Quantcast
StarBulletin.com

Search

Newsletter

Enter your email to sign up for our daily newsletter:
Sell your stuff in Hawaii classifieds
Subscribe to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin

WARRIORS FOOTBALL

Funaki faced the challenge

By Jason Kaneshiro

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 06, 2008

(Single Page View) | Return to Paginated View

It was a week ago today when Nick Rolovich sat Inoke Funaki down and laid out the situation.

"We all challenged him, I did especially," Rolovich, Hawaii's quarterback coach, said of that conversation two days after a disheartening loss to San Jose State.

"We believed in him and I challenged him on Monday and said, 'Give me an answer tomorrow. You're going to be the guy and you either want this or you don't.'

"He came in and said, 'let's go do it.' "

Given another chance, Funaki didn't throw it away.

A week after being pulled in the Warriors' home loss to San Jose State, Funaki filled the order by managing the Hawaii offense in the Warriors' 32-29 upset of then-No. 22 Fresno State at Bulldog Stadium.

And for at least one week, Hawaii's quarterback situation has some stability heading toward the Warriors' homecoming game against Louisiana Tech on Saturday at Aloha Stadium.

"He didn't have huge numbers, but a W is better than any kind of number," said Rolovich, who led the Warriors to another thrilling win over Fresno State in 2001.

"I think this team knows Inoke can lead them to wins. That's a great feeling as a quarterback."

Funaki went 17-for-25 for 170 yards and two touchdowns, netted 76 rushing yards on 14 carries, but more importantly didn't turn the ball over as the Warriors defeated a ranked team on the road for the first time in 11 attempts.

"He was more confident, especially when he was breaking off those long runs," center John Estes said. "You could see in his eyes that he was going to make big plays."

Granted scoring opportunities by a suddenly ball-hawking Warrior defense, the offense converted Fresno State turnovers into 20 points and fumbled the ball away just once.

Funaki's first scoring pass was a 28-yard laser to Malcolm Lane - "a big-time throw," Rolovich said - and he later lofted a 2-yarder to Mike Washington in the third quarter.

"He did exactly what he was supposed to do," UH offensive coordinator Ron Lee said. "He managed (the game) but he made some plays, he didn't throw an interception. What he did was he made good decisions and he played smart."

Bouncing back from a four-turnover performance against San Jose State hinged on Funaki's ability to stay focused after a shaky start to the Fresno State game.

"He missed two throws early and the old Inoke misses those throws and he's in the dumps for the rest of the game," Rolovich said. "He missed those throws but he never gave up until the clock was zero, and then some."

In doing so, Funaki became the first Hawaii quarterback to go the distance this season, finishing what he started.

"There are still so many things in this offense I know I need to do better and can get better at. I'm just grateful we were able to get away with this win," Funaki said. "I'm so thankful to the man upstairs helping me out.

"Because I know some of those things, I wasn't able to do on my own."

With all of the shuffling among the four quarterbacks who've taken turns atop the depth chart - including Tyler Graunke, Greg Alexander and Brent Rausch - UH coach Greg McMackin said the group has "done a great job of sticking together and supporting Inoke."

Depth comes through

Hawaii's linebacker depth was tested on Saturday when senior Adam Leonard sat out with a hamstring injury. That opened the way for R.J. Kiesel-Kahuane to start and Tyson Kafentzis to see more playing time on a defense that rotated freely throughout the game.

"His leg was bothering him and we didn't want to push it," McMackin said. "R.J. and Tyson had practiced all week and we felt they were capable and they did a good job."

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOOTBALL STATISTICS

Team Statistics

Hawaii OPP
FIRST DOWNS 83 97
Rushing 27 42
Passing 46 46
Penalty 10 9
RUSHING YARDAGE 553 855
Yards gained rushing 711 1,028
Yards lost rushing 158 173
Rushing attempts 140 202
Average per rush 4.0 4.2
Average per game 110.6 171.0
Touchdowns rushing 5 11
PASSING YARDAGE 1,035 1,008
Att-Comp-Int 169-95-11 145-80-5
Average per pass 6.1 7.0
Average per catch 10.9 12.6
Average per game 207.0 201.6
Touchdowns passing 6 7
TOTAL OFFENSE 1,588 1,863
Total plays 309 347
Average per game 317.6 372.6
KICK RETURNS: No-Yds 31-609 15-343
PUNT RETURNS: No-Yds 6-0 11-177
INT. RETURNS: No-Yds 5-28 11-156
FUMBLES-LOST 10-7 7-3
PENALTIES-YARDS 45-408 39-315
PUNTS-AVG 24-983 19-819
TIME OF POSSESION/GAME 29:38 30:22
3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS 13/60 27/73
4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS 3/6 6/12

