All the regime change at Hawaii has done so far is leave a different coach to lament his team’s lack of discipline.
All the regime change at Hawaii has done so far is leave a different coach to lament his team’s lack of discipline.
On Saturday night the mistakes added up to an eighth consecutive defeat: Four turnovers plus 11 penalties for 132 yards equaled a 42-14 loss to Fresno State at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.
“You can’t have that many penalties and turn over the ball that much and expect to be successful in this game,” said interim coach Chris Naeole, who fell to 0-2 in relief of Norm Chow. “Some of the calls were tough but I’m not going to sit here and question the refs.”
The Rainbow Warriors (2-9, 0-7 Mountain West) finished with 437 yards thanks to another 100-yard game from running back Paul Harris, but the Bulldogs broke open a tie game with four consecutive touchdowns as Zack Greenlee threw a career-high six scoring passes.
Chow was dismissed one day after a 58-7 loss to Air Force on Halloween, and Hawaii has lost consecutive home games by 28 points or more for the first time since 1996 – BYU (31-point loss) and Wisconsin (29).
“Pride – that’s what it comes down to,” Naeole said. “Either you have it or you don’t. A lot are guys are dinged up and our cupboards are empty but guys just have to suck it up the last two games. We have two teams coming in who aren’t going to feel sorry for us.”
Hawaii was whistled for seven personal fouls, including three in Fresno State’s first scoring drive. Defensive back Nick Nelson was ejected for targeting.
“It really takes the wind out of your sails,” linebacker Julian Gener said of the penalties. “We were in some pretty decent situations (defensively) and we could have had stops but didn’t get off the field. You still have to stay aggressive though because if you let it up it’s one bad assignment, one missed tackle and it’s to the house.”
The Bulldogs were struggling coming in, but Greenlee nearly surpassed his season total in touchdown passes, finishing 20 of 35 for 285 yards — all career highs.
Ikaika Woolsley’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Makoa Camanse-Stevens early in the second quarter capped a seven-play, 75-yard drive by Hawaii and tied the game at 7.
However, Woolsley completed only 8 of 20 and threw an interception and was pulled in favor of Max Wittek in the second half. The senior transfer missed on more than 50 percent of his passes with two picks.
“We needed a spark to get the ball going,” Naeole said. “I thought Ikaika (Woolsey) missed some reads early and I listened to my offensive coordinator (Don Bailey) and made the change. We didn’t have anything to lose and if I didn’t feel Max (Wittek) was going to work out I’d switch back.”
After Camanse-Stevens’s touchdown, Fresno State scored touchdowns on three of its next four drives, including touchdown passes of 28 and 25 yards from Greenlee to Da’Mari Scott, to take a 28-7 lead into halftime.
Six Bulldogs combined for 170 yards rushing on 51 carries as Fresno State held the ball for 37 minutes, 13 seconds to win for the fifth consecutive time in the series.
Harris recorded his fourth 100-yard game of the season, rushing for 126 yards on a career-high 26 attempts, crediting his linemen “for giving their all.” Marcus Kemp made five catches for 105 yards.
Hawaii moved the ball 65 yards on the ground on its second scoring drive, and Melvin Davis’ touchdown late in the third quarter was his seventh of the season.
“We definitely did want to run the ball,” Naeole said. “We would get into trouble though with the turnovers and penalties to allow them to get up on us. We just had too many penalties to stay in this game.”
Gener finished with 17 tackles – tying the UH record with five tackles for loss – and 1 1/2 sacks.
He said Hawaii still has a lot to play for as it finishes with home games against San Jose State this Saturday and Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 28.
“I’m a senior and for a lot of the seniors it’s just two more games in their careers,” Gener said. “You just have to keep working, stay with your assignments and have fun. I need to help the returnees grow and the young guys need to gain experience. I’m trying to stay loose and keep at it and give them some knowledge.”
Fresno State 7 21 7 7—42
Hawaii 0 7 7 0—14
First quarter
Fre—Blandin 2 pass from Greenlee (Kroening kick), :25.
Second quarter
Haw—Camanse-Stevens 14 pass from Woolsey (Sanchez kick), 14:03.
Fre—Olsen 22 pass from Greenlee (Kroening kick), 11:35.
Fre—Scott 28 pass from Greenlee (Kroening kick), 5:44.
Fre—Scott 25 pass from Greenlee (Kroening kick), :58.
Third quarter
Fre—Waller 6 pass from Greenlee (Kroening kick), 11:11.
Haw—Davis 1 run (Sanchez kick), :51.
Fourth quarter
Fre—Jordan 64 pass from Greenlee (Kroening kick), 14:49.
A—21,485.
Fre Haw
First downs 29 25
Rushes-yards 51-170 39-192
Passing 285 245
Comp-Att-Int 20-35-0 20-49-3
Return Yards 58 17
Punts-Avg. 5-41.0 6-47.7
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties-Yards 6-50 11-132
Time of Possession 37:13 22:47
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Fresno St., Garrison 12-66, O’Neal 9-27, Waller 13-27,
Anderson 3-25, Greenlee 10-20, Jordan 3-10, Team 1-(minus 5). Hawaii,
Harris 26-126, Davis 6-45, Tuiasoa 1-20, Woolsey 4-8,
Wittek 2-(minus 7).
PASSING—Fresno St., Greenlee 20-35-0-285. Hawaii,
Wittek 12-29-2-153, Woolsey 8-20-1-92.
RECEIVING—Fresno St., Jordan 4-79, Olsen 4-76, Waller 3-37,
K.Johnson 3-10, Scott 2-53, Blandin 2-7, Hardaway 1-20, Riddering 1-3.
Hawaii, Camanse-Stevens 6-63, Kemp 5-105, Torres 3-28, Harris 2-4,
Stubblefield 2-2, Davis 1-33, Tuiasoa 1-10.