It wasn’t pretty, but in some ways it was perfect.
Some Hawaii fans will look at a one-point victory against UT-Martin as a failure, but not coach Nick Rolovich.
He appreciated the struggle it took for the Rainbow Warriors to secure their the first victory of the Rolovich era.
“Ugly, but the kids stuck together and there was no point finger pointing, no fighting, no blaming,” Rolovich said of ‘Hawaii’s 41-36 victory Saturday night at Aloha Stadium in front of 22,900.
“You might not believe me, but I told the staff Wednesday or Thursday, I called overtime,” he said. “I’m sure everyone thought we were going to blow them out, but thats a good football team.
“I thought a close game would test this team more than a blowouts.”
The Rainbow Warriors (1-2) scored three consecutive touchdowns to take a 35-24 lead early in the fourth quarter, but a 79-yard punt return helped the Skyhawks (0-2) go ahead, and Hawaii was OVERSET FOLLOWS:in danger of having its 13-game winning streak against FCS opponents snapped until Ikaika Woolsey threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Kemp with 6:43 left.
Woolsey was pulled in favor of Dru Bown for a drive in the second quarter after he limped off, and he threw three interceptions, but Woolsey made the big play when it counted, patiently waiting for Kemp to get behind the defense for his fourth touchdown pass of the night.
“That was a pretty vet throw,” Rolovich said at a news conference. “That concept has been run in this stadium a bunch of times.
“You can’t duplicate that in practice.”
All three of Kemp’s catches went for touchdowns, and the senior surpasses 100 yards receiving for the seventh time in his career.
Despite allowing 418 yards, Hawaii stopped UT-Martin’s last offensive series with the help of back-to-back sacks, and Jalen Rogers’ interception clinched it.
“If anyone won the game for us it was the defense,” Kemp said when asked about his go-ahead touchdown. “The playcall was perfect for what they were runing for that time, and it was a big play for Ikaika to make.”
Woolsey threw for 205 yards and Diocemy Saint Juste for 16 times for 92 yards and a touchdown.
After a 0-2 start to his reign, Rolovich said the key for Hawaii was to keep fighting.
Mission accomplished, at least for one week, Saint Juste said.
“In the previous years when we were down, we kind of struggled to come together and we tore apart and that ruined the whole year,” he said. “Under (Rolovich) we’ve done a really good job of sticking togther.”
The Rainbow Warriors got production on the ground, running for 175 yards. Rolovich said they will run some more if they don’t get better play at quarterback. Hawaii plays at Arizona this Saturday.
“We cant stand these stupid inteceptions,” he said. “If we’re going to throw to the other team, then were just going to hand the ball of cause that’s an easy way to lose.”
When the rain came down at Aloha Stadium on Saturday night, Rolovich said it brought back feelings of his playing days at his alma mater.
There is a new era at Manoa, but transforming a mindset takes time, but bouncing back in victory may fasten the pace.
“I don’t think this teame expects to win, I think they hope to win,” Rolovich said “Hopefully, this win pushes us closer to that expect-to-win mindset. That’s contagious and people can see that in our body language and how we play.”