 
RUSHING

G Att Net Avg TD Long
Pilares 5 29 167 5.8 4 34
Funaki 5 38 157 4.1 0 33
Libre 4 28 132 4.7 0 16
Rego 5 14 76 5.4 0 19
Wright-Jackson 5 16 70 4.4 1 16
Farmer 2 2 10 5.0 0 9
TEAM 3 1 -1 -1.0 0 0
Rausch 1 1 -4 -4.0 0 0
Peoples 4 2 -5 -2.5 0 0
Graunke 3 4 -20 -5.0 0 2
Alexander 1 5 -29 -5.8 0 1
Total 5 140 553 4.0 5 34

 
PASSING

G Att Comp Int Yds TD Long
Funaki 5 52 85 5 576 3 37
Graunke 3 30 56 3 388 3 42
Alexander 1 11 21 2 57 0 12
Rausch 1 2 7 1 14 0 9
Total 5 95 169 11 1,035 6 42

 
RECEIVING

 

G Rec Yds Avg TD Long
Washington 5 27 242 9.0 1 33
Salas 5 17 218 12.8 1 41
Bain 5 15 166 11.1 2 33
Pilares 5 11 88 8.0 0 23
Lane 5 7 142 20.3 2 42
Wright-Jackson 5 7 59 8.4 0 20
Medeiros 4 4 39 9.8 0 24
Libre 4 3 13 4.3 0 6
Taylor 3 2 38 19.0 0 26
Pollard 2 2 30 15.0 0 15
Total 5 95 1,035 10.9 6 42

 
TOTAl OFFENSE

G Plays Rush Pass Tot Avg
Funaki 5 123 157 576 733 146.6
Graunke 3 60 -20 388 369 122.7
Pilares 5 29 167 0 167 33.4
Libre 4 28 132 0 132 33.0
Rego 5 14 76 0 76 15.2
Wright-Jackson 5 16 70 0 70 14.0
Alexander 1 26 -29 57 28 28.0
Farmer 2 2 10 0 10 5.0
Rausch 1 8 -4 14 10 10.0
TEAM 3 1 -1 0 -1 -0.3
Peoples 4 2 -5 0 -5 -1.2
Total 5 309 553 1,035 1,588 317.6

 
SCORING

TD FG 1XP 2XP Tot
Kelly 0 6 10 0 28
Pilares 4 0 0 0 24
Bain 2 0 0 0 12
Lane 2 0 0 0 12
Washington 1 0 0 1 8
Wright-Jackson 1 0 0 0 6
Salas 1 0 0 0 6
Mouton 1 0 0 0 6
Total 12 6 10 1 102

 
PUNTING

No. Yds Avg Long
Grasso 24 983 41.0 53
Total 24 983 41.0 53

 
PUNT RETURNS

No. Yds Avg TD Long
Washington 6 0 0.0 0 2
Total 6 0 0.0 0 2

 
KICK RETURNS

No. Yds Avg TD Long
Mouton 20 449 22.5 1 90
Taylor 9 134 14.9 0 30
Lane 2 26 13.0 0 14
Total 31 609 19.6 1 90

 
Tackles

G UT AT Tot
Elimimian 5 18 18 36
Veikune 5 20 12 32
Satele 5 15 15 30
Dowling 5 16 12 28
Fonoti 5 16 11 27
Robinson 5 11 13 24
Monteilh 5 12 11 23
Leonard, J. 5 13 8 21
Leonard, A. 4 11 10 21
Mouton 5 14 5 19
Watson 5 6 6 12
Kiesel-Kauhane 5 7 5 12 Thomas 5 4 6 10
Allen-Jones 5 3 2 5
Rego 5 2 2 4
Tufaga 5 2 2 4
Silva 5 2 1 3
Smith 5 2 1 3
Davis 5 2 1 3
Kafentzis 5 1 2 3
Bryant 3 2 0 2
Clore 5 2 0 2
Porlas 5 2 0 2
Laeli 4 1 0 1
Kelly 5 1 0 1
Purcell 5 1 0 1
Washington 5 1 0 1
Meatoga 5 1 0 1
Salas 5 1 0 1
Kia 4 0 1 1
Libre 4 0 1 1
Savaiigaea 1 0 1 1
Ahmad 4 1 0 1
Paredes 5 0 1 1
Funaki 5 1 0 1
Total 5 206 153 359

 
MISC.
Sacks (No.-Yds): Satele 1-16, Fonoti 1-13, Elimimian 1-9, Robinson 1-8, Mouton 1-7, Dowling 1-3. Total: 7-64.

Interceptions (No.-Yds): Monteilh 3-13, Bryant 1-11, Satele 1-4. Total: 5-28.

Fumbles (Forced-Recovered): Kiesel-Kauhane 1-0, Rego 1-0, Tufaga 1-0. Total: 3-0

Blocked kicks: None.

