Postgame Thoughts

[reignjah11]

Thoughts on the special teams?

ST needs work

can't believe we tried an onside kick to start the game. wish we didn't do that. ugh

Nah I loved the call. National televised game, big underdog, non conference game i see why rolo went for the momentum play there. We were able to recover from it anyway so I don't put much blame on that being a reason we lost.

[SundayJam]

I didn't see the game as I was at work. An opening on-side kick by an inexperienced special teams against a high caliber team like Cal is clearly foolhardy. It definitely was the game-changing stunt it was intended to be...only for the other side. I'd say the risk was game-over vs. we pat-ourselves-on-the-back for pulling off a gimmicky play on opening day. Had we won the on-side kick, we still would have lost the game.

I give ROLO a big fat for that decision.

[akuhead2]

The on-side kick was a good call but poorly executed. It might have worked, but they started off in slow motion and the squib kick just wasn't that good. Could have been a last minute call. The guys didn't look ready for it.

[unpaid]

I am encouraged. Coach Rolovich and staff took last year's underclassmen and these guys moved the ball against a decent Power Five school...with balance. They mixed the pass and the run and scored 30+ on a Pac-12 team. Work out the kinks and the Warriors should be OK after CNR's first year at the helm.

Turnovers can be fixed...but that is gonna be on the players. I think they can figure it out.

I am not sure that UH is going to win against any Power Five teams this year,but the Warriors would seem to have enough in the tank to win more than they lose in conference play. That would be a satisfying first year outcome for me.

[Irse]

Once we clean up the mistakes, we'll be fine. The running game will be good. We. have four good returning RBs. The passing game needs some work. I think the D just got tired. That may be a recurring theme this year. The special teams definitely needs work.

[reignjah11]

I didn't see the game as I was at work. An opening on-side kick by an inexperienced special teams against a high caliber team like Cal is clearly foolhardy. It definitely was the game-changing stunt it was intended to be...only for the other side. I'd say the risk was game-over vs. we pat-ourselves-on-the-back for pulling off a gimmicky play on opening day. Had we won the on-side kick, we still would have lost the game.

I give ROLO a big fat for that decision.

Yeah it's obvious you didn't see the game because it wasn't game over after that happened. We ended the first qtr only down 17-14. Plus our special teams was the most consistent unit last year. Rigoberto was our kicker last year and is on the guy award watchlist this year, don't see how he's inexperience. Plus I'm sure they practice this a lot leading up to the game, I don't think it was some random call by Rolo.

[poidog]

I didn't see the game as I was at work. An opening on-side kick by an inexperienced special teams against a high caliber team like Cal is clearly foolhardy. It definitely was the game-changing stunt it was intended to be...only for the other side. I'd say the risk was game-over vs. we pat-ourselves-on-the-back for pulling off a gimmicky play on opening day. Had we won the on-side kick, we still would have lost the game.

I give ROLO a big fat for that decision.

Yeah it's obvious you didn't see the game because it wasn't game over after that happened. We ended the first qtr only down 17-14. Plus our special teams was the most consistent unit last year. Rigoberto was our kicker last year and is on the guy award watchlist this year, don't see how he's inexperience. Plus I'm sure they practice this a lot leading up to the game, I don't think it was some random call by Rolo.

yeah, the onside kick had zero impact on the game. the fumble by Ewaliko was the moment the dam broke. up until then, the game felt very even.

[poidog]

Thoughts on the special teams?

ST needs work

can't believe we tried an onside kick to start the game. wish we didn't do that. ugh

Nah I loved the call. National televised game, big underdog, non conference game i see why rolo went for the momentum play there. We were able to recover from it anyway so I don't put much blame on that being a reason we lost.

in the post-game press conference, Rolo said something like "I wanted to make sure the fans of Australia got to see an onside kick. How many opportunities do you get to do an onside kick in the first game as head coach, in the first college football game of the season, in the first game ever played in Sydney..." I had to laugh at that.

[Haynr8dr]

I was pleasantly surprised. The team exceeded my personal expectations. Looking forward to the season.

[J-Rod]

I was pleasantly surprised. The team exceeded my personal expectations. Looking forward to the season.

Yup. Seems like the only ones disappointed were those who had their heads waaaay up in the clouds.

