AMHERST, Mass. >> Hawaii tight end Metuisela “Tui” ’Unga’s last name begins with an apostrophe. His last play on Saturday ended with an exclamation point.
’Unga caught a 7-yard scoring pass from Dru Brown with 48 seconds remaining to complete the Rainbow Warriors’ comeback in a 38-35 road victory over Massachusetts.
It was the second year in a row the Warriors rallied to defeat UMass, this time vaporizing a 14-point, third-quarter deficit.
“I don’t think I’m going to schedule (UMass coach Mark) Whipple anymore,” UH coach Nick Rolovich said. “We ain’t going to last too long together playing like this.”
Rolovich forgave an IOU from ’Unga, who had dropped a wide-open pass in the third quarter.
“We told Tui he owed us after that drop,” Rolovich said. “We told him before (UH’s final) play. We weren’t sure of what defense (the Minutemen would run), but we got what we wanted, and he made the play. I didn’t even tell him personally. I told (pass-game coordinator Craig Stutzmann) on the headset (to) look at Tui, and say, ‘You owe Rolo a play.’ And he looked at me, and it was on its way.”
’Unga acknowledged Rolovich’s stamp of approval read: paid in full.
“I already had my drop,” ’Unga said. “I wasn’t planning on having another one this game. That wasn’t in my mind. Coach Rolo said I owed him. And (after that touchdown) I went straight to the sideline … and thanked him for my opportunity to give it back, just giving me the chance.”
In the swirl of postgame emotions, Rolovich was disappointed in the other mistakes that were not redeemed. The Warriors were penalized eight times for 83 yards in the first half — including a 30-yard double infraction that moved them out of the red zone and right guard Chris Posa’s ejection for throwing a punch — a careless interception, and the difficulty in stopping the pitch-and-catch connection between quarterback Andrew Ford and tight end Adam Breneman that resulted in nine receptions for 179 yards.
“That sucked,” Rolovich said of the mistakes and penalties. “That wasn’t a representation of the team I saw in fall camp, and that scared me.”
When the Warriors fell behind 28-14 on 270-pound fullback Malik Lee’s 3-yard scoring catch, Rolovich recalled thinking: “We’d better start doing something or this will get out of hand.”
The Warriors tied it on backup running back Ryan Tuiasoa’s 2-yard run and wideout Marcus Armstrong-Brown’s 8-yard scoring catch. The latter’s score was set up when Jesse Britt muffed a punt. Tuiasoa recovered the football on the UMass 15.
“I was saying, ‘brick, brick, brick,’ ” Tuiasoa said as Britt tried to field the punt. “We used to say that playing ball in the neighborhood, and he actually dropped it. It surprised me, too. One of the thoughts that went through my head was trying to pick it up and score. But with that situation, we needed the ball. I just jumped on it.”
Later, the Minutemen drove to the UH 35, where they faced a third-and-15. After a UH player jumped across the line of scrimmage, Ford threw 14 yards to slotback Andy Isabella. Instead of accepting a 5-yard penalty and replaying third down, the Minutemen opted to go for it on fourth-and-1. Running back Marquis Young got the ball, raced left, cut upfield and weaved his way for a 21-yard touchdown to put the Minutemen ahead, 35-28.
The Warriors answered with a drive that stalled on the UMass 12. On fourth-and-9, Rolovich opted for a field-goal attempt.
“I just felt the game would be over right there if we didn’t get (the first down),” Rolovich reasoned.
Ryan Meskell converted from 29 yards to close the Warriors to 35-31 with 5:23 to play.
On the ensuing possession, the Minutemen failed to advance significantly and punted. The Warriors took over on their 27 with 1:52 to play.
During the preseason, the Warriors worked extensively on their two-minute offense.
“We’re here for a reason,” Brown said. “That’s why they brought us on this team. We practice those plays for a reason.”
On second-and-10 from the UH 41, Brown threw 8 yards to wideout Keelan Ewaliko near the left sideline. But after a review, it was ruled Ewaliko did not fully control the football before he crossed the sideline. The catch was nullified. Brown was not discouraged.
“There’s something about this situation,” Brown said. “A lot of times I think about this in the offseason, and it’s why I can’t sleep. I’m thinking about football. I’m evaluating myself in a game. I’ve never been here (at McGuirk Alumni Stadium) before, so it was hard to visually see where I was at. But those situations, those moments, are something you dream of.”
On third-and-10 from the UH 41, the Warriors aligned in an overload, with slotbacks John Ursua and Dylan Collie both on the left side.
“Coming down to the wire, me and Dru hooked up quite a bit tonight,” Ursua said. “I had a feeling he was going to come my way, and I had to make a play.”
Brown found Ursua on a skinny post. Ursua raced to exhaustion, finally being tackled at the 7 after a 52-yard gain. Ursua amassed 272 receiving yards on 12 catches.