 

It was a week ago today when Nick Rolovich sat Inoke Funaki down and laid out the situation.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Quarterback Inoke Funaki guided Hawaii to an overtime win against then-No. 22 Fresno State on Saturday.

"We all challenged him, I did especially," Rolovich, Hawaii's quarterback coach, said of that conversation two days after a disheartening loss to San Jose State.

"We believed in him and I challenged him on Monday and said, 'Give me an answer tomorrow. You're going to be the guy and you either want this or you don't.'

"He came in and said, 'let's go do it.' "

Given another chance, Funaki didn't throw it away.

A week after being pulled in the Warriors' home loss to San Jose State, Funaki filled the order by managing the Hawaii offense in the Warriors' 32-29 upset of then-No. 22 Fresno State at Bulldog Stadium.

And for at least one week, Hawaii's quarterback situation has some stability heading toward the Warriors' homecoming game against Louisiana Tech on Saturday at Aloha Stadium.

"He didn't have huge numbers, but a W is better than any kind of number," said Rolovich, who led the Warriors to another thrilling win over Fresno State in 2001.

"I think this team knows Inoke can lead them to wins. That's a great feeling as a quarterback."

Funaki went 17-for-25 for 170 yards and two touchdowns, netted 76 rushing yards on 14 carries, but more importantly didn't turn the ball over as the Warriors defeated a ranked team on the road for the first time in 11 attempts.

"He was more confident, especially when he was breaking off those long runs," center John Estes said. "You could see in his eyes that he was going to make big plays."

Granted scoring opportunities by a suddenly ball-hawking Warrior defense, the offense converted Fresno State turnovers into 20 points and fumbled the ball away just once.

Funaki's first scoring pass was a 28-yard laser to Malcolm Lane - "a big-time throw," Rolovich said - and he later lofted a 2-yarder to Mike Washington in the third quarter.

"He did exactly what he was supposed to do," UH offensive coordinator Ron Lee said. "He managed (the game) but he made some plays, he didn't throw an interception. What he did was he made good decisions and he played smart."

Bouncing back from a four-turnover performance against San Jose State hinged on Funaki's ability to stay focused after a shaky start to the Fresno State game.

"He missed two throws early and the old Inoke misses those throws and he's in the dumps for the rest of the game," Rolovich said. "He missed those throws but he never gave up until the clock was zero, and then some."

In doing so, Funaki became the first Hawaii quarterback to go the distance this season, finishing what he started.

"There are still so many things in this offense I know I need to do better and can get better at. I'm just grateful we were able to get away with this win," Funaki said. "I'm so thankful to the man upstairs helping me out.

"Because I know some of those things, I wasn't able to do on my own."

With all of the shuffling among the four quarterbacks who've taken turns atop the depth chart - including Tyler Graunke, Greg Alexander and Brent Rausch - UH coach Greg McMackin said the group has "done a great job of sticking together and supporting Inoke."

Depth comes through

Hawaii's linebacker depth was tested on Saturday when senior Adam Leonard sat out with a hamstring injury. That opened the way for R.J. Kiesel-Kahuane to start and Tyson Kafentzis to see more playing time on a defense that rotated freely throughout the game.

"His leg was bothering him and we didn't want to push it," McMackin said. "R.J. and Tyson had practiced all week and we felt they were capable and they did a good job."

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOOTBALL STATISTICS

Team Statistics

Hawaii OPP
FIRST DOWNS 83 97
Rushing 27 42
Passing 46 46
Penalty 10 9
RUSHING YARDAGE 553 855
Yards gained rushing 711 1,028
Yards lost rushing 158 173
Rushing attempts 140 202
Average per rush 4.0 4.2
Average per game 110.6 171.0
Touchdowns rushing 5 11
PASSING YARDAGE 1,035 1,008
Att-Comp-Int 169-95-11 145-80-5
Average per pass 6.1 7.0
Average per catch 10.9 12.6
Average per game 207.0 201.6
Touchdowns passing 6 7
TOTAL OFFENSE 1,588 1,863
Total plays 309 347
Average per game 317.6 372.6
KICK RETURNS: No-Yds 31-609 15-343
PUNT RETURNS: No-Yds 6-0 11-177
INT. RETURNS: No-Yds 5-28 11-156
FUMBLES-LOST 10-7 7-3
PENALTIES-YARDS 45-408 39-315
PUNTS-AVG 24-983 19-819
TIME OF POSSESION/GAME 29:38 30:22
3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS 13/60 27/73
4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS 3/6 6/12

