On the 141st day, the Ching Complex workers … kept working.
Engineers, technicians and crew members worked through Saturday’s first Division I football game on the University of Hawaii campus.
While the retrofitted Ching Complex was declared fit for UH’s home opener against Portland State, project workers arrived at 5 a.m. on Saturday for final maintenance work. There were some glitches — the internet was pitchy just before the 6:05 p.m. kickoff, and the ESPN 1420 AM broadcast booth did not have lights early in the game — but those problems were fixed quickly.
Half of the concourse level at adjacent Les Murakami Stadium and the visitors’ baseball clubhouse was transformed into a “locker room” for the Vikings.
The newly installed LED lights provided ample brightness for Spectrum Sports’ pay-per-view audience.
The large screen, located between the ‘Ewa bleachers and mauka stands, served as the complex’s only scoreboard. There were game clocks situated around the new AstroTurf field.
Ben Kiaaina, whose booming voice resonates during volleyball matches in SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center, served as the public address announcer.
Skylar Grey’s “Coming Home” song accompanied a video of Rainbow Warrior highlights. UH distributed “Coming Home” stickers to the Warriors, staff and security guards. UH also distributed commemorative “tickets” celebrating Ching’s first Division I football game.
It was a surreal setting for a stadium devoid of fans. UH is temporarily banned from serving as host to spectator-attended sporting events as part of state and county restrictions on large gatherings. UH officials are wishful the ban will be lifted in time for the next home game, on Sept. 18, against San Jose State.
The Warriors, meanwhile, were unified in their happiness of evening their record at 1-1. The Warriors had opened the season a week earlier with a disheartening 44-10 road loss to UCLA.
“You’ve always got to be excited and happy when you get a win,” head coach Todd Graham said of Warriors’ 49-35 victory over Portland State.
In racing to a 35-7 halftime lead, the Warriors’ no-huddle offense averaged a play every 22 seconds. For the game, they rolled up 573 yards — 305 yards on Chevan Cordeiro’s 18 completions, and 268 yards rushing, led by Dae Dae Hunter’s 128. The Warriors averaged 7.8 yards per play.
But the Warriors’ production was tempered when they put the ball on the turf nine times — four dropped passes, and five fumbles or muffs. They muffed two punts, allowed a mishandled kickoff to become a PSU touchdown, and fumbled an onside kick.
“Our ball security is not good,” Graham said. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t turn the ball over.”
Graham said the ball-security issues will be corrected for this coming Saturday’s road game against Oregon State. Graham acknowledged the best teaching moments occur during victories.
“All that matters is going into the next week and getting better and correcting mistakes,” Graham said.
