Carrying the flag

Despite a broken leg, UH quarterback Bryant Moniz continued his tradition of carrying the Hawaiian flag out of the tunnel.

Moniz, on crutches with his lower leg in a cast, emerged from the UH locker room with the flag, then handed it to linebacker Kamalani Alo, who ran it onto the field.

Dunnachie goes long

Junior punter Alex Dunnachie is known for his hang time, but on Saturday he posted some serious distance to go along with it. On five punts, he averaged 44.4 yards with a long of 52 and two placed inside the 20. His season average entering the night was 39.4.

He kept his height, too. Fresno State had no punt returns, keeping UH opponents’ season total at four.

"I felt comfortable," the Australian said. "I’ve sort of been playing around with that (height vs. distance) a little bit. … (FSU punt returner Devon Wylie) was our biggest challenge so far and we were really happy to keep it away from him."

Pollard returns to action

Hawaii senior receiver Royce Pollard returned to the starting lineup after a one-game absence.

Pollard, the Warriors’ leader in receiving yards, injured his ankle and knee in his last appearance at Aloha Stadium, sat out UH’s loss at Nevada and came back Saturday to catch three passes for 50 yards and a touchdown in his final game against Fresno State.

But none of that mattered much to him in the locker room.

"I didn’t do enough," Pollard said. "That’s the only thing that’s on my mind, that we lost this game."

Pollard said he still felt the effects of a bone bruise and a torn meniscus in his knee, but "it’s something I’ll keep playing through and I’m going to have to find a way, that’s all."

Pollard made a tough grab on a back-shoulder throw to help spark UH’s first scoring drive in the second quarter. The 14-yard gain was quarterback David Graves’ firstcompletion and opened a nine-play, 67-yard drive that ended with Graves’ touchdown run that brought UH to within 17-7.

Pollard caught his first touchdown since the San Jose State game on Oct. 14 when he got behind the Bulldogs secondary and pulled in a 24-yard pass from Graves on UH’s first possession of the third quarter.

Going out on top

Fresno State will finish with its third losing season in 15 years under head coach Pat Hill, but will still leave the Western Athletic Conference as the winningest team among the seven current schools.

Saturday night’s 24-21 win over Hawaii was the Bulldogs’ 112th victory as a member of the WAC. Their 112-78 (.589) record ranks ahead of Hawaii (107-86, .554), which is second.

The Bulldogs have been in 11 bowl games during the span, three more than UH, which again ranks second. Both teams will leave the WAC after the season for the Mountain West Conference.

Owens in the house

Chad Owens, who received All-America mention in 2001 and 2004 as an all-purpose player and wide receiver at UH, was among the 24,367 fans who attended the game.

Owens just completed his third season in the Canadian Football League and second with Toronto. He led the Argonauts in receptions and yardage, as well as punt return, kickoff return and missed field-goal return yardage.

He received the CFL’s award for top special teams player in 2010 and has been nominated for it again this year. It will be announced next week.