Hawaii Football: Special Teams TD and Efficient Offense Lift Warriors to Victory

Honolulu, HI—Through much of the season Greg McMackin's special teams have had a bulls-eye affixed to its backside, something that has not gone unnoticed by the University of Hawaii head football coach.

So, when the Warriors' special teams manufactured an important early touchdown in Saturday night's 45-34 win over Western Athletic Conference-foe New Mexico State, McMackin made a point to heave as much praise as possible upon his beleaguered unit.

"Quite honestly, I wish people would be realistic about some of the things going on," McMackin said after the game.

"Dick Tomey's doing a great job with special teams and I read in the paper that he should get fired, and we're getting E-mails about firing him and this and that. I think that's totally ridiculous that anybody would think something like that...because he's doing a great job. And if you look at our special teams, they helped win us the ballgame today."

While some of the criticism has been earned by Hawaii's special teams—having six place kicks blocked in six games will do that—it is also true that the place-kicking fiasco has overshadowed other areas of the special teams that have done well.

After starting Saturday night's game with a three-and-out, Hawaii got on the board their second possession with a perfect pass from Bryant Moniz to Justin Clapp in the corner of the end zone. Then, after forcing New Mexico State to punt on their next possession, Hawaii's special teams delivered the big blow of the game.

John Hardy-Tuliau raced through the Aggies' protection to block the punt, and Kamalani Alo scooped up the loose ball and returned it 13 yards for the Warriors' second score.

"That was a huge play. There's no bigger play in a football game than a blocked punt," special teams' coach Dick Tomey said. "We were having trouble moving the ball on offense it seemed at the time, and so that was a big play for us. And you know we've worked hard to try to change the mentality in blocking kicks; so that was welcome."

Special teams also gave Hawaii an edge in the battle of field position. Scott Harding returned three punts for 19 yards but more importantly, McMackin said, were the four punts that Harding fair-caught.

"I thought Scott Harding did an unbelievable job. He must have saved us 80 yards in running up and making catches on short punts that would have bounced for most guys, but he has the guts to run up and catch the ball."

Hawaii's early 14-0 lead was ultimately the difference in the game, as the two teams traded touchdowns for the duration of the contest.

"I thought our offense responded really well throughout the ballgame," McMackin said. "We didn't play like we wanted to play defensively. We made some plays, and then we didn't make some plays... When we had a problem (on defense), the offense responded."

Hawaii finished the game with 503 total yards—227 rushing, 276 passing—while New Mexico State had 432.

Acknowledging that his offense's output was "efficient," both rushing and passing the ball, Hawaii offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich said: "That's a good word. It's good to hear that after a game. We had some big runs, I thought we could have been smoother. We had some hiccups but we ended up getting enough to win and played fairly well."

With the win, Hawaii improved to 4-3 (2-1 WAC), while New Mexico State dropped to 3-4 (1-2 WAC).

Trevor Davis

Hawaii true freshman Trevor Davis made his debut against the Aggies, catching two passes for 48 yards. The much-heralded, 6'1" 170-pound receiver out of Alhambra High School in Martinez, Calif., was a candidate to redshirt this season.

"He's really good, he's probably our second or third-best receiver," McMackin said.

Quarterback Bryant Moniz said: "He's a great player and you know he's a young kid. It's great to have him out there. We were questioning whether to bring him out from his redshirt year; he got the call, and he's been ready to play and he made great plays.

"We're going to be able to utilize him a lot more, and he's going to become a part of our offense and (be) a great player in the future."

Moniz also added that Davis is "just like Royce Pollard," the senior wide receiver who has taken the freshman under his wing.

Kevin Riley is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand.