Hawaii senior Diocemy Saint Juste broke the UH single-season record for rushing attempts with his second carry in Saturday’s 31-21 loss to Fresno State and continued his march toward the yardage mark.
Saint Juste entered the game one carry shy of Michael Carter’s record of 221 set in 1991 and took handoffs on UH’s first two plays from scrimmage.
The senior finished with 104 yards — his seventh game in triple digits — on 22 carries to push his season total to 1,349.
He needs 149 yards in UH’s final two games to catch Travis Sims’ record of 1,498 set in 1992, at the height of UH’s triple-option era. Sims’ nine 100-yard games that season is also a UH record. Saint Juste ranks second in UH history with 2,941 career yards, trailing only Gary Allen’s record of 3,451 (1978-81).
Matautia finds the end zone
UH linebacker Solomon Matautia scored the Rainbow Warriors’ first defensive touchdown of the season with a 19-yard interception return that cut Fresno State’s lead to 10 with 13:09 left in the game.
The former All-State safety at Campbell leads UH with three interceptions this season, and his pick-6 was UH’s first since Trayvon Henderson scored against Middle Tennessee in last year’s Hawaii Bowl.
EARLY STRIKE FOR UH
Freshman Kumoku Noa’s first career touchdown gave UH a rare first-quarter lead. The former Kamehameha All-State receiver’s 7-yard reception to cap an 11-play drive — which he earlier extended with an 11-yard catch on fourth-and-10 —gave UH its fourth first-quarter touchdown of the season. UH had been shut out in the first quarter six times this season, including the previous three games. UH entered the second quarter with a lead for only the second time in 10 games, but Fresno State scored the next 31 to take command.
— Jason Kaneshiro, Star-Advertiser
“The coaches have been bugging us for a turnover, we needed to score, we needed to change momentum and everything worked out the right way,” Matautia said. “We got good pressure and we got the tip and when I caught it we had good blocking.”
Freshman Eugene Ford gave UH hope with his first career interception with 4:10 left. But the drive ended with a pick by Fresno State’s Tank Kelly to end the threat.
UH turnover streak ends
UH had gone 13 quarters without committing a turnover before quarterback Dru Brown lost a fumble with 4:20 left in the third period on Saturday.
UH spent its first two possessions of the second half in a five-receiver set and Fresno State defensive end Tobenna Okeke stormed into the backfield for three sacks in a span of nine plays. On the third, he stripped the ball from Brown and Robert Stanley recovered. The Bulldogs converted with a six-play scoring drive for a 31-7 lead.