[MadCat88]

Overall... I agree with everyone's assessment of their performance; the offense overall is much improved ~ I was particularly impressed with the O-line players, they seemed to maintain their sharpness and physical play thru-out all 4 qtrs.. They blew open nice holes for the RBs (against a fairly good D.), and pretty much gave Woolsey a lot of time to work thru his progressions or scramble away when needed. One of the big differences between the two teams was the play of the QBs... that Webb kid looks like he's ready to play on Sundays ~ throws the ball extremely well... mostly every throw was like it was on a rope. Woolsey did "okay"... still a 50% passer ~ poised and confident, didn't see him making a whole lot of bad mistakes... but threw a lot of wobbly balls that the receivers had to overly compensate for. It's said that the difference between a good chef, and a great chef is in the hands (the recipe remaining the same)... and with Woolsey, he's a "good chef". He's got game... and if the coaches feel he's the starter, then he's the starter. Tackling looked horrendous... but I think a lot of it had to do with the condition of the field (a lot of sliding around laterally... but okay for north-south running), but they do need to wrap um up better. Special team play definitely needs to improve ~ particularly kick coverage (I noted they got better as the game progressed ~ adjustments obviously made). I thought the D-line and LB play was pretty good... the CAL O-line is massive & deep, but didn't seem to dominate the line of scrimmage thru-out the entire game. Every play was a good contest, right up to the 4 qtr., even when the D- was obviously starting to get gassed a bit. So, yeah I'm fairly optimistic for a far better season ~ as previously mentioned here ~ as long as they stay healthy and season ending injury-free.

[RedZone]

They tried that same onside kick last year. The kicker touched the ball before it went 10 yards. I think it was Rigo. This time Rigo pulled backwards instead of diving for the ball.

[madeinhawaii]

Code: Select all

Score by Quarters 1234 Total
Hawai`i    14  0 10  7 31
California 17 17  7 10 51

For what it's worth...

Hawaii kept pace with Cal in the first quarter and fell behind by only 3 points -- advantage Cal.
They traded blows in the second half and both sides scored 17 points apiece --- a draw...

In the second quarter, that fumble on the kickoff return that gave Cal the ball back immediately. AND the leaping penalty on Cal's punt that also gave them the ball back in the same quarter gassed our defense. Result Cal gets 17 unanswered points. Cal's first possession in the 2nd qtr lasted for 7:21 minutes due to that leaping penalty against UH on the 4th down punt by Cal. To the defense's credit they kep Cal to a FG. Then 9 seconds later, Hawaii fumbles the ball right back to Cal.

Ikaika 17-34-1. That single interception early on didn't result in a score against Hawaii. I saw 5 dropped or mishandled balls. 2 for possible touchdowns, 2 for 1st downs. Kemp leapt up and tried to catch a critical pass with his body not his hands. Another was in the hands of the receiver on the right sidelines but bobbled before he went out of bounds. Another went off the fingertips of Hagger, Ursua dropped a sure pass. On an early deep pass, I saw Kemp slowing down to look back, then speed back up to try and catch up with the ball which was slightly overthrown as a result of him slowing down -- don't know who to blame for that one. And there was one more, don't remember the details.

4 unexpected turnovers. 1-interception, 2- from fumbles, 1- from a 4th down penalty. Can't win against a P-5 team doing that.


31 points is the most points our Warriors has scored against an opponent in 15 games. We gave up ZERO sacks and made TWO AGAINST Cal.

Will be interested to see how the coaches break things down at the luncheon.

[shrek2]

California sportscasters are still saying that Hawaii is a joke or at least the secondary defense is. They are saying that Cal will have a tough time at San Diego but there was no talk of Hawaii being a concern.

[SundayJam]

I didn't see the game as I was at work. An opening on-side kick by an inexperienced special teams against a high caliber team like Cal is clearly foolhardy. It definitely was the game-changing stunt it was intended to be...only for the other side. I'd say the risk was game-over vs. we pat-ourselves-on-the-back for pulling off a gimmicky play on opening day. Had we won the on-side kick, we still would have lost the game.

I give ROLO a big fat for that decision.

Yeah it's obvious you didn't see the game because it wasn't game over after that happened. We ended the first qtr only down 17-14. Plus our special teams was the most consistent unit last year. Rigoberto was our kicker last year and is on the guy award watchlist this year, don't see how he's inexperience. Plus I'm sure they practice this a lot leading up to the game, I don't think it was some random call by Rolo.

Once again, we can agree to disagree. Sanchez is in his second year at UH and we have a new coach for special teams.

Mayur Chaudhari joins the University of Hawai’i football program as the new special teams coordinator and tight ends coach under first-year head coach Nick Rolovich’s coaching staff.

Chaudhari, the son-in-law of former University of Hawai’i head coach Dick Tomey, comes to Manoa after two seasons as an assistant coach at Lenoir-Rhyne University, where he oversaw the special teams and secondary for the Bears.

An accomplished special teams unit for one of the worst teams in CFB is hardly something to bet the farm on. From what I've read of the game, starting off 7 points in the hole is hardly anything to sneeze at. The attempt was on the highlights...and it was a bad attempt. The game pretty much lived up to expectations of the experts, but what if we'd turned up with a disciplined team that didn't resort to a trick play on the first play? I think the results would have been much better.

Meh...congrats Rolovich on developing a team which could score 30 points...which was more than we could score last year...save for UC Davis.