to casinos.
UH, they are what we think they are. We let em off the hook, again. Bowl game! Are U kidding me! Don’t talk to me about bowl game!
Next game, Utah State 56, UH 21. Enjoy the weather in Logan.
Nick changed the starting UH QB after the 4th game last season. Reardon suggests trying another QB this season for a whole quarter, at least.
46. The UH defense shut out Fresno in the 4th quarter and had the two INT’s in that quarter
The most glaring reason why we are not in position to win games on a consistent basis is that we do not do a good job of stopping the run. The talent level is just not good enough. We are talking basically the front seven, but more the defensive line. I think if we had Kennedy, Kaau, and Jaime the DL with the other guys we have the depth would be much better. There is almost non existent pass rush. This tells me that Rolo and Co. need to bolster this area big time and is the main priority in recruiting.
#2 UH doesn’t cause enough turnovers to gives us a chance to get extra possessions.
#3 We don’t have enough playmakers and there is very, very, very few explosive plays (plays by 20 yds. or more). We are pretty much stuck on about 21 points per game and that’s not going to cut it. What it all adds up is that our football team is just not a very good team, at all. Dru Brown has regressed and have made key poor decisions and poor execution. The play calling, well, I shake my head and there is not much imagination that I see compared to other teams that execute so well. Again, is it because of the talent level? The main responsibility is on the coaches because they recruit, they evaluate, they coach, they teach, they implement, they plan, etc. Maybe, coaches are not good enough. Rolo has to look in the mirror and come to some hard decisions. I’m not promoting anything, but I think Rich Miano is a better coach than a lot of these coaches on the staff, maybe Defensive Coordinator. He’s certainly qualified and he bleeds green.
Is it me or does it seems dsj averages about 1-3 yards per carry?
DSJ 22-108, 4.7 per carry. It’s you.
I mean in the last few games.
Last three games, DSJ 59-255, 4.3 per carry. Guess it’s you.
I am of the contrary thought. I believe that our young men are capable, tenacious and dedicated to the desire to succeed. They seem to be out of position, somewhat lacking in being taught tackling techniques, looking in passes into their hands, etc. Which to me indicates teaching is weak. If you look at what Coach Naeole was able to do with the o-line, it says to me that we need better teaching of the young men we have. Coach Naeole was able to create a very good o-line that hardly had false starts, blocked well and were versatile. The lack of execution is to me, an indication of a weakness in teaching and repetition of desired techniques and not all on a deficiency of individual talent. It would be great if we had a basketful of talented 3-5 star players, but our young men are competitive. They just need to be made to be better prepared to achieve what all desire on game day.
Dru Brown would be fine if he had Bryant Moniz’s receiving corp.
The lack of offense is all about Ursua’s injury.
Isaac Fleming plays the point.
Bra everytime I see him carry he gets stuffed.
After two games, Julissa Tago is shooting 19-30 from the field.
I don’t think a Na Wahine player has shot 50% from the field in consecutive games since Raylene Howard. Anybody who follows the program closely knows this is not exactly hyperbole.
I don’t blame DSJ at all. He is doing everything for the team and more. Everybody knows that he’s a marked man. Stop him and you stop Hawaii, period. Since Ursua went down we don’t have another home run threat besides St. Juste. Get him on the perimeter more so he gets more space. Use him on screens or in the flat, or over linebackers. He takes a pounding going in the middle all the time. We should give Holly a chance too since we’re just running out the string.
New post: http://www.hawaiiwarriorworld.com/?p=45036