 
RUSHING

G Att Net Avg TD Long
Pilares 5 29 167 5.8 4 34
Funaki 5 38 157 4.1 0 33
Libre 4 28 132 4.7 0 16
Rego 5 14 76 5.4 0 19
Wright-Jackson 5 16 70 4.4 1 16
Farmer 2 2 10 5.0 0 9
TEAM 3 1 -1 -1.0 0 0
Rausch 1 1 -4 -4.0 0 0
Peoples 4 2 -5 -2.5 0 0
Graunke 3 4 -20 -5.0 0 2
Alexander 1 5 -29 -5.8 0 1
Total 5 140 553 4.0 5 34

 
PASSING

G Att Comp Int Yds TD Long
Funaki 5 52 85 5 576 3 37
Graunke 3 30 56 3 388 3 42
Alexander 1 11 21 2 57 0 12
Rausch 1 2 7 1 14 0 9
Total 5 95 169 11 1,035 6 42

 
RECEIVING

 

G Rec Yds Avg TD Long
Washington 5 27 242 9.0 1 33
Salas 5 17 218 12.8 1 41
Bain 5 15 166 11.1 2 33
Pilares 5 11 88 8.0 0 23
Lane 5 7 142 20.3 2 42
Wright-Jackson 5 7 59 8.4 0 20
Medeiros 4 4 39 9.8 0 24
Libre 4 3 13 4.3 0 6
Taylor 3 2 38 19.0 0 26
Pollard 2 2 30 15.0 0 15
Total 5 95 1,035 10.9 6 42

 
TOTAl OFFENSE

G Plays Rush Pass Tot Avg
Funaki 5 123 157 576 733 146.6
Graunke 3 60 -20 388 369 122.7
Pilares 5 29 167 0 167 33.4
Libre 4 28 132 0 132 33.0
Rego 5 14 76 0 76 15.2
Wright-Jackson 5 16 70 0 70 14.0
Alexander 1 26 -29 57 28 28.0
Farmer 2 2 10 0 10 5.0
Rausch 1 8 -4 14 10 10.0
TEAM 3 1 -1 0 -1 -0.3
Peoples 4 2 -5 0 -5 -1.2
Total 5 309 553 1,035 1,588 317.6

 
SCORING

TD FG 1XP 2XP Tot
Kelly 0 6 10 0 28
Pilares 4 0 0 0 24
Bain 2 0 0 0 12
Lane 2 0 0 0 12
Washington 1 0 0 1 8
Wright-Jackson 1 0 0 0 6
Salas 1 0 0 0 6
Mouton 1 0 0 0 6
Total 12 6 10 1 102

 
PUNTING

No. Yds Avg Long
Grasso 24 983 41.0 53
Total 24 983 41.0 53

 
PUNT RETURNS

No. Yds Avg TD Long
Washington 6 0 0.0 0 2
Total 6 0 0.0 0 2

 
KICK RETURNS

No. Yds Avg TD Long
Mouton 20 449 22.5 1 90
Taylor 9 134 14.9 0 30
Lane 2 26 13.0 0 14
Total 31 609 19.6 1 90

 
Tackles

G UT AT Tot
Elimimian 5 18 18 36
Veikune 5 20 12 32
Satele 5 15 15 30
Dowling 5 16 12 28
Fonoti 5 16 11 27
Robinson 5 11 13 24
Monteilh 5 12 11 23
Leonard, J. 5 13 8 21
Leonard, A. 4 11 10 21
Mouton 5 14 5 19
Watson 5 6 6 12
Kiesel-Kauhane 5 7 5 12 Thomas 5 4 6 10
Allen-Jones 5 3 2 5
Rego 5 2 2 4
Tufaga 5 2 2 4
Silva 5 2 1 3
Smith 5 2 1 3
Davis 5 2 1 3
Kafentzis 5 1 2 3
Bryant 3 2 0 2
Clore 5 2 0 2
Porlas 5 2 0 2
Laeli 4 1 0 1
Kelly 5 1 0 1
Purcell 5 1 0 1
Washington 5 1 0 1
Meatoga 5 1 0 1
Salas 5 1 0 1
Kia 4 0 1 1
Libre 4 0 1 1
Savaiigaea 1 0 1 1
Ahmad 4 1 0 1
Paredes 5 0 1 1
Funaki 5 1 0 1
Total 5 206 153 359

 
MISC.
Sacks (No.-Yds): Satele 1-16, Fonoti 1-13, Elimimian 1-9, Robinson 1-8, Mouton 1-7, Dowling 1-3. Total: 7-64.

Interceptions (No.-Yds): Monteilh 3-13, Bryant 1-11, Satele 1-4. Total: 5-28.

Fumbles (Forced-Recovered): Kiesel-Kauhane 1-0, Rego 1-0, Tufaga 1-0. Total: 3-0

Blocked kicks: None.

(Single Page View) | Return to Paginated View



Story tools

Email  Email   Print  Print   Save  Save   Popular  Most Popular   Reprint  Subscribe

Share this story