The concept of it’s-just-a-game doesn’t exist in football, at least for those who play it, coach it and love to watch it. Maybe in playground two-hand touch, or Pop Warner.
But definitely not in college football. There are only varying degrees of must-win games. The players put too much on the line and there are so few games for them to think of it otherwise.
With that being said, before the start of the University of Hawaii’s season, no one had Saturday’s game against Northern Iowa circled as more important than any other. With it being UH’s second game against an FCS team, it could be argued that this outcome didn’t matter as much because a victory wouldn’t count toward bowl eligibility.
There was no way they would lose this one anyway, right?
Well, because of how they bombed last week at Sam Houston State, no one could assume anything. This one turned into not just a must-win for the Warriors, but also a must-look-good-doing-it. Which is fitting for Disco Night, if you’re old enough to remember what disco was all about.
UH, for the most part, was substantive and stylish in a 36-7 victory, piling up 528 yards to 199 for the Panthers. Whatever demons possessed the Warriors on the road last week were exorcised.
Forget about the level of the opponent. This was fun for the home team.
The very beginning, though, was like a continuation of last week’s nightmarish 38-13 loss. Hawaii committed a personal foul on the first series, and penalties have been one of the Rainbow Warriors’ biggest problems in the early going of this season.
But it was a false alarm and the Warriors dominated most of the way, like an FBS team should against an FCS team, especially at home. They did almost everything right that they didn’t last week on the road, and they were a lot better than in their other win, when they let Delaware State — another FCS outfit far from its home — hang around with hopes for an upset way too long.
Cornerback Caleb Brown got the positive things going in this one, forcing a fumble recovered by linebacker Jamih Otis. And unlike last week, the offense did not fail to capitalize on a golden opportunity presented by the defense early in the game.
The Warriors have been slow starters in recent seasons. But not this time. Quarterback Brayden Schager completed all 10 of his first-quarter passes, including two for touchdowns. The most impressive of those early connections was a 56-yarder to Dekel Crowdus, who caught it Willie Mays-style, directly over his helmet.
Then there was Schager’s third of four TD passes, this one to Nick Cenacle. Schager threw it while falling back, with three Panthers in his face. He got the ball past them with enough zip and accuracy to find Cenacle’s hands 30 yards away, in the end zone.
The Warriors had a ground game, too, with 149 yards, including a touchdown by Landon Sims.
Unlike the UCLA loss, the punter wasn’t the leading rusher for UH. And Lucas Borrow only had to kick it away once in this game, as five possessions ended past the goal line.
Yeah, the two interceptions, one when Schager got a little too adventurous, contributed to Borrow’s inactivity, too.
The next perfectly played football game by any quarterback will be the first. And anyone who still thinks Schager shouldn’t be starting got a lot of reminders of why they’re wrong.
As for coaching, give Timmy Chang and staff credit for resuscitating this team after whatever that was last week.
They still need to cut back on the penalties, but 7-for-75 yards is a big improvement.
We can question the burning of a trick play for a meaningless 2-point conversion that Sims threw to Hunter Higham in the first quarter, but maybe this team — and its fans — needed something like that. You can always draw up new tricks for your conference opponents.
This was, after all, a must-win, and a must-look-good-doing-it situation.
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Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com.
