CARSON, CALIF. >> Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro was one of the last to emerge from the gloom of the University of Hawaii locker room.
Forty-five minutes after the final whistle sounded, the afternoon chill did not provide a refresher from Saturday’s 34-10 loss to San Diego State. It was not just the setback to a Mountain West rival, nor the uneven 2-2 half of an eight-week regular season.
“Losing,” Cordeiro said, “just sucks in general. You never want to lose. It is what it is. We have to get better.”
For the first six possessions, the teams traded jabs — and three punts apiece. Then the Rainbow Warriors saw stars. On the second play of a two-play possession, SDSU’s third-string back, Jordan Byrd, went left and then eluded five would-be tacklers in accelerating 51 yards for a 7-0 lead.
Following UH’s fourth punt of the opening quarter, Greg Bell used a jump-cut move to jump-start a 62-yard dash to extend the Aztecs’ lead to 14-0.
After SDSU parlayed two UH mistakes into points — Melquise Stovall’s fumble on a punt return was redeemed for Bell’s 3-yard touchdown run, and backside linebacker Segun Olubi scored on a 71-yard pick six — the game turned into an Aztec whupping.
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“They had two big-play runs on us, and that hurt us defensively,” UH coach Todd Graham said. “We fumbled a punt on our 7-yard line, threw an interception for a touchdown … that spots them 14. We just couldn’t do nothin’. The defense just dominated us offensively. We had penalties, turned the ball over, had negative plays, sacks, didn’t protect our quarterback … They played better than us. They were better than us today. They definitely out-coached us.”
The Warriors had a reorganization plan designed to counter the Aztecs’ trifecta of tailbacks while making use of available defenders. Penei Pavihi moved from defensive end to middle linebacker. Linebacker Jeremiah Pritchard shifted to the outside. Khoury Bethley, a linebacker-safety hybrid, moved to bandit safety. And while the new scheme produced 15 backfield tackles, conjured three turnovers and forced five punts in 14 full possessions, it could not fully contain the Aztecs’ backs.
The Aztecs use up to two tight ends to seal the ends. Their line pulls form a wave of blockers to one side — or a diversion for counter runs. Greg Bell, Chance Bell and Byrd are sub-4.5-second sprinters and quick cutters. And they are competitive.
“We’re chasing each other,” said Greg Bell, who ran 19 times for 160 yards, his fourth 100-yard game this season. “When Jordan (Byrd) breaks a long run, I come to the sideline and tell him, ‘I’m going to get mine.’ If I break a long one, they come to the sideline and say they’re going to get theirs. We just try to match each other’s intensity, and it worked out today.”
The Aztecs rushed for 326 yards, an average of 6.4 yards per carry.
After the intermission, the Aztecs ran on 31 of 32 plays. Their lone second-half pass resulted in Quentin Frazier’s interception.
“They’re just good running backs,” Bethley said. “They run hard and get downhill and (have) really good vision.”
Too often, the Warriors’s defensive pursuits resulted in tag-and-release scenarios. “We’re playing good enough defensively to be in football games,” Graham said. “We’ve given up the two big touchdown runs. We can’t give those up. That broke our back. If you don’t give those up (for touchdowns), if you get those (backs) down, it’s 20 (points) instead of 34.”
The Warriors struggled to gain traction against the Aztecs’ deceptive 3-3-5 defense. The three-man front is a bait-and-switch. The Aztecs often brought up two linebackers. They also assigned a “spy” to track Cordeiro, who uses his elusiveness to extend plays or gain yards. The Aztecs used the previous week’s experience against San Jose State’s quarterback as a primer.
“We knew Cordeiro was a good scrambler and could get out of the pocket well, so we put in some things this week to deal with that,” SDSU linebacker Caden McDonald said. “It was great coming off San Jose State with a scrambling quarterback, as well. It taught us a few lessons there. Having a full week to prepare for another scrambling quarterback helped a lot.”
Cordeiro was 15 of 35 for 209 yards, but 75 of them came on a catch-and-dash play to Calvin Turner in the fourth quarter. Cordeiro was sacked seven times, stripped of the football thrice, and hounded into intentionally tossing away four passes.
In the season-opening victory against Fresno State, the Warriors rushed for 323 yards, or 6.1 yards a pop. Since then, they have combined for 282 rushing yards in three games, an average of 3.0 yards per carry. On Saturday, the early deficit forced the Warriors into more passing decisions.
But even the Warriors’ rhythm passing was out of sync against the Aztecs’ defensive heat. Graham said the Warriors had difficulty avoiding pressure on quick-timing plays. “Obviously, we’re not performing where we need to be offensively,” Graham said. “At the same time, we’re not getting it done defensively, either.”
After the game, Graham said, “I walked in and told the kids, ‘it’s on me.’ We did a poor job of coaching and preparing them. Ultimately, (the coaches are) responsible.”