A penalty and two plays later, the ball still was at the 7. Offensive coordinator Brian Smith noted the Minutemen were in a coverage that left only one defender to track the 6-foot-5, 240-pound ’Unga.
“It’s something we practice all week long in the red zone,” Smith said. “Against the coverage we saw, we’re very confident we would execute it well.”
The play requires ’Unga to create separation with up to three cuts.
“We practice that play probably, I don’t even know, how many times,” Brown said. “Our defense will tell you that’s one of the hardest plays to defend. It was actually wide open. (’Unga) didn’t even have to sell it. He took one step and went. That shows how much he scares them down there.”
’Unga mused: “I’m a good dancer. I do two-step. … I one-stepped, and I looked for an opening.”
After that, all that was left was for the Warriors to prevent the Minutemen from moving into field-goal range in the final 48 seconds. UMass advanced to its 45. The Warriors dropped into a deep zone, with ’Unga summoned as a free safety standing on the goal line. But Ford threw 3 yards to Young, who was tackled by Jahlani Tavai as time expired.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Rolovich said. “They didn’t fold. There would have been a time last year when we might have folded in that game. We talk about the love and trust between one another, and (we) made just enough plays.”
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GAME STATS
FIRST QUARTER
HAWAII
- Dru Brown 29 run. Alex Trifonovitch kick.
- Drive: 7 plays, 55 yards, 2:53 elapsed time.
- Time: 8:51. Score: Hawaii 7, UMass 0
UMASS
- Andy Isabella 6 run. Schreiner kick
- Drive: 9 plays, 76 yards, 2:51elapsed time.
- Time: 6:00 Score: Hawaii 7, UMass 7
SECOND QUARTER
HAWAII
- John Ursua 85 pass from Brown Trifonovitch kick.
- Drive: 2 plays, 83 yards, 0:42 elapsed time.
- Time: 1:15. Score: Hawaii 14, UMass 7
UMASS
- Isabella 2 pass from Ford. Schreiner kick.
- Drive: 8 plays, 63 yards, 1:55 elapsed time.
- Time: 0:02. Score: Hawaii 14, UMass 17
THIRD QUARTER
- UMASS
- Marquis Young 1 run. Schreiner kick.
- Drive: 10 plays, 79 yards, 3:48 elapsed time.
- Time: 11:12. Score: UMass 21, Hawaii 14
UMASS
- Malik Lee 3 pass from Ford. Schreiner kick.
- Drive: 12 plays, 65 yards, 4:58 elapsed time.
- Time: 4:35. Score: UMass 28, Hawaii 14
HAWAII
- Ryan Tuiasoa 2 run. Trifonovitch kick.
- Drive: 8 plays, 72 yards, 2:26 elapsed time.
- Time: 2:09. Score: UMass 28, Hawaii 21
FOURTH QUARTER
HAWAII
- Marcus Armstrong-Brown 8 pass from Brown. Trifonovitch kick.
- Drive: 2 plays, 15 yards, 0:47 elapsed time.
- Time: 13:34. Score: UMass 28, Hawaii 28
UMASS
- Young 21 run. Schreiner kick.
- Drive: 5 plays, 46 yards, 1:53 elapsed time.
- Time: 11:41. Score: UMass 35, Hawaii 28
HAWAII
- FG Ryan Meskell 29.
- Drive: 12 plays, 47 yards, 6:18 elapsed time.
- Time: 5:23. Score: UMass 35, Hawaii 31
HAWAII
- Metuisela ’Unga 7 pass fromBrown. Trifonovitch kick.
- Drive: 8 plays, 73 yards, 2:04 elapsed time.
- Time: 0:48. Score: Hawaii 38, UMass 35
TEAM STATISTICS
HAWAII | UMASS
- First downs: 22 | 20
- Rushes-yards: 34-123 | 41-115
- Passing: 391 | 298
- Comp-Att-Int: 25-38-1 | 22-34-1
- Return Yards: 159 | 124
- Punts-Avg.: 3-33.33 | 5-33.4
- Fumbles-Lost: 2-0 | 2-1
- Penalties-Yards: 9-88 | 5-55
- Time of Pos.: 31:24 | 28:36
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- Hawaii: Saint Juste 23-78, D.Brown 7-30, Tuiasoa 4-15.
- UMass: Young 20-83, Ally 6-17, Comis 2-15, Isabella 1-6, Burch 1-4, Dingle 1-2, A.Ford 10-(minus 12).
PASSING
- Hawaii: D.Brown 25-38-1-391.
- UMass: Comis 1-4-0-23, A.Ford 21-30-1-275.
RECEIVING
- Hawaii: Ursua 12-272, Barker 4-42, ’Unga 3-30, Armstrong-Brown 3-23, Collie 2-13, Ewaliko 1-11.
- UMass: Breneman 9-179, Isabella 5-40, Palmer 3-53, Young 3-16, Dingle 1-7, Lee 1-3.
MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.
Click here to see more photos of the game between Hawaii and UMass.